Volunteers in this small group primarily assist the Gardens to build its seedbank collection of local species for research and conservation.
The Seedy Volunteer program at the National Seed Bank (NSB) first commenced in the summer of 2011-12. In 2019 John McGrath Auto Group (JMAG) agreed to sponsor the Seedy Volunteer (Seedy Vol) activities over a three-year period.
The JMAG sponsorship is aimed at promoting the work of the Seedy Vol’s and facilitating their activities over the summer seed collection season. JMAG is providing the Seedy Vol’s with new equipment, training and uniforms. It is also providing us with the resources for extended multi-day field trips to the Australian alps.
The program targets threatened Natural Temperate Grasslands of the Southern Tablelands and Alpine Sphagnum Bogs and Associated Fen communities within the ACT and surrounding NSW. The seed collection is aimed at ensuring we have adequate stocks of rare and threatened species from these vegetation communities in order to undertake research and aid the recovery and restoration.
Making new collections from the ACT to the National Seed Bank (NSB) is becoming more difficult as we narrow our target species to complete the collection of the total ACT flora. By 2023 we are aiming to have representative collections of all 891 vascular plant taxa (excluding orchids) in the NSB.
Over the 2019/2020 summer season the NSB made 110 collections from 30 species of ACT plants.
In this ninth year of the Seedy Vol program, we encountered a number of challenges. Drought had a major impact on native vegetation, resulting in very poor seed production. By the middle of summer, bushfires and smoke had either restricted access to regional reserves or the smoke was so bad that it was dangerous to be outside. This occurred on nine out of the planned 18 days of field trips. For the first time not all 16 enrolled volunteers were able to participate in a field trip. The collection season for 2020/2021 is looking a lot more promising, with a great spring season forecast, and planning is under way for a collection program to assist with bushfire recovery.
Seed collection
Each week during the collecting season, 2 volunteers join an ANBG staff member and drive off to search for ripe seeds in selected bush sites.
Seeds of grasses, non-woody and woody native plants are collected and returned to the Garden, where staff and the Seed Bank Volunteers process the material collected and undertake germination tests. Quality seed is stored in the Seed Bank for conservation and to support research, recovery, garden display and education.
The local collections made by the Seedy Volunteers and ANBG staff are of potential value for ACT and regional conservation projects.
Volunteering
Each Seedy Volunteer is initially trained in the protocols of collecting seeds and taking voucher herbarium specimens. They are then able to assist in the collecting process by photographing the flora and surrounding environment and gathering seeds from identified plants.
Each volunteer is rewarded by pleasant days out in the bush, the opportunity to hone their plant identification skills in the field, as well as contributing to ongoing conservation and research on Australian plants. The Friends assist in this program by coordinating the volunteer roster throughout the season.
In past years, volunteers from the Friends took part in the Alpine Seed Collecting Project.
Margaret Clarke and Barbara Podger collecting in Bicentennial Park, Queanbeyan NSW.
December 2020 (Photo: T. North ANBG)