NATIONAL THREATENED SPECIES DAY: 7 September 2011

This special day is commemorated nationwide on 7 September each year to encourage people to help conserve Australia’s unique native fauna and flora. There are a number of things you can do to help threatened species and other native plants and animals.

*Visit Communities in Landscapes , a project with partners including OEH and Landcare to find out the latest biodiversity related news and upcoming events you can participate in.
*Head to one of our beautiful national parks. Visit Wild Wild World to find out what's on near you.
*Visit a Zoo! There are active conservation and captive breeding programs for Australian and internationally threatened species.
*Adopt a corroboree frog ! The Southern Corroboree Frog is threatened with extinction and needs your help.
*Find out how you can Save a Species by supporting your state seed bank.
*Check out the Australian Museum's ALIVE program for a range of events and exhibitions which celebrate biodiversity.
*Visit the Foundation for National Parks website to discover how you can become a Backyard Buddy and help biodiversity in you own backyard.
*Consider entering into a Voluntary Conservation Agreement or making your property a Wildlife Refuge if you own land with suitable habitat for threatened species and other native plants and animals.

CONFERENCE: Reading the landscape, 11 - 13 October, Dubbo, NSW

Reading the landscape
linking biodiversity, research and management

For communities to live and produce sustainably, we need to better understand our natural system and maintain plants and animals needed for a healthy landscape.

Land managers, agency staff, researchers and the wider community are invited to attend at Dubbo's Taronga Western Plains Zoo to:

*better understand what 'biodiversity' means and why it is important
*talk to researchers, experts and practitioners who are improving our local fauna and flora
*learn about the science, information and resources that can support on-ground work
*see best practice for preserving and enhancing our threatened native wildlife
*network and meet other people who are committed to making a difference

The three-day program, starts with lunch on Tuesday 11 October at Dubbo's Taronga Western Plains Zoo finishes after lunch on Thursday 13th.
For more information click here

REVIEW: Review of the Livestock Health and Pest Authorities (Rural Land Protection Act 1998)

Unique to NSW, the Livestock Health and Pest Authorities (LHPAs) have a 150-year tradition of landholder-funded, district-based delivery of livestock health and pest management programs to safeguard agricultural production and contribute to the national biosecurity system. The 14 LHPAs have staff at almost 60 locations across the state.

Core areas of responsibility are animal health, pest animal and insect control and travelling stock reserves.

Widespread landholder and industry concerns lead to the review of the LHPAs before the implementation of any new rating system.The review is being conducted by an independent consultant, Mr Terry Ryan, and a final report will be presented to the NSW Minister for Primary Industries by the end of November 2011.

For further information click here

GRANTS: Natural Landcare Grants

Landcare Australia and Be Natural are offering grants of up to $5,000 to voluntary environmental community groups with existing projects tackling local environmental issues that have not recieved funding in the past 12 months.

If this sounds like you, check out the details

Applications close Monday October 10th.

AUSTRALIAN SEED BANK PARTNERSHIP: Partner stories

The Australian Seed Bank Partnership aims to safeguard Australia’s plant populations and communities against further extinction through ex situ conservation; helping to ensure our plants are kept safe for future generations.

The Partnership

*Maintains a nationally cooperative seed banking effort.

* Collects and stores seed in secure conservation seed banks as long-term insurance against loss of biodiversity.

*Researches seed germination and storage requirements to improve conservation and restoration outcomes from seed banking.

*Trains and builds Australian expertise in seed science to support the conservation and restoration.

*Shares knowledge about Australian flora and the Partnership's work.

Learn more about the partners and read their plant stories.

GRANTS: Australian Biological Resources Study

*Research Grants

*Capacity-Building Grants

Australia is home to around 8 per cent of the world’s plant and animal species — with an estimated 566,400 species occurring here. Every day we are making new and exciting discoveries about Australia’s biodiversity, yet only about 25 per cent of Australia’s species have been formally described. The Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) is contributing to furthering our knowledge of the taxonomy of Australia’s flora and fauna. Over the last twelve months, research projects funded by the ABRS have resulted in the description of 19 new genera and 165 new species — however, there is still much more to be discovered.

