Over the past decade, Glenelg Hopkins CMA have been running programs to support the management and conservation of critically endangered grasslands on the Victorian Volcanic Plain. These programs have focused on controlling threats and modifying fire and grazing regimes to increase plant diversity.

However, there are limitations to these approaches. Victoria’s native grasslands typically lack a persistent seed bank, so although changes in fire and grazing management may create conditions to support increases in plant diversity, the system generally lacks the resources to realise this opportunity.

To address this, Glenelg Hopkins CMA has begun adding seed from 17 rare and threatened plants to grasslands targeted for conservation and restoration to a seed bank as part of its Saving 17 on the VVP project, creating a resource of seeds for the most endangered of them.

In fact, as the project has progressed, an additional plant has been added to the species list, making 18 species being populated within the seed bank.

Visit the project page here