Tom North ‘Seed Banking and National Parks, an ideal conservation partnership’

Abstract
National Parks and reserves are the action we have most commonly taken to conserve species and ecosystems. Under new and changing threats these reserves are not as secure as they once were and further actions are required to ensure the long-term conservation of threatened plant species. Seed banks are an important part of a holistic approach to plant conservation. Since 2012 the National Seed Bank has been working with Commonwealth National Parks to collect key and threatened species across their jurisdictions. This is working particularly well in on Christmas Island, Norfolk Island and in Kakadu where our mutual aims of building capacity and meeting conservation targets are providing an example of how this approach can deliver. This talk will cover recent examples of where the National Seed Bank has developed best practice protocols for the conservation of threatened plant species across our Commonwealth National Parks.

Biography 
Tom North has been Curator at the National Seed Bank for more than 10 years. Prior to this he worked as the Millennium Seed Bank – Australian Coordinator, based at Kings Park and Botanic Garden, the Seed Bank Manager for Murray Seed Bank at Deniliquin and Plant Breeder with Yates Vegetable Seeds at Narromine. He studied Horticulture Science at University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury and Plant Taxonomy at University of Edinburgh/RBG Edinburgh.

Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/COBHW

Booking
Lunchtime talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November. Talks last for 1 hour. We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and we thank all those who have donated. 

Unless otherwise indicated, talks are held in the ANBG Theatrette.

It is a good idea to reserve a seat at the talks that you wish to attend; talks may be booked out very quickly.  Bookings can be made from about 30 days in advance until the night before the talk or until seating limits are reached. 

Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/COBHW

The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Many summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au.