ANPC WORKSHOPS: Myrtle Rust: a new threat to Western Australia's biodiversity, Perth, Bunbury & Albany 20 - 24th May

Registration is open for upcoming ANPC workshops on Myrtle Rust.

This one day workshop to be held at various locations in Western Australia will provide training in Myrtle Rust recognition, reporting, risk assessment, and management concepts and techniques.

These one-day events will present a comprehensive summary of what is known of this new threat to Australia’s biodiversity, the knowledge gaps, and management options.

The emphasis will be on wild-plant conservation, but there will also be information relevant for people from the horticulture, forestry, and bush-products sectors who wish to know more about Myrtle Rust, how to monitor for it, and where to find information on the control measures available for horticultural sites and suppliers.

The day will also include workshop sessions to assist you to think about regional priorities, and options for changes to work practices for your sector.

This course will provide comprehensive information on the disease, and help you to:

• recognize the disease in the field and in cultivation
• identify species and ecological communities at risk
• decide what to monitor before and if the disease arrives
• assess the risks and consequences of spreading the disease, and how to avoid doing so.

ANPC presenter:  Bob Makinson (Conservation Botanist - Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney)

For more information and to register please visit the workshop webpage: http://anpc.asn.au/courses/Myrtle_Rust_WA_2013/Myrtle_Rust_Courses.html

WANTED: Images of Australian threatened flora and communities

The ANPC is seeking images of Australian threatened flora and communities for a slide show on 'Some of Australia's most threatened plants'.

The slide show will be launched online 18 May 2013 as part of Fascination of Plants Day.

Images can be habitat shots, close-ups, or of someone doing something (e.g. seed collecting, monitoring or planting). The slide show will be similar in style to one we released last year for Threatened Species Day.

Preference will be given to critically endangered and endangered entities.

Images need to be original high resolution and be accompanied by information (less than 150 words) on the species or community pictured, status, threats to its survival, and what is being done to conserve it. 

Photographer credits will be included so please include photographer name.

Please email images and information to projects (at) anpc.asn.au by 5pm Wed 8th May.

We'll upload the final slide show to the ANPC website by Wed 15th May ready to promote via social media on World Fascination of Plants Day 18 May.

Here's a list of all Australian World Fascination of Plants Day events.

Image credit: Banksia brownii, one of the species included in a previous slideshow on 21 of Australia's most threatened plants. Photographer: Sarah Barrett.

CALL FOR ARTICLES for Australasian Plant Conservation (APC) Vol. 22 (1): Fire & threatened biodiversity

**Note - this issue is almost full - so if you wish to submit an article please contact the editor, Selga Harrington (selga.harrington (at) gmail.com, asap. Deadline for submissions is Friday 10 May 2012.**

We are seeking articles for the June – August 2013 issue of Australasian Plant Conservation (APC), the bulletin of the ANPC.

The issue will be on the theme ‘Fire and threatened biodiversity’.

Fire is a major tool available for land management and can be used to protect property from wildfire, protect fire sensitive habitats, maximise biodiversity and manage woody weeds. Although fire is an important management tool, there are many gaps in our knowledge of how and how often it can and should be used.

We wish to explore the use of fire for plant conservation, in particular for threatened species and ecological community management.

Articles can range from overviews of the use of fire as a management tool, to case studies illustrating particular examples.

Further guidelines can be found here.

We also welcome:
· book reviews
· titles of interesting recent publications or resources, and where they can be found
· conference, workshop, course and fieldwork announcements
· details of relevant publications, information resources and websites.

Deadline for submissions Friday 10th May.

INTERESTING BITS IN BRIEF: A summary of recent plant conservation news and articles

We've been sharing plant conservation news and articles of interest almost daily through our social media channels Twitter, Facebook and Google +. We're now also sharing images of our events and activities via Instagram.

{Alison Shapcott of University of the Sunshine Coast leading a tour of a compensatory habitat site during a recent ANPC Translocation workshop. Images of this and other ANPC workshops can be found on our Flickr page.}

Here's a sample of what we have shared recently:

Funding opportunity for community groups helping to conserve threatened ecosystems: Australian Ethical community grants.

