ARTICLE : New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

 Oct 2003 – New Zealand Plant Conservation Network officially launched

Preventing the extinction of New Zealand’s most threatened native plants and plant communities is the vision of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, officially launched in Wellington in August.   The need for collaboration, to ensure protection for New Zealand plant life, has never been greater and the establishment of a national plant network in New Zealand provides one mechanism to achieve this.

We all understand the importance of New Zealand as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ but in a recent conservation assessment, 119 indigenous vascular plant taxa were classified as acutely threatened in New Zealand with a further 102 taxa in decline.   In addition, 89 bryophyte and 50 fungi taxa are also acutely threatened (for definitions of the new threat categories see the Network’s website www.nzpcn.org.nz.   Acutely threatened plant species include Wellington species such as the Endangered Lepidium oleraceum (Cook’s scurvy grass) and the Critical Olearia gardneri.   Both face extinction in the wild as a result of human development, spread of weeds and damage caused by animal pests.

Over 100 people attended the inaugural meeting of the Network, including botanists, horticulturalists and representatives of restoration groups, botanic gardens, zoos, local councils, universities and the Department of Conservation.   The main focus of the meeting was the protection and recovery of threatened plants and their associated communities.   The meeting was structured around the targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).   Global and national plant conservation issues were discussed and priorities for action were determined to prevent further decline in indigenous species.   The full text of the Global Strategy can be obtained from the home page of the website www.biodiv.org.

Dr Kingsley Dixon (President of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation) gave the opening address to the network by describing the 16 targets of the GSPC.   These include protection of important plant areas, education and training, cultivation of threatened species and species restoration (by establishing a national network New Zealand had already implemented Target 16 of the Global Strategy).

Peter de Lange (Chief Plant Conservation Scientist at the Department of Conservation) then described the precarious nature of New Zealand’s threatened plants and identified key areas for future work including biosystematics, legal protection of plants and the need to include cryptogams and fungi in conservation programmes.

Sir Paul Reeves, former Governor-General of New Zealand, launched the Network and received gifts from the Network in the form of threatened plants to be used in local restoration projects.   The new national website (www.nzpcn.org.nz) devoted to native plant conservation was then launched.   The site is intended to provide information about native plant conservation in New Zealand and, in particular, information about threatened species and key people.

Workshops were held to determine how New Zealand is to implement the GSPC.   Some key recommendations and conclusions from the workshops were that:
• The network should act as a coordinating body encouraging development of lists of threatened plants and communities (both national and regional) and promoting involvement of all agencies and public.
• The Network should help to collect information needed to be able to complete threatened species lists.   Publicising gaps in knowledge of biodiversity (e.g., algae, fungi, bryophytes and data deficient species) and raising awareness of reasons to protect plant communities and species.
• An Important Plant Area project in New Zealand would be good advocacy for plant conservation in New Zealand and throughout Oceania, good for providing a baseline of the current state of important plant areas in New Zealand and good for prioritising future protection efforts for native plant life.
• The network should act as the lead organisation for the Important Plant Area project, establishing a key stakeholder group and coordinating meetings to develop a national process for the project.
• Greater protection for acutely threatened plants in New Zealand is a high priority and the Network should pursue legal protection for native plants through scoping issues and options and reviewing overseas experience.
• The network should develop plant conservation training programmes and work to extend the skills of existing specialists.
• The Network should set up regional plant conservation networks (10 in total).
• The Network should identify plant conservation education resources and programmes that currently exist (i.e., undertake a stock take) and promote examples of good practice.
• The Network should identify gaps in plant conservation education and aim to fill the gaps by preparing and implementing an education strategy.

Since its establishment in April 2003, the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network has grown to over 130 members and will play a key coordinating role in the drive to ensure protection for New Zealand’s plant life.   A regular E-newsletter is posted out to members each month and in due course a Plant Conservation Bulletin may be provided 4 times a year.