Research Grants
• The ABRS offers 3 year Research and Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants where the researcher’s primary aim is to undertake taxonomic research on the Australian biota or to develop products that aid in the dissemination of taxonomic information.
Capacity-Building Grants
• The ABRS offers Capacity-Building Grants for taxonomic and systematics research on Australian flora and fauna in the form of Honours, Masters and Ph.D awards.
• The ABRS is also offering applicants beginning a Ph.D on an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) in 2012, the opportunity to top up the existing APA rate ($22,860 in 2011) by $10,000 per year.
• In addition to these grants, the ABRS is offering Bush Blitz Research Supplements to Ph.D students. The Supplement provides an additional $10,000 research support for a project requiring taxonomy or systematics that can be linked to Bush Blitz. The award also gives the student an opportunity to attend one Bush Blitz survey.

Applications for 2012–13 close 28 October 2011

For application forms and further details on ABRS Research Grants and Capacity-Building Grants or Bush Blitz Capacity-Building Grants

NEW PUBLICATION: Flora of Australia, Volume 39 - Alismatales to Arales

Publishers: Australian Biological Resources Study/CSIRO Publishing

Year: 25 July 2011

Volume 39 of the Flora of Australia describes 17 families of monocots in 76 genera and 256 species. Most of the families are aquatic, and include the sea-grasses, pond weeds, and some major agricultural weed species. Four families are entirely or mostly terrestrial. The aquatic families are all small in number of species, and two, Juncaginaceae and Posidoniaceae, have their greatest diversity in Australia. Lemnaceae contains the world’s smallest and most reduced flowering plants, some as tiny as 1 mm long.

Of the terrestrial families, all are predominantly tropical, with their greatest diversity outside Australia. Arecaceae (palms) and Pandanaceae are often large trees, and include species of economic importance as food and oil crops, fibre, timber and other construction materials, as well as many horticultural species. Araceae are mostly climbers but also arborescent to aquatic herbs, with several important food species, and many horticultural species and cultivars.
Thirty authors, illustrators and photographers have contributed to this volume.

The publication is available from CSIRO publishing.

NSW TRAVELLILNG STOCK ROUTES AND RESERVES CONFERENCE: Outcomes

On July 28th, 2011, nearly 100 delegates from a wide range of stakeholder groups came together in Orange to discuss the Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves (TSR) network. The aim of the conference, which was hosted by the National Parks Association of NSW, was to begin developing a framework of management principles for the shared and sustainable use of the TSR network.

Groups represented at the conference included NSW Government agencies and departments such as Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, Catchment Management Authorities, Crown Lands, the Local Government and Shires Association, Fisheries and the Office of Environment and Heritage; the Federal Government Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities; a number of Aboriginal groups including the NSW Aboriginal Land Council; several universities; a number of recreational fishing groups; the Game Council; a wide range of conservation, environmental and Landcare groups; farmers; educators; birdwatchers and other interested groups and individuals.

Conference Outcomes
Key consensus points
There was a broad consensus throughout the day that communication and connection amongst groups and people with an interest in TSRs needs to be maintained and increased, to allow effective promotion and protection of the many values of TSRs. During the final discussion session, there was general agreement to five key requirements for effective management of the TSR network. They were:
1. An authority with oversight of TSRs that has stable and adequate resourcing for the task. This could build on existing institutional arrangements such as the LHPA, which is currently under review.
2. Accessible data, providing more information than is currently available and in a more coordinated and streamlined format.
3. Representative management that brings together the various values and interests and facilitated networking and information sharing
4. Educational programs to raise awareness of the wide importance of TSRs and help recognise and protect Aboriginal cultural heritage
5. An assessment of the economic significance of TSRs using a framework such as Total Economic Value, to recognise the full range of values including non use values.

