newsletter May 2011

RIAWA Newsletter May 2011 Page 2

Revegetation industRy association of WesteRn austRalia inc.

All correspondence should be sent to the Development Officer,

Delia Baldock

RIAWA

PO Box 3393, Bassendean, WA 6942

Ph: 08 9270 0999 Fax: 6278 4988

enquiries@riawa.com.au

Management committee

Chairperson Geoff Cockerton (Landcare Holdings)

Vice Chairperson David Venning (Tranen Pty Ltd)

Secretary Luke Sweedman (Botanical Gardens &

Parks Authority)

Treasurer Markus Mikli (Ecoscape Aust)

Committee Sam Atkinson (Landcare Holdings)

Committee Linda Thomson (Lullfitz Nursery)

Committee Murray Penter (Greening Australia WA)

Committee Joe Grehan (Dingle Bird Environmental)

Accreditation Coordinator Jeremy Macknay (Landcare Holdings)

Newsletter Coordinator Jol Ritchie (Astron Environmental Services)

Webmaster Delia Baldock (Landcare Holdings)

Photos Courtesy of Jol Ritchie, Edward Smithers and David Venning.

All articles and contributions of interest are welcomed and should be

submitted in electronic format as a Word document or in Rich Text to

the Administration Officer enquiries@riawa.com.au

Front cover: Casuarina sp. - courtesy of Jol Ritchie.

MeMbeR benefits

• Representationofindustryissueswithgovernmentagenciesand

NGO’s

• Professionalrecognitionofadherencetohighestindustry

standards and quality

• Networkingwithfellowindustryprofessionals

• Opportunityforinputintoindustrysubmissions,papers,guidelines

and committees

• Informationseminars

• Latestindustrynewsfornewtechniques,methodologiesand

legislative changes

• Accesstofreeadvicethroughthecommitteeandmembers

• Websitelisting

• Freenewsletter

• UseofAssociationlogoonyourownmarketingmaterial

• Positivecontributiontowardssustainableconservationoutcomes

by improvement to the standards of native plant revegetation

RIAWA Newsletter May 2011 Page 3

WelcometotheMay2011editionoftheRIAWAnewsletter.TheRIAWA

Committee has been hard at work developing standards for the seed

industry and a formal accreditation process for seed collectors and

merchants. To achieve this, Jeremy Macknay has been employed

byRIAWAasAccreditationCoordinator,andiscurrentlydraftingthe

application,approval&auditingforms.WewouldliketothankRIAWA

members and industry stakeholders whom have been contributing

hundredsofhoursofefforttowardsthishugetask.RIAWAplansto

have a draft published for public comment in mid-2011.

RIAWAmembersmetwithstafffromtheDepartmentofEnvironment

and Conservation in November 2010 to discuss flora licensing issues.

Inparticular,RIAWAconveyedmembers’concernsabouttheamount

of time it takes for Commercial Purposes licenses to be issued, and

how these administrative delays are impacting on both conservation

andcommercialoutcomes.RIAWAwillcontinuetopromotemember

interests through our relationship with DEC, and members are invited

todiscussanyissueswiththeRIAWACommittee.

RIAWAhasalsobeenworkingwithFlorabank(whomreceivedfunding

from Agrifood Australia) to assist with the design and development

of a seed buyers training course for the end-users of seed and

revegetation. We believe that this course will be an important step

towards buyer education through the provision of nationally recognised

qualifications which will both improve revegetation outcomes, and the

prices paid for quality seed.

editoRial

RIAWAcontinuestobuildanexcellentworkingrelationshipwithMain

Roads WA to improve roadside revegetation outcomes throughout

WesternAustralia.In2010wecontinuedworkingtogetherwith

the goal of achieving more successful and cost effective roadside

revegetation outcomes.

RIAWAencouragesallofitsmemberstosubmitarticlestothe

newsletter to assist in making it a valuable forum for the exchange

and dissemination of industry information and a means to promote

discussion related to revegetation, horticultural and vegetation

management activities. We plan to increase the circulation and

frequency of the newsletter throughout 2011 – 2012 providing feature

articles, membership profiles, industry website links and literature

reviews, including events occurring across Western Australia and

nationally around Australia. You can start by submitting articles and

information for publication today!

RIAWA Newsletter May 2011 Page 4

RIAWA commenced a Seed Accreditation Project in January 2010

aimed at improving seed collection standards and hence seed

quality to achieve better revegetation outcomes and improved

professionalism amongst those involved in the seed industry in

Western Australia.

current industry standards:

The seed industry is self-regulating apart from the issuing of collection licenses by the Department of Environment and Conservation under its responsibilities in accordance with the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WA). However there is a lack of information for end users and for many technical aspects of the seed industry covering collection, processing and storage.

seed accreditation Process:

A subcommittee was first formed to gather information in early 2010. A workshop and meetings were held with the Committee and industry representatives to formulate the groundwork for the accreditation process including setting seed standards and the procedures for implementing accreditation. An Accreditation Co-ordinator, Jeremy Macknay, has been appointed to help develop and run the project. A guide will also be produced.

issues being considered:

