Botanic Gardens in the Age of Restoration: Supporting Target 8 of the GSPC

Volume 3 Number 1 - January 2006

Kingsley Dixon

Is there a role for botanic gardens to use their horticultural and scientific capacity to partner with the mining industry for capacity building restoration science? In this article I explore how Kings Park and Botanic Garden (KPBG) linked and partnered with the mining and natural resource sector to support restoration research which is difficult to fund from other sources – ultimately leading to public good benefits in restoration and conservation of biodiversity.

This work combines the skills of the botanic garden for integrated conservation (Section 2.6) and in particular research (Section 2.7) as part of the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation. Restoration programmes support Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). Further, there is a specific target for restoration programmes in botanic gardens which highlights this role: Target 9: ‘Botanic gardens support and participate in recovery and restoration programmes for 5 per cent of the world’s threatened plant species;’.

Natural resource companies (e.g. minerals, coal, stone, sand, gravel, oil, gas, timber) worldwide struggle to match the pace of landscape alterations with the generation of robust, science-based restoration and ecosystem reinstatement. This is no more apparent than in biodiverse ecosystems of Western Australia, such as the global biodiversity hotspot of south western Australia, or the resource ‘hot-spot’ in the Pilbara region of Western Australia where the impact of the mining sector on landscape-level changes and species losses is significant. And with $53 billion earmarked in the next 5 years for resources development in Western Australia the task of matching science with ecosystem restoration is daunting.

A recent analysis of one company’s mining restoration in biodiverse heathland communities in the south west of Australia indicated that at most, only 17% of the pre-mined species diversity was being reinstated. For large scale impacts such as in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, now one of the world’s leading areas for the production of iron ore, dominant understorey species such as the ubiquitous spinifex grasses (Triodia species) are rarely if ever being effectively reinstated in post-mined sites.

For global mining houses the challenge remains - providing effective, on-site post-mined restoration which match corporate environmental goals. For many mining operations there is a conspicuous absence of ecologically rigorous and sustainable restoration, underpinned by scientifically robust completion criteria that guarantee restored ecosystems remain resilient and species comparative. Mining companies more than ever, need to embrace science-based ecological restoration particularly if they operate in biodiverse wildlands.

For biodiverse ecosystems there is often little or limited knowledge of restoration ecological principles. Although restoration ecology is now a core discipline taught at many levels and there are restoration ecologists the world over, it is still only decades old as a discipline. The science for effective and sustainable restoration ecology is now one of the fastest growing areas in the natural sciences. The world conference on ecological restoration (under the auspices of the Society for Ecological Restoration International) held in Spain (September, 2005) was testament to the extraordinary diversity and breadth of research being undertaken in the restoration sciences (SER, 2005).

Is there a role for botanic gardens in aligning their science programmes with the demands and needs of global mining restoration ecology? KPBG developed a partnership with the mineral sands (titanium) extraction industry in 1984 when the company was attempting to restore the hidden beard heath (Leucopogon obtectus, Ericaceae) a rare species threatened by their mining operation. The research programme spanning a decade, resulted in an improved understanding of the genetic diversity, seed biology, specialised ericoid mycorrhiza and role of fire in the recruitment of the rare species. Importantly the programme developed into larger research programmes involving restoration ecology of Ericaceae across many other companies in the mining industry in Australia. Significant and lasting benefits of the programme included improved methods for topsoil handling to optimise mycorrhiza and species recovery. With mining industry support there was capacity for KPBG scientists to establish conservation principles and management for rare and threatened Ericaceous species in non-mining situations.

Today KPBG has established restoration ecological programmes with the mining sector resulting in a broad raft of research competencies in the conservation and restoration sciences. Core disciplines that have continued to evolve and develop in partnership with the mining sector include – provenance delineation for seed collection programmes; propagation science including tissue culture of recalcitrant species; mycorrhiza science particularly in restoration of orchids; seed science and technology including dormancy alleviation, optimisation of broadcast seeding technology and principles for seed-banking. Benefits of these associations with industry have extended to developing scientific capabilities for managing the conservation estate. For example, KPBG’s considerable restoration skills with industry was part of the logic in 1998 in bringing under their management and control one of the more significant urban bushland reserves at Bold Park. Significant portions of this 437 ha reserve were in an advanced stage of degradation due to loss of native species cover and weed encroachment. Using the seminal science developed with the mining sector, KPBG scientists have adapted outcomes to suit the unique issues facing urbanised conservation reserves.

A critical factor in deriving a successful research partnership is the principle of ‘adaptive management’. Essentially ‘learning by doing’, adaptive management provides a mechanism where industry endusers enlist scientists to work on a restoration issue. By installing experiments where the outcomes are then tested by minesite operators, the results are then returned to the scientists. Scientists then adapt and modify the next series of experiments on the basis of the new ‘field knowledge’. Adaptive management challenges scientists to fast-track research and interact with field operators to achieve field capable and practical solutions.

The mining sector can provide benefits to develop and enrich research programmes in botanic gardens. However the association requires a mature appreciation by industry that scientific solutions to complex biodiverse restoration issues require dedicated and often substantial funding within realistic timeframes. Equally, it behoves botanic gardens scientists to fairly represent to industry the critical and necessary science to deliver effective restoration outcomes. Only through partnerships with scientists, particularly those in botanic gardens where the focus in research is practical solutions to global and local conservation issues, will the mining industry achieve environmental outcomes to match the expectations of the communities in which they operate.

Smoking for Restoration

Support by the mining sector was critical in the early research programmes by KPBG that established smoke as a key agent in germination of Australian native species. Ultimately the research led to the discovery in 2004 by a team from the botanic garden and local universities of the key chemical agent in smoke responsible for eliciting germination. Global agrochemical company Dupont is now evaluating the benefits of the discovery for improving seed performance in agricultural species.

References

SER, 2005. Society for Ecological Restoration. [http://www.ser.org, accessed November, 2005].

Botanic Gardens in the Age of Restoration: Supporting Target 8 of the GSPC

Smoking for Restoration

References

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