Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00636:body:0:p40
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00636
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 111419–114698

* Increase the species richness and genetic diversity of seed and germplasm held in the collections.
    * Increase and share knowledge of the seed biology of Australian native plants, to inform conservation management actions and ecological research.

Issues
    * Collection targets drive a significant part of National Seed Bank work. The curation and management of these living collections and their associated data is a significant requirement, necessary to achieve the best conservation outcomes from our collecting efforts.
    * Strategic planning and ongoing resourcing are required to adopt new technologies, equipment, manage data and operate a new facility management.
    * Conservation of non-seed species is increasingly required.
    * Some species are challenging to store in the seed bank (e.g. plants with unorthodox seeds not suitable for storage) or cannot be sustainably collected from wild populations (e.g. have low seed production in the wild).

What we are going to do

Policies
2.2.1       The collections will be curated in accordance with the National Seed Bank Strategy 2020–2025, which guides long-term germplasm collection management.
2.2.2       Priorities for new collections and research will continue to focus on alpine and grassland species, and species represented in Australia's Commonwealth terrestrial reserves.
2.2.3       Other collection priorities will be informed by the shared priorities of the ANBG and CANBR, collaborative conservation and research programs such as the Australian Seed Bank Partnership, and Australian Government policies and strategies.

Actions
2.2.4       Transition to a new National Seed Bank facility that expands seed storage and research capabilities.
2.2.5       Continue making research-driven and insurance seed collections for priority species and communities, to meet collection targets. Strategically undertake additional (non-target) collecting from time to time to support emerging research and conservation priorities.
2.2.6       Optimise seed processing and data collection workflows.
2.2.7       Integrate new data acquisition, such as digital imaging of collections, within existing linked ANBG data systems.
2.2.8       Implement and maintain a viability testing program, in line with international seed‑banking standards.
2.2.9       Conduct research and collection management to enable conservation of 'exceptional species' through non-seed germplasm or seed production. This may be achieved in collaboration with the living collection, e.g. through vegetative (non-seed) propagation.

2.3       Herbarium collection

Background
CANBR's Australian National Herbarium (ANH) is a scientifically defensible, irreplicable and readily accessible record of Australasian plant biodiversity over more than 2 centuries. Jointly managed by the ANBG and CSIRO through CANBR, the ANH collections are located at CSIRO Black Mountain (vascular plants) and the ANBG (non-vascular plants and fungi).
ANH collections data are linked through the ANBG's botanical databases (see Section 2.6) to the living collection, to the seed bank and to related data systems and applications such as the Australian Plant Image Index (APII). The ANH's herbarium specimens provide important ongoing vouchers. These allow