• Appropriatemethodsforcollectionofindividualspecies

• LabellingofSeedbatches

• Provenancedetails

• Adequaterecordkeeping

• Databaseforstocklists

• Seedpackaging

• Environmentalconditionsforseedstorage

• Storagerecords

• Appropriatepestcontrol

• Gradingofseed:purity,viability,germination

future schedule:

• Continuingdevelopmentofdraftdocumentswhichwillthenbe

uploaded onto the Association’s website

• Anindustrycommentperiod

• Assessmentandproductionofthefinalaccreditation

documentation

• Projectlaunchworkshopforindustrystakeholders

• Launchoftheformalprocess

The Association aims to complete the Accreditation Project in the latter half of 2011.

tHe seed accReditation PRoJect

RIAWA Newsletter May 2011 Page 5

WHateveR HaPPened to dieback?

FunnilyenoughthisisaquestionIoftengetaskedwhenItellpeople

thatIamaDiebackInterpreter.Forthoseofyouwhodon’tknow,a

DiebackInterpreterissomeonewhomapsDiebackoccurrencein

nativevegetation.It’sasiftheproblemofDiebackmagically

disappeared or was resolved somehow. They usually go on to say

“there used to be a lot of media coverage about Dieback back in the

late 80’s early 90’s but you never hear anything about it these days,

has it been cured?” or “Dieback is a disease that attacks and kills

Jarrah trees that’s why it’s called Jarrah Dieback right?”

This highlights not only the misinformation about Phytophthora

Dieback but also the lack of information presented in the media about

the current status of the pathogen in terms of its ongoing impact on

WA’s biodiversity. An article usually appears in the media a day or two

priortotheannualDiebackInformationGroupmeetingandthenthe

issue is not heard of for another year.

According to the most recent State of the Environment Report

(Environmental Protection Authority 2007) Phytophthora Dieback,

which is listed as a Priority 1 threat, is the third biggest threat to

biodiversityaftersalinityandclimatechange.Itisamoreserious

threat than weeds, clearing of native vegetation, acid sulphate soils

and soil erosion. Dieback creates environmental management

problems for land use planning and development, road construction,

timber harvesting, mining and other industries, since they involve

movement of soil.

Raising awareness in relation to the ongoing impact that Dieback is

havingonournaturalenvironmentisakeyconcernofRIAWA.Oneof

thekeyobjectivesofRIAWAin2011istolobbybothStateandFederal

governments to increase funding and develop appropriate instruments

such as an EPA Guidance Statement to provide guidelines and

improvemanagementofDiebackinWA.ItisimperativethatRIAWA

members apply best practice Dieback management when undertaking

soil disturbing in susceptible vegetation in areas of the Southwest and

Midwest that receive >400mm of annual rainfall.

Dieback disease expression in Kwongan heath

Below are links to Best Practice guidelines for the management of

Phytophthora Dieback and a link to the Dieback Working Group’s

website.

best Practice guidelines

• NationalBestPractice

www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/p-cinnamomi/

index.html

• DepartmentofEnvironment&Conservation

www.dieback.org.au/download.cfm?DownloadFile=0E25584B-

A0CC-3C8C-D9B18C16A1D41184

• ManagingPhytophthoraDiebackinBushland:AGuidefor

Landholders and Community Conservation Groups

www.dwg.org.au/files/ManagingPhytophthoraDieback.pdf

• ManagingPhytophthoraDiebackGuidelinesforLocalGovernment

www.dwg.org.au/files/dieback_lga_guidelines.pdf

• ManagementofPhytophthoraDiebackinExtractiveIndustries:

Best Practice Guidelines

www.dwg.org.au/files/ExtractiveIndustry%20DiebackGuidelines.

pdf

www.dwg.org.au/index.cfm

Article by: Joseph Grehan – Dingle Bird Environmental Pty Ltd

RIAWA Newsletter May 2011 Page 6

nRM links – industRy discussion foRuMs

Natural Resource Management Links (NRM Links) is an online

industry discussion forum and knowledge base established to

promote the viewpoints and expertise of Australia’s diverse

cross-section of practitioners within the environment and

resource sector.

RIAWAmembersandpractitionersthroughoutWesternAustraliaare

invited to join a growing membership base of over 200 industry

representatives to strengthen communication pathways and exchange

innovative professional or personal viewpoints on contemporary

environmental management issues.

NRM Links is currently seeking expressions of interest from

practitioners with expertise in any of the forum topics who would like to

facilitate, moderate or lead discussions and postings within the industry

forums. Forum Facilitator positions are available to interested parties

whom would like the opportunity to:

• Promotethesharingofscientificandmanagementknowledge/

information

• Enhancecommunicationpathways,projectpartnershipsand

networking capacity

• Encouragesynergiesbetweeninformationandknowledge

management systems

• Developmonitoring,evaluation,reportingandimprovement(MERI)

requirements

• Improveprogramlogic,cyclesanddecisionmaking

• Alignregionalinvestmentwithon-groundenvironmentaloutcomes

Please visit www.nrmlinks.org.au or www.nrmlinks.org.au/forum/

forum.php to register and particpate.

<< A snapshot of the NRM Links website

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