Membership of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network is open to any individual, group or government agency.   You can join directly over the website or download a copy of the membership form.   Subscriptions are as follows: Individual – $30, Concession – $20, Corporate $200, NGO – $75.   For more information, or to join the network, please contact us as follows or see the information provided on the website:

NEW ZEALAND PLANT CONSERVATION NETWORK, P.O. BOX 16-102, WELLINGTON.   Email :   info@nzpcn.org.nz Website:   www.nzpcn.org.nz

John Sawyer, Secretary, New Zealand Plant Conservation Network Networ.   email:   secretary@nzpcn.org.nz.   Work email:   jsawyer@doc.govt.nz

NZ Plant Conservation Network Council

We congratulate Robyn Smith who was appointed to the council at the inaugural meeting of the network at Te Papa on 2 August – see story overleaf.   Robyn spent seven years as Supervisor at Percy Scenic Reserve, Lower Hutt, where, among other work, she managed the A.P. Druce plant collection and the alpine plant collection.   Robyn then spent ten months as Curator – Team Leader at Wellington Zoo, before becoming Curator Manager at Otari - Wilton’s Bush on 1 September.

BotSoc Committee

 June 2003 – New Zealand Plant Conservation Network established

The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network has now been incorporated and a committee appointed, chaired by Mike Oates.   The vision of the network is that:   no indigenous species of plant will become extinct, nor be placed at risk of extinction, as a result of human action or indifference, and that the rich, diverse and unique plant life of New Zealand will be recognised, cherished and restored.

Members of the Network will collaborate to protect and restore New Zealand’s indigenous plant life and their natural habitats and associated species.   This will be achieved in various ways such as through:
• dissemination of information about indigenous plant species
• coordination of ex-situ management of threatened plants
• plant conservation training programmes
• undertaking conservation activities to protect threatened plants.

It is to be established in part as a contribution towards implementing the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy and the Global Plant Conservation Strategy.   Membership will comprise a range of people, community groups and organisations throughout New Zealand.   Reasons for establishing such a network are that:
• Plant conservation practice will be improved.
v There will be increased efficiencies in achieving plant conservation outcomes, and overlaps in work will be minimised.
v Increased resources will be generated to focus on plant conservation priorities.
• More information will be freely available to those involved in plant conservation.

An inaugural meeting of the Network is to be held at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington on Saturday 2 August 2003.   More information about this meeting and how to register, will be sent out in the near future.   Please show this article to others who may be interested in the Network.   For further information about the Network, membership or the forthcoming inaugural meeting please contact:
Mike Oates (michael.oates@wcc.govt.nz)
John Sawyer (jsawyer@doc.govt.nz)
Tim Park (tpark@qe2.org.nz)
Barbara Mitcalfe (ph 475 7149)

 June 2003 – A global strategy for plant conservation

International Day for Biological Diversity – 22 May 2004 Biodiversity: Food, Water and Health for All.

This article was adapted from a paper given by Kingsley Dixon, David Given and Tim Pierce at the Australian Network for Plant Conservation conference in Geelong, Australia in February 2003.

For more information see:   www.biodiv.org.

Since the Convention on Biological Diversity was ratified in 1992 there has been a continuing decline in the status of the world’s plant life.   This has resulted in a new global initiative to specifically address plant conservation.   It is led by Botanic Gardens Conservation International, in collaboration with technical and professional bodies around the world.

They have proposed a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation with sixteen targets designed to guide conservation of threatened species and ecosystems.   The strategy recognises that effective, long-term conservation will involve a wide range of partners – governments, institutions, NGOs, and local communities.   The strategy has well-defined and achievable goals for integrated (ex situ and in situ) conservation of plant diversity, linked to targets for research, information management, public education and awareness to attain these goals.   The sixteen targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation are provided below.   In New Zealand there is now a need to work towards national implementation of this strategy.   This will mean developing:
(a) Plant conservation targets for Australasia.
(b) Baseline data and indicators to monitor progress towards achieving the targets.
(c) A mechanism for coordinating work to achieve the targets.

