Sustainable Use - Collection of Native Seeds and Fruits
OverviewNative plant material, such as seed and fruit, is a valuable resource that should be accessible to the whole community. Seed, fruit and other propagative material may, for example, be collected for revegetation projects, for propagation and nursery sale, as bush food or as a food source for captive wildlife. Significant effort is put into the collection of native seed and fruit for large-scale revegetation projects, and to establish seed banks for future projects. Revegetation activities are important to promote conservation of species and habitats now and into the future, and thus are encouraged. However, there is a need to ensure that the collection of native plant material does not threaten the future existence or availability of these resources. What is native plant material?A native plant, as described by the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (NPW Act), is any plant that is indigenous to Australia and includes all flowering plants, gymnosperms and ferns, but does not include any plant that is dead. Native plant material, for the purposes of harvesting and collection, includes flowers, seeds, fruits, leaves and any other part of the vegetation. What does collection involve?Collection of native plant material involves the removal of plant material without causing substantial damage or death to the plant. The severing of branches, limbs, stems or trunks of vegetation is defined as clearance under the Native Vegetation Act 1991 (NV Act), and not permitted pursuant to a Native Plant Material Collection permit. Clearance of native vegetation is regulated under the NV Act and Native Vegetation Regulations 2003. Substantial damage is defined as killing, destruction to, or removal of native vegetation and includes the severing of branches, limbs, stems or trunks or any similar activity. The taking of a cutting of native vegetation for propagation and the removal of plant parts in order to obtain seeds are not classified as clearance provided that such removal does not substantially damage or cause death to the plant. Please note that the removal of large and/or significant branches will constitute clearance and is not permitted under a Native Plant Material Collection permit.
Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) has developed the Collection of Native Plant Material Policy, under the NPW Act, to ensure collection of native plant material from public land is undertaken in an ecologically sustainable way. Policy documents can be seen from this website, and are available in hardcopy upon request. See the Native Plant Material Collection
Policy (150Kb PDF) Do I need a permit?Collection from public landUnder sections 47(1) and 49 of the NPW Act, any person wishing to collect native plant material from public land requires a permit from DEH. This also applies to collection from any vegetation that has been planted onto public land. Collection from public land also requires permission from the relevant authority responsible for care and control of the land (eg local Council, DEH, ForestrySA).
Collection from private landA permit from DEH is not required to collect on private land. However, permission to collect on private land is always required from the landowner, and DEH suggest it may be prudent to follow policy principles (as stated in the Policy and Standard documents available on this website) when collecting on private land. Collection for research purposesCollection of native plant material for herbarium voucher specimens, or for research purposes will require a scientific permit. Further information can be found at: http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/biodiversity/research.html#biological_research Collection of whole plantsThe Native Plant Material Collection Policy and permits do not apply to clearance of native vegetation and collection of whole plants. Such activities require approval from the Native Vegetation Council. What kind of permit is right for me?There are five categories of collection activities (and permit types):
Bush food collectionThis involves the collection of native plant material for use as cuisine. Such collection may be for personal use or for sale. Permits to collect for bush food will not be granted where the proposed collection activities involve species with conservation ratings of concern, or would threaten populations. See Permit to Collect Native Plant Material - for Bush Food Collection application form (50KbPDF) Trees for Life (TFL) membersTFL volunteers collect seed for TFL revegetation projects and to contribute to the TFL seedbank. Applications for a TFL permit should be made directly to TFL. Individual/community group/commercial/botanic garden collectionThis collection category applies to people wishing to collect native plant material for, but not restricted to, the following activities:
South Australia is divided into 14 Herbarium regions. Within each Herbarium region, a list of approximately 150 species is available from which successful applicants may collect. For this category of permit, applicants need only indicate which herbarium regions they wish to collect from, and if successful they will be issued with a permit allowing them to collect from any of the species listed for the selected herbarium region(s). If an applicant wishes to collect additional species to those provided on the Herbarium region list, these must be identified on the application (see below, Other collection of native plant material).
