Survey released to help tackle threat from devastating Myrtle Rust fungus

Biosecurity funding from the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is supporting the Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens (CHABG) and Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ) to develop a national living collections database of Myrtle Rust-susceptible plant species. Myrtle Rust affects plant species in the family Myrtaceae, which includes iconic Australian species such as paperbarks, tea-trees, eucalypts, guavas and lillipillies. The long-term survival of many of them is threatened by this devastating plant pathogen. The new database will help address this threat by informing future prioritisation, research and conservation actions for Myrtle Rust-affected species.

Please see press release here.