Developing visually eye-catching and engaging plant collections helps tell plant stories. Image credit: Emma Simpkins.

BCARM is the BGANZ Collections and Records Management group. This group formed in 2019 after the BRON (BGANZ Records Officers Network) was relatively inactive and wider collections management became a more relevant theme for the group.

THIS GROUP AIMS TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR STAFF IN BOTANIC GARDENS MANAGING PLANT COLLECTIONS BY:

• fostering collaboration and advocating for best practices in collections and associated records management (collections management) across the BGANZ membership
• identifying professional development needs and sharing expertise to enhance collections management capability
• scanning the environment for current and emerging issues, and trends that may influence or impact on collections management
• providing harmonised responses or recommendations to generic collection issues across the BGANZ membership.
• reporting and providing recommendations to BGANZ Council on significant matters.

THE GROUP WILL BE WORKING ON:

• facilitating common standards and best practice for living collection policies, plans, strategies and records management
• providing professional support for collection development strategies and managing associated issues such as climate change, invasive species etc
• harmonisation of national collection holdings (metacollections) and/or duplication of wild-collected, rare or threatened species
• supporting common weed risk assessment approaches and the development of supportive tools/methodologies to enable better management
• developing contemporary learning and interpretation resources that highlight the value of living collections

The committee is made up of members from Australia and New Zealand – Sheree Parker (Geelong Botanic Gardens), Amelia Martyn Yenson (Australian Seed Bank Partnership), John Sandham (Botanic Gardens of South Australia), Donna Thomas (Ballarat Botanical Gardens), Peter Symes (Cooktown Botanic Gardens), John Arnott (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria), Tex Moon (Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden), Wolfgang Bopp (Christchurch Botanic Gardens) and Amanda Shade (Kings Park and Botanic Garden). Sheree is the current Chair of BCARM.

If you would like to stay up to date with the group, please contact Sheree Parker (SParker2@geelongcity.vic.gov.au) to be added to the mailing list.