Target 1:   A widely accessible working list of known plant species, as a step towards a complete world flora.   A working list of known plant species is fundamental to plant conservation.   How many species exist and which are being lost?   For many organisms there are working lists but the challenge remains to continue taxonomic work, especially of neglected organisms.

Target 2:   A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional and international levels.   Globally, over 60,000 species have been evaluated for conservation status according to internationally accepted Red List criteria, of which 34,000 are classified as globally threatened with extinction.

Target 3:   Development of models with protocols for plant conservation and sustainable use, based on research and practical experience.   There is a considerable body of research but little affects conservation management.   Achievement of this target will require more research, greater synergy between research and management agencies, and exhaustive ‘on ground’ testing of management options.

Target 4:   At least 10% of each of the world’s ecological regions effectively conserved.   In general, forests and mountain areas are well represented in protected areas, while natural grasslands, wetlands, lowland forests and coastal and estuarine ecosystems, are poorly represented.   The target implies an increased representation of different ecological regions in protected areas, and greater effectiveness of protected areas.

Target 5:   Protection of 50% of the most important areas for plant diversity assured.   The most important areas of plant diversity can be identified by criteria such as endemism, species richness, uniqueness of habitats, presence of relict ecosystems, and the value of ecosystems services.   Where are these places in New Zealand?

Target 6:   At least 30% of production lands managed consistent with the conservation of plant diversity.   Conservation of plant diversity is an integral part of any form of land management and so protection is required, in the production landscape, for indigenous species.   Management must also avoid significant adverse impacts on plant diversity in surrounding ecosystems.

Target 7:   60% of the world’s threatened species conserved in situ.   This is seen as a step towards effective in situ conservation of all threatened species but how is “conservation in situ” defined?   Is it sufficient to conserve one population of many, or even a single individual, or does the target imply ‘effective’ conservation that includes most significant genetic variation in the species?

Target 8:   60% of threatened plant species in accessible ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and 10% of them included in recovery and restoration programmes.   This will require a greater level of commitment to ex-situ management of threatened plant species in New Zealand.

Target 9:   70% of the genetic diversity of crops and other major socio-economically valuable plant species conserved, and associated local and indigenous knowledge maintained.   This requires that the genetic diverity of economically valuable plant species and their wild relatives are fully protected.

Target 10:   Management plans prepared for at least 100 major alien species that threaten plants, plant communities and associated habitats and ecosystems.   Many of New Zealand’s major alien species that threaten plant communities and associated habitats are already subject to management.   This is a good quantitative target whose achievement can be monitored.   It also implies that the management plans are being implemented.

Target 11:   No species of wild flora endangered by international trade.   This will mean continued vigilance over international trade in endangered plant species and monitoring of plant trade in so far as they relate to CITES.

Target 12:   30% of plant-based products derived from sources that are sustainably managed.   Sustained management integrates social and environmental considerations, such as the fair and equitable sharing of benefits and the participation of indigenous and local communities.   It is expected that global markets will ask more and more for evidence and certification relating to export production including nature conservation and ecological sustainability criteria.

Target 13:   The decline of plant resources, and associated local and indigenous knowledge, innovations and practices, that support sustainable livelihoods, local food security and health care, halted.   Plant diversity underpins livelihoods, food security and health care and this target is consistent with one of the widely agreed international development targets, namely to “ensure that current trends in the loss of environmental resources are effectively reversed”.

Target 14:   The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation incorporated into communication, education and public awareness programmes.   Communication, education and the raising of public awareness about the importance of plant diversity are crucial for the achievement of all the targets of the strategy.   This target refers to both informal and formal education at all levels.   This is not a quantitative target and so is achievable within the short term.

Target 15:   The number of trained people working with appropriate facilities in plant conservation increased, according to national needs, to achieve the targets of this strategy.   An achievable goal, through development of training and development programmes for volunteers, community and government throughout New Zealand.

Target 16:   Networks for plant conservation established or strengthened at national, regional and international levels.   Networks provide mechanisms for information exchange and development of common policies, coordination of effort among many stakeholders, optimise the efficient allocation of resources, and can minimise duplication.