Australia
Queensland
Queensland's arid interior, (Photo: G. Hoyle)
The “Seeds for Life-Queensland” (SFL) is a programme represented by a consortium of 6 State-based organisations in partnership with the Millennium Seed Bank Project. Together they make up the “Q-Seed Partnership”.
Relationship of the SFL program to current conservation strategy
Collecting Acacia seeds
Australia is a signatory to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”) and Queensland is a signatory to the National Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity. As both of these documents contain provision for significant ex-situ native plant conservation and research to support in-situ programs for the conservation of biodiversity, the SFL program takes on considerable significance to Australia and Queensland.
Projects to be undertaken in the SFL program
The following projects will focus on three major outcome themes:
Project One - The conservation of native species as seed from threatened ecosystems.
Project Two - The conservation of native species as seeds from arid lands.
Project Three - Both research projects will work with a third extension and training project which will be aimed at collating, packaging and extending all of the appropriate information on native seed banking to the seed collectors, the seed processors, the seed bankers, and the seed users.
Gemma Hoyle collecting native grasses
The programme has developed a wide network of local volunteers to assist on the seed collection effort. The new seed conservation and storage facilities at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens have enabled the state to initiate a programme of long term conservation from targeted species. Inclusion of University research teams has also fostered a research programme on seed dormancy and a better understanding of the storage requirements from otherwise recalcitrant species.
Of the 7811 vascular plant species in the state, 1368 are listed as being under threat of extinction. The Seeds for Life project will collect 1000 species new to the Millennium Seed Bank over the 3 year life of the partnership. Queensland has the second highest rate of threatened species in Australia, so the “Seeds for Life” project is providing an important and efficient means to support the conservation of these species.