SERIES 36 | Episode 13
At the Cranbourne site of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria, a program for schools has been running for two years.
It sees students taking an active role in the conservation of some rare native plants.
Called ‘Raising Rarity’, it’s a citizen science program to help support the work of the RBGV by collecting data and seed of certain threatened species.
One secondary school is growing Swamp Everlasting – students say they love being responsible for cultivate the plant to create a new back-up colony at their campus, which could provide propagating material if anything happened to the plants at the botanic gardens or in the wild.
A primary school that is part of the raising rarity project is propagating grey billy-buttons so the new plants can be reintroduced into the wild, to boost the local populations.
The students attend workshops on how to identify the species, then learn how to grow the plants and collect seed for the RBGV staff, who then germinate it.
Teacher Alex Scott said the school was keen to get involved in the long-term project that offered the chance to really make a difference.
The students grow the plants at their schools and observe how they respond to different weather conditions, checking their growth rates, and saving the data for the RBGV. They learn how to capture seed in small bags tied around the flowerheads.
After growing the local plant at school, students are often keen to go and find it growing in the wild, says seed ecologist Dr Megan Hirst. “You’re increasing their botanical knowledge and getting kids really engaged in growing rare and threatened species.”
One student describes the environment as like a giant game on Jenga – if too many species of birds, plants, or insects are removed, the whole structure will collapse.
Featured Plants SWAMP EVERLASTINGXerochrysum palustreGREY BILLY-BUTTONSCraspedia canens
Filmed on Bunurong Country | Cranbourne, Vic