Long-term planting experiment investigating cost-benefit trade-off between biodiversity & carbon.

'Carbon plantings will only have real biodiversity value if they comprise appropriate native tree species'.

Caring for our Country Community Environment Grants close 8 May.

PhD & Post Doc positions available studying lineage diversification in New Zealand plants. Close 1 May.

Response of grassland to stock exclusion - Ian Lunt provides a great overview of a recent study.

NSW Government today released the White Paper – A new planning system for NSW. Public feedback invited.

Australian soil databases can be accessed through SoilMapp iPad app - provides soil info for any location.

Uncertainty re value of fire for managing grasslands that have long history of fire exclusion & grazing (John Morgan claims this is 'the best paper of the year!').

Which of our forests should be managed for carbon?

Drivers of rainforest destruction. 'If we act fast we can start changing the story'

Funding opportunity: Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife for field & education projects. Current round due 3rd May.

All of the presentations from the TERN 2013 Symposium are now available online.

Events

EcoArts Conference 12-13 May 2013 Wollongong NSW.

Fungimap conference, Vic, 23-27 May.

Fascination of plants Day 18 May. Here's a list of Australian events.

Bushfire Conference: Fire & Healthy Landscapes: resilient environment, resilient people, 4-5 June 2013, Sydney NSW. Includes a symposium on using fire for restoration.

Big Science Communications Summit: Pathways to inspiring Australia 6 & 7th June 2013 Sydney.

Atlas of Living Australia Science Symposium, June 12-13 in Canberra

Australian Mine Rehabilitation Workshop 6-8 Aug 2013 Adelaide, SA.

NSW Weeds Conference, 9-12th September in Corowa (Murray River region)

24th annual Queensland Landcare Conference, 27 – 29 September 2013, Warwick Qld

31st NSW Environmental Education Conference Sept 2013.

Do you have any news you would like to share?

We would love to help promote your events, research outcomes or activities.

If you have plant conservation news you would like us to share please email your news to anpc (at) anpc.asn.au. Please include "For ANPC News" in the subject.

**REGISTRATIONS CLOSE THIS WEEK **ANPC WORKSHOP: Seed collection, storage and use for native vegetation restoration

3 April 2013, 
University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld

**REGISTRATIONS CLOSE THIS THURSDAY 28th MARCH**

This workshop will provide participants with the knowledge needed to effectively collect, store and use seed in native vegetation restoration.

Participants will gain hands-on experience in developing a collection strategy, seed cleaning, seed viability testing, and hygiene to minimise Phytophthora and Myrtle Rust spread. 

Topics covered include:

• developing a collection strategy
• seed collection methods
• pest and disease management
• seed banking
• seed germination and dormancy

For more information, including a full program, flyer and registration form please visit the workshop webpage.

You can also view a report from a recent similar workshop held in Sydney last year.

**REGISTRATIONS CLOSE THIS WEEK **ANPC WORKSHOP: Translocation of threatened plats

4 - 5 April 2013, 
University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld

 **REGISTRATIONS CLOSE THIS WEEK  THURSDAY 28th April**

This two day workshop will provide participants with the knowledge required to effectively plan, implement and evaluate translocation projects for threatened flora.

This successful workshop has now been delivered 15 times across Australia and internationally. 

Questions addressed include:

• When is it appropriate to use translocation as a tool to conserve threatened species?
• What needs to be done when planning a translocation program?
• How should a translocation program be implemented?
• What ongoing management and evaluation is required?

The workshop will include case studies of translocation programs, highlighting lessons to be learnt and an optional full-day field trip to translocation recipient sites for a range of threatened plants and a tour of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Seed Bank.

For more information, including a full program, flyer and registration form please visit the workshop webpage.

You can also view images and reports from similar workshops held last year in Canberra and Sydney.

CALL FOR ARTICLES for Australasian Plant Conservation (APC) Vol. 22 (1): Fire & threatened biodiversity

We are seeking articles for the June – August 2013 issue of Australasian Plant Conservation (APC), the bulletin of the ANPC.

The issue will be on the theme ‘Fire and threatened biodiversity’.

