Cooks River Seed Stores
Cooks River Seed, Too Valuable To Waste
There are a few precious remnants of original vegetation left in the Cooks River catchment. Seed collected from these remnants is a valuable resource for revegetation projects within the area.
Why Is It Important To Collect Seed From Original Vegetation?
There are slight genetic differences within the same species from different areas. Preserving this genetic diversity through seed stores is important for lots of reasons:
- Genetic differences within a species ensure the survival of that species e.g. during stressful times like droughts; some plants will be better adapted to dry conditions than others.
- Genetic diversity within species can also result in different flowering times for plants in different locations. This can mean that there is food for birds or other animals that feed on these flowers or fruit over a longer period of time.
It is important to plant species of local provenance to help preserve genetic diversity.
The provenance of a plant species is defined as the range within which that species retains a similar genetic make-up to its population.
Planting the same species, grown from seed collected from plants from outside the local area can dilute the local gene pool for that species. These plants will cross breed and over time the genetic diversity will be lost. Planting species of local provenance will ensure a higher survival rate because genetic diversity within species results from plants' adaptations to local conditions.
Unfortunately the future of vegetation remnants can be threatened if too much seed is collected from them. For this reason it is not permitted to collect seed from parks, reserves or bushland unless you have permission from the owner or a licence from NPWS.
Note: Please refer to the 'Native Seed Bank Code of Practice' (159KB).
Cooks River Seed Stores
The Cooks River Seedbank and Remnant Restoration Project is managed by Greening Australia (NSW) on behalf of the Cooks River Foreshores Working Group. This project aims to co-ordinate seed collection within the catchment. If all those who collect seed from remnants within the catchment communicate to exchange information and swap excess seed this will help protect our remnants.
If Bushcare or Landcare groups would like help storing seed or would like to swap or buy some of this seed for a local revegetation project, within the Cooks River Catchment, contact the appropriate seedbank manager:
Stephen Bladwell
Marrickville Community Nursery
sbladwell@ga.org.auJon Stiebel
Strathfield Municipal Council
jon.stiebel@strathfield.nsw.gov.au