Volunteering to restore urban ecosystems

Dr Tony Scalzo (Research Scientist)

Community and volunteer groups are an essential part of many organisations. Over the last 40 to 50 years the number of people volunteering to help with ‘Friends of’ groups has grown considerably.

These groups help with the conservation and restoration of remnant native bushland, growing plants and assisting scientists with field and laboratory experiments. The contribution of these groups has made a significant difference in preventing the decline of biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and in research breakthroughs.

Urban bushland restoration

The Friends of Kings Park and Friends of Bold Park have been working with staff on ecological restoration projects for more than two decades. These efforts have focused on a range of ecological outcomes including working on high profile and often visited sites to prevent their degradation, removal of woody weeds and targeting specific weed species to assist in their eradication.

For example, the Friends of Kings Park Bushland Carers has contributed to weeding out Watsonia meriana, an introduced invasive bulb from southern Africa, from the bushland.

Collection of seed for restoration projects and planting out tube stock has also contributed significantly to enhancing natural populations of plants and restoring these species in degraded areas.

The Friends of Kings Park Bushland Carers team remove Watsonia meriana from Kings Park bushland. Photo: Tony Scalzo

The site after the weeds were removed. Photo: Tony Scalzo

Growing Friends and urban conservation

The Growing Friends and Friends of Kings Park plant sales have been operating since 1995. This group was initially set up, in part, to provide a fund-raising mechanism for the Friends of Kings Park.

Over the past two and half decades the Growing Friends has grown healthy tube stock of native Western Australian plants mainly for people in Perth and the south-west to plant in their gardens and verges.

Since the 1970s, more people have embraced the notion of growing Australian native plants to attract local wildlife by providing them with habitat and food. Growing local plants and other native plants from the region is an important conservation measure, particularly as the construction of cities has led to continued clearing of bushland.

The use of local and regional native plants in private gardens and on verges is also critical to provide connectivity between patches of remnant bushland within urban areas and cities, such as between Kings Park and Bold Park.

These vibrant and essential garden resources provide pitstops along highways for fauna to travel between bushland patches. They also provide mechanisms for gene flow (via transfer of pollen and seeds) between fragmented bushland, leading to enhanced genetic resilience of plant and animal species through the process of outbreeding.

Friends of Kings Park plant sales are extremely popular as they give the public the opportunity to source plants not commonly available in retail nurseries. Photo: Tony Scalzo

The Friends of Kings Park plant sales are extremely popular with the public. Long queues are a regular sight before the gates open as buyers are eager to purchase new offerings. When strolling through many Perth suburbs you find gardens and street verges have been planted with plants grown and sold by this dedicated group of volunteers.

The plant sales are an important mechanism for generating interest in Western Australia’s unique flora and for providing an outlet for plant species that are not readily available. Some species that are extremely rare or threatened in their natural habitats have become commonly grown garden plants, such as Eremophila nivea.

The Growing Friends collaborate with horticultural staff to obtain the best advice for native plant propagation. The Growing Friends also work closely with scientists to apply the latest breakthroughs in how to germinate and propagate species which are normally recalcitrant to current propagation techniques. It is this collaboration which provides Western Australians with the opportunity to enjoy the State’s unique flora in their own backyard while contributing to biodiversity conservation.

This attractive verge garden contains local and rare plants, many sourced from the Friends of Kings Park plant sales. Photo: Tony Scalzo

Eremophila nivea, growing here on a roadside, is a very rare species in its natural habitat but is now commonly grown in gardens. Photo: Tony Scalzo

The proceeds from plant sales support research projects in Kings Park Science, the next generation of restoration research scientists through the Summer Scholarship program, as well as the direct benefit of enhancing urban environments through restoring habitats.

The stats

4 plant sales hosted annually to the public

300,000+ plants sold in the past 10 years

40+ regular Growing Friends volunteers

1400+ species grown by the Growing Friends

$1,459,300 raised from plant sales