Fire is a major tool available for land management and can be used to protect property from wildfire, protect fire sensitive habitats, maximise biodiversity and manage woody weeds. Although fire is an important management tool, there are many gaps in our knowledge of how and how often it can and should be used.

We wish to explore the use of fire for plant conservation, in particular for threatened species and ecological community management. 

How have you used fire to manage threatened ecological communities, threatened species or their habitats? What was achieved, what were the strengths and weaknesses, and lessons learnt? Do you have insights on the effects of fire on a threatened species and lessons on how fire could be used in their management?

Articles can range from overviews of the use of fire as a management tool, to case studies illustrating particular examples.

General articles not on the theme are also welcome.

Articles generally should not exceed 1200 words and authors are encouraged to submit two or three high resolution images to illustrate their article. Further guidelines can be found here.

We also welcome:
· book reviews
· titles of interesting recent publications or resources, and where they can be found
· conference, workshop, course and fieldwork announcements
· details of relevant publications, information resources and websites.

Deadline for submissions is Friday 10 May 2012.

If you are intending to submit an article or wish to discuss possibilities, please contact the Editor, Selga Harrington (selga.harrington (at) gmail.com, by 26 April.

ANPC DONORS thanked for their support

ANPC donors were recently thanked for their support.

The ANPC and its Public Fund was entered on the Register of Environmental Organisations and became entitled to receive tax deductible donations in July of 2007. People who donate to the ANPC Public Fund can claim that donation as a tax deduction. Since the establishment of the Public Fund the ANPC has received 71 donations totalling over $3,000.

Last year, the ANPC committee decided to use part of those funds to purchase a laptop and litepro for use at our workshops and conferences. The equipment has already been used at a number of workshops and at our recent 9th National Conference.

Peter Doherty of CSIRO giving an overview of the Atlas of Living Australia at a recent workshop using the laptop purchased with donated funds. 

Every small donation will enable us to purchase equipment or services to help us fulfill our mission to promote and improve plant conservation.

Donations are tax deductible. More information on how to donate to the ANPC can be found here.

INTERESTING BITS IN BRIEF: A summary of recent plant conservation news and articles

We've been sharing plant conservation news and articles of interest almost daily through our social media channels Twitter, Facebook and Google +. We're now also sharing images of our events and activities via Instagram.

{Participants at our recent Plant ID for Grassy Ecosystems Workshop practicing their plant identification skills}

Here's a sample of what we have shared recently:

Lowland Grassy Woodland in the South East Corner Bioregion - New EPBC Act critically endangered listing. 

ANPC Committee member Noushka Reiter on translocation of endangered orchids. 

Genetic diversity in seed is vital for restoration efforts says CSIRO scientist Linda Broadhurst (listen)

Horticulture Crops Conservation Officer assignment available with Australian Red Cross. Help conserve Bhutan's crop diversity. 

Research suggests land managers reintroduce native flora to safeguard against effects of fire and climate change. 

Do environmental impact assessments protect Australia's environment.

What is killing gum trees in the high country?

Charles Darwin University investigating how biodiversity conservation may generate income for NT pastoralists (listen). 

Australia’s tropical savannas are largest least-degraded on Earth. Sadly they are threatened by Gamba Grass. 

Private land managed by NGOs is an important piece of the conservation jigsaw.  

New theory: 'forests are the heart of the earth, driving atmospheric pressure, pumping wind & moving rain'. 

New population of Critically Endangered plant Spiny Daisy discovered. 

RESOURCES in plant conservation

AusPlots-Rangelands Survey Protocols Manual & app launched.

Notes from 2013 Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network (TERN) Symposium.

Useful decision support tool for assessing genetic risk in revegetation.

The Weeds of Australia identification tool.

Integrated conservation of tree species by botanic gardens – a reference manual.

Impact! - a journal of environmental law published by NSW EDO is now available online for free.

NEW BOOK:  Eucalypts of Western Australia's Wheatbelt.

NEW BOOK: Ecological Restoration and Environmental Change: Renewing Damaged Ecosystems.

The Australian Invasive Cacti Network now has a website and forum.

More resources in plant conservation.....