Revegetation Futures - Starting with the Seed
Revegetation Futures - Starting with the Seed
The Border Ranges Richmond Valley Landcare Network is one of 5 partners establishing Seedbanking Hubs across the North Coast to strengthen service for native plant seed needs for the coming years
Community Participation -
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The issue
The Northern Rivers region is not alone in having faced a myriad of natural disasters over recent years. Landcare groups across the region have stepped up to respond with environmental recovery. However, the pursuit of native plant seed to support revegetation activities has identified significant shortfalls in quantity of seed available, gaps in target species and limitations in available seed provenance data. Rappville and Surrounds Landcare seeking to reseed after the bushfires, Mackellar Range Landcare seeking seed to incorporate into drone seeding and hydromulch mix over landslide affected areas and Kyogle Landcare aiming to seedbomb exposed riverbanks after the floods have all been challenged by limits on available seed.
The solution
From this void, a new exciting Regional Seedbank project was born. With support from North Coast Local Land Services and coordination through the North Coast Regional Landcare Network, the Border Ranges Richmond Valley Landcare Network is one of 5 regional networks now launching as Regional Seed Hub’s fostering local Landcare groups to get active in seed collection, building skills and working collaboratively to increase our seed supply to meet current and future demand. BRRVLN has hosted 7 seed collection workshops training a pool of local skilled seed collecting Landcare volunteers who are now expanding the geographic locations from where seed is collected.
The impact
Consistency in data collection across the North Coast sets a solid foundation for meeting future seed needs and allows revegetation pursuits to fulfill targeted climate adaptation strategies planning where the genetics of the seed is coming from. Seed that maintains viability in dry storage conditions will be banked as a shared resource at the Coffs Harbour Botanical Gardens Regional Seedbank and will mean we are better prepared to respond quickly where disturbance occurs before the weeds take hold.
Learnings
There are tricks of the trade and sharing knowledge between seedy enthusiasts has been both empowering and fruitful!
Key facts
- 7 Seed training workshops with different Landcare groups
- 97 new seed collecting volunteers trained
- Seed of 45 native species collected