Eastern Native Grasslands Symposium

Grasslands and grassy woodlands are among Australia’s most threatened communities, both now reduced to a fraction of their historic range. Neither is well represented in Australia’s national reserve systems and despite various government environmental protection policies, they continue to be lost to agriculture and other forms of development. Development Offset schemes are increasingly prominent mechanisms used to derive some ‘gain’ from this dire situation by imposing offset obligations that must match and exceed losses by protecting and managing existing remnants. However, to date, there is little evidence they have created market incentives leading to large-scale restoration of these communities. This is despite several Australian studies having shown it is feasible to restore high quality grassy communities. However, to achieve such outcomes consistently and at landscape scale requires a native seed and restoration sector that is well developed and capable of delivering product and services in a cost-effective manner, and government policy that incentivizes grassland restoration on lands where they are most affected, which sadly is not the case in Australia. Recent surveys have shown the Australian seed and restoration sector has poorly seed supply chains, very limited operational capacity, and low standards for seed testing and almost no regulatory support for grassy-focussed restoration. This situation is in stark contrast to the USA where various targeted government programs and directives encourage and support restoration practices in a range of landscapes, leading to the establishment of significant sector capacity for seed supply and restoration services. This presentation will reflect on the state of grassland restoration in Australia and briefly compare this to that in the United States.