Upper Lachlan Landcare has partnered with the Southern Tablelands group of the Australian Plants Society to launch a native seed collection project to provide the critical stock needed to help restore landscapes in the Kanangra-Boyd to Wyangala (K2W) Link.

Supported through GER’s partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare Australia (IFAW), K2W’s project will supply native seed and plants for on-ground efforts to restore, recover and build the resilience of bushfire affected areas and other vulnerable landscapes in the region.

“The native seeds and plants needed to restore and reconnect vital habitat for wildlife post the Black Summer bushfires is in short supply. K2W’s new native seed collection project will help to fill the supply gap in this important corridor,” said Gary Howling, CEO of Great Eastern Ranges.

“We see collaborating with our partners such as IFAW and K2W on community driven recovery projects like this as being essential for ensuring a healthier, more resilient future Australia for people and nature.”

The seeds of a variety of native species, including eucalypts and wattles, will be collected from various sites along the K2W corridor link and propagated by the Southern Tablelands group of the Australian Plant Society (APS).

In the future, the group is aiming to provide 3,000 plants as tube stock which will be used in K2W’s revegetation projects which are helping to restore habitat for the region’s tree-dwelling mammals and birds.

“The variety in species is open to us but we will be trying to get a high degree of diversity in what we propagate,” team leader for the project, Tim Hayes said.

Over the next year, the Southern Tablelands APS will be working with private landholders, local councils, NSW National Parks and Wildlife, and Local Land Services to collect seeds and cuttings.

Landholders in the Upper Lachlan Shire, Goulburn Mulwaree, Oberon and Blue Mountain areas are being invited to offer sites on their land where seed can be collected from.

The project was kicked off last month with the first of a series of community workshops on seed collection and plant propagation that will be held in the region.