For more information on the conference including reading and viewing presentations go to the National Parks Association of NSW website.

CALL FOR COMMENTS: Broad Leaf Tea-tree Woodlands - nominated for listing under EPBC Act

The Federal environment department is assessing the Broad Leaf Tea-tree Woodlands in High Rainfall Coastal North Queensland for potential listing as a threatened ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

This ecological community was nominated for listing as a threatened ecological community under the EPBC Act as part of a process to streamline the listing of state endemic species and ecological communities under federal and state processes. The draft listing advice extract is currently open for public consultation and can be downloaded from the department’s website.

Comments close on Mon 15 August 2011.

ANPC: Call for articles for Australasian Plant Conservation Vol. 20 (2)

We are seeking articles for the September-November 2011 issue of Australasian Plant Conservation (APC), the bulletin of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC).

The issue will be on the theme ‘Conservation and restoration of coastal and estuarine ecosystems’.

Most of Australia’s population lives on or near the coast, and numerous community groups are involved in plant conservation activities there. Rapid urbanisation, catchment degradation and the emerging threat of climate change have led to concern about coastal ecosystem conservation. If you or your group has been doing plant conservation or vegetation restoration work in coastal or estuarine ecosystems, we encourage you to write an article about it.

· What are your visions and goals?
· What were your challenges?
· What have been your successes?
· What has worked really well, and what wouldn’t you repeat again?
· How have you planned for climate change?

Tell us your story to help others learn or get ideas or inspiration from what you have done.

General articles not on the theme are also welcome.

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 for the September - November 2011 issue is Friday 12 August 2011.

If you are intending to submit an article or wish to discuss possibilities, please contact the Editor, Selga Harrington, by 22 July. Your final article must be submitted to Selga by email at selga.harrington@gmail.com. Guidelines for authors about the APC style and scope are located on the ANPC website

ANPC: Myrtle Rust Workshops

Myrtle Rust – a new threat to Australia’s biodiversity

A one-day course on Myrtle Rust recognition, reporting, risk assessment, and management concepts and techniques.

Numbers at each location will be capped – early registration is advised. Full venue details will be sent individually to all registrants.
WORKSHOP DATES AND LOCATIONS
Nowra
9.30am – 5.00pm
28 June 2011

Narooma
9.30am – 5.00pm
30 June 2011

WHAT YOU’LL GET
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 essential information on the disease, and help you to:
- identify regional species and ecological communities at risk
- decide what to monitor before and after disease arrival
- assess the risks and consequences of spreading the disease, and how to avoid doing so.

Costs (GST-inclusive) – except for OEH pre-paid staff see details on ANPC website.
$140.00 for individual and community-group attendees
$165.00 for government, semi-government and commercial organisations
Workshop fees cover: trainer experienced in Myrtle Rust, a detailed workbook, venue costs, morning and afternoon tea, lunch.

Registrations
To register, download the registration form. Please return forms to the address on the form and not to ANPC.

ANPC: Business Manager position vacant

ANPC Business Manager

Applications are invited for the position of Business Manager for the ANPC.

This part time position is one of two located in the ANPC National Office situated in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Acton, ACT. The position is available initially for one year with a possible extension of a further year. Hours offered are 22.5 hours a week over three or four days.

Employment will be under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 at the Social and Community Services Employee Level 5.

The duties include:
- assisting with seeking funding through grants, sponsorship and donations;
- development (assisting the ANPC Officers) of business models for projected events;
- assistance in the codification of procedures and policy;
- liaison with a wide range of organisations, clients and Committee members;
- financial management and reporting;
- keeping good records of the organisation and its membership; and
- assisting with recruitment, training and supervision of office volunteers.

Click here to download and print the position description which includes selection criteria.

Your application should address the selection criteria and be sent to anpc@anpc.asn.au no later than 5:00pm on Friday 8 July 2011. You can post an application to: ANPC, GPO Box 1777, Canberra ACT 2601

For more information contact the ANPC office on 02 6250 9509.