Western Riverina Seed Workshop Series: Planting the Seeds of Conservation
Ecologist Martin Driver teaches the Western Riverina the enchanting world of native species regeneration through a series of three Seed Workshops near Tabbita.
- LEP23_036_LLC6_4
The issue
Native species restoration in the Western Riverina remains a growing practice for landholder and community conservation efforts. Many have identified that drought, floods, fire, overgrazing and uneducated land management choices have diminished native plants in the Western Riverina and wish to address this environmental challenge by becoming independent in revegetating their land. Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc, the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust and Ecologist Martin Driver teamed together to offer practical information on how to harness native seed for these restoration practices.
The solution
The three seasonal Western Riverina Seed Workshops covered a broad range of topics around local native vegetation. The first highlighted the value of native and remnant vegetation, identified and assessed seed sources, and detailed objectives and comprehensive options in site management, restoration, regeneration and revegetation. The second focused on native seed knowledge and skills, availability, production and projected harvest, seed banking licencing and record keeping, storage networks, soil moisture status and seed dispersal methods and management. The last rounded out the seasonal seed information with details on seed collection including ripeness for harvest, different techniques for collection, processing and storage, seed data and tracking, and the what, when, where and how native seed is best used.
The impact
Throughout the workshops, attendees learnt seasonal native species seed information detailing land, weed and grazing management, species identification, seed collection, cleaning and propagation, planting, direct seeding, mapping and other helpful resources. Learnings were focused on practical and achievable land management techniques to support landowners integrating biodiversity conservation into their agricultural landscapes, to meet objectives in both farming economy and environmental restoration.
Key facts
- The Workshop series provided information, skills and resources to assist landholders to enhance and conserve biodiversity on their property.