Brad Desmond ‘Myrtle Mayday: safeguarding our vulnerable Myrtaceae species from Myrtle Rust’

Brad will describe how coordinated national action can turn urgent threat responses into practical, lasting conservation outcomes for threatened Myrtaceae species, including some species in remote locations only accessible by helicopter for seed collection.

Biography

Brad is the Coordinator of the Australian Seed Bank Partnership, Australia’s only national alliance of conservation seed banks. An environmental scientist with over 10 years’ experience in NGO, industry and public service sectors, Brad facilitates collaborative seed banking, research and knowledge sharing projects for the network and most recently delivered the highly successful communications campaign ASBP15, celebrating the 15 year anniversary of the Partnership in Australia.

Abstract

Myrtle Rust is a devastating plant disease caused by the invasive fungal pathogen Austropuccinia psidii. Since its arrival in Australia in 2010, it has caused devastating impacts to our iconic species in the Myrtaceae family, which includes iconic paperbarks, tea-trees, eucalypts, guavas, and lilly pillies. Securing seed and germplasm collections provides a critical insurance policy for Myrtaceae species that may continue to decline in the wild. The Australian Seed Bank Partnership’s Myrtle Mayday project worked to safeguard nationally threatened Myrtaceae species, that are not held or, poorly represented, in our conservation seed banks. Working across five Partners in WA, Victoria, NSW and QLD, ex situ collections were made for 31 nationally threatened Myrtaceae species, proactively capturing germplasm (seeds and cuttings) from wild populations, and undertaking germination trials to test seed viability. This collecting effort was not without challenges with some target species found in very remote locations, only accessible via helicopter and, others that have not produced fruit since the 2019–20 bushfires. This project has provided a safety net for some of Australia’s vulnerable Myrtaceae species, and shows how coordinated national action can turn urgent threat response into practical, lasting conservation outcomes. It was funded by the Australian Government’s Saving Native Species Program and supports implementation of the Insurance targets and actions of the Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032.

Booking Link – https://www.trybooking.com/DNXHC

One-hour talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November. We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations to support Gardens’ programs and development and thank all those who have donated.

Please note: unless otherwise indicated, talks are in the ANBG Theatrette.

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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. Some 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