Managing seed procurement within NSW

From mine rehabilitation to biodiversity offsets, an effective seed procurement strategy is critical for harnessing optimal seasonal conditions and meeting future revegetation requirements. In this article, Atlantech Senior Environmental Consultant, Dean Woods, provides fundamental considerations to help you stay ahead of your revegetation goals.

Revegetation plays a vital role in mine rehabilitation and biodiversity offset projects. The collection of native seed is critical to the revegetation process and rebuilding ecosystems.

Careful planning is essential to make the most of favourable seasonal conditions and ensure that seed availability aligns with revegetation timelines.

According to the NSW Government Resources Regulator’s Targeted Assessment Program (TAP) guidance note for revegetation, a 3-year lead time is recommended, supported by a rolling collection program to meet long-term goals.

Strategic preparation sets the foundation for successful revegetation efforts and ecological restoration.

Utilising site knowledge

A solid foundation for any seed collection strategy begins with leveraging existing site knowledge.

Review environmental studies, reports, and monitoring data previously prepared for the area to gain valuable insights.

From this information, you can compile a list of recorded species and evaluate their potential for seed collection.

Keep in mind that collection methods and timing will vary depending on the target species, making this preparatory step essential for planning an effective and efficient seed collection program.

Seed quantity requirements

Accurately calculating the amount of seed needed for revegetation is essential to ensure project success.

This requires a clear understanding of planting requirements, with key considerations including:

• Size of the area to be revegetated
• Target plant species suitable or approved for the site
• Desired plant density and diversity to achieve ecological objectives
• Timing of revegetation activities, aligned with seasonal conditions as well as areas becoming available
• Revegetation method, such as direct seeding or using tubestock.
  These factors guide the calculation of seed quantities, helping to plan efficiently and effectively.

Additionally, it’s crucial to evaluate your existing seed inventory and forecast seed requirements for the duration of the project.

This allows collection efforts to focus strategically on the species most needed, ensuring resources are used wisely to support long-term project goals.

Seed sources

Reviewing existing site data will not only allow you to build a species collection list, but it will also indicate where these species are located.

Sources to consider examining include:

• Mining leases
• Private property
• Roadsides
• Nature reserves.

It’s not always possible to collect enough seed, so local collectors and other reputable suppliers are potential alternative sources.

Good online resources are listed below, if you’d like to do some further reading on this topic:

• Before you start: Learn what steps to take before collecting native seed.
• Ready to collect? Discover best practices for successful seed collection.

Why choose ‘local provenance’ seed?

Local provenance seed is often the first choice for revegetation projects, as plants grown from this seed are typically better adapted to the unique environmental conditions of the area.

Using local seed helps maintain the genetic integrity and biodiversity of native populations.

Keep in mind that local provenance zones are species dependant, so it’s wise to seek expert advice before collecting seed.

That said, there are times when local seed supply may fall short.

In such cases, sourcing seed from outside the local area can be a viable alternative.

This approach can offer benefits, such as increasing genetic diversity and enhancing the adaptive potential of plant populations.

For more insights into balancing these strategies, check out this excellent series on conservation genomics.

Cleaning, processing and storing seed

Proper handling of collected seed is crucial to maintaining its viability and ensuring successful revegetation outcomes.

This includes understanding the best methods for transport, processing, and storage.

For detailed guidance on these practices, refer to the Florabank Guidelines.

Quality Control

It is important to understand your seed quality to avoid poor revegetation outcomes and a failure to meet revegetation objectives. Seed quality testing should be undertaken to determine the seed purity (percentage of pure seed), viability (percentage of viable or live seeds) and germinability (percentage of pure seed that are readily germinable).

Check out this document from BioBankSeed to learn more.

How we can help

Seed collection is an excellent way to reduce the cost of your seed supply while supporting sustainable revegetation efforts.

At Atlantech, we specialise in helping clients develop tailored seed collection strategies to meet their unique project needs. We can offer:

1. Guidance on seed communities and mix for revegetation
2. Seed collection if required
3. Hand seeding for revegetation
4. Development of a life of project seed strategy.

If you need help planning your seed collection strategy, contact Atlantech today for a confidential discussion about how our expertise can make a difference to your revegetation process.

Sources

• BioBankSeed (Seed quality: what you need to know, to know what you get)

• Botanic Gardens of Sydney (Why is genetics relevant to ecological restoration?)

• Commander, LE. (Ed.) (2021), Florabank Guidelines – best practice guidelines for native seed collection and use (2nd edition), Florabank Consortium: Australia. Available at: https://www.florabank.org.au/guidelines

• Department of Regional NSW (2024), Targeted assessment program – Revegetation: Guidance note, https://ww.resourcesregulator.nsw.gov.au