See Herbarium region map
(250Kb PDF)
'Class A' collection'Class A' collection refers to those people who wish to collect for, but not limited to, the following purposes:
Successful applicants are able to collect from all native plant species excluding the following:
'Class A' permits will only be issued to applicants who have the following credentials:
If an applicant wishes to collect an excluded species, a separate application must be made (see Other collection of native plant material). See Schedules 7, 8, 9 (100Kb
PDF)
Other collection of native plant materialThis category generally covers collection activities that do not fit into any of the other defined categories, such as:
Applications in this category are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Assessment staff will consider the applicant's credentials, the purpose of the proposed collection activities, and the species and locations/populations and quantities to be collected. Are there any areas where collection is prohibited?Generally, collection of native plant material from National Parks and Wildlife reserves is not permitted. However, when a permit is valid for these areas, the District Office for that reserve must be made aware of the collection activities and notified every time collection will occur. Below is a summary of the species that can be collected and the land tenures on which collection is permitted for each permit type.
1 Please note a native plant material collection permit is not required to collect on private land unless the species is prescribed, however, the written permission of the landowner is required. Permission must also be obtained from local councils (or the agency responsible for care and control of the land) prior to collecting on public land. 2 Florlist is a program used by DEH to provide regional conservation ratings for native species. Regions are as defined by the State Herbarium (fourteen regions in total). Conservation ratings are, in order of increasing conservation concern: common, uncommon, rare, vulnerable, threatened, endangered and locally extinct. How do I get a permit?Application for a collection permit is open to any member of the public. Applications are categorised into one of five different permit types as determined by the experience of the applicant, the purpose of collection, and the species nominated for collection. There are no fees associated with applying for, or being granted, a permit. A permit application form can be seen from this site; a hardcopy is available upon request. See Permit to Collect Native
Plant Material - for Bush Food Collection application form (50KbPDF) To enable assessment of the application, the application form must be filled out in full, and returned to DEH. Please allow 4 weeks to process the application and issue the permit. How are applications assessed?Within DEH, Biodiversity Conservation Programs, the Abundant Species and Sustainable Use Unit (ASSUU) are responsible for the initial assessment and decision-making process for all permit applications. When making an assessment, the ASSUU will follow the guidelines for assessment as stipulated in the Collection of Native Plant Material policy documents. For any application that requires additional assessment, ASSUU will consider the purpose of collection, the credentials of the applicant, and confer with the Threatened Species Unit, Regional Ecologists and Threatened Flora Officers regarding the conservation status of the species.
How long does a permit last?Collection permits are valid for a maximum of twelve months from the date of issue. However, although permits may be issued year round, some permits have a set expiry date:
All other permits are valid for a period of twelve months from the date of issue, unless otherwise revoked. A permit may be revoked where it can be shown that the permit holder has breached or failed to comply with permit conditions, as stipulated on the permit and in the Native Plant Material Collection policy documents. Is any other permission required to collect native plant material?As well as the permit from DEH, collectors require permission from the agency responsible for care and control of the land prior to beginning any collection activities. Generally, this will be the local Council. It is strictly the responsibility of the permit holder to obtain this permission.
Roles and responsibilities of permit holders
Complying with permit conditionsPermit holders must comply with all permit conditions. Failure to do so may result in the permit being revoked and the permit holder receiving a warning, expiation notice or higher penalty. Permit holders must have their permit in their possession when undertaking collection activities and, upon request, be prepared to present the permit to a warden for inspection as soon as is practicable. Permit holders are responsible for all collection activities carried out under the permit. Only people listed on a permit may collect pursuant to that permit. Submitting annual returnsAll permit holders must, within 14 days of the expiration or revocation of the permit, submit an annual return report to DEH. Failure to do so will result in the permit not being re-issued, and may incur an expiation notice. The annual return must contain the following information:
If native plant material was collected for revegetation purposes, the collector must, in their annual report, also submit the following information:
Individual TFL permit-holders are not required to submit an annual return to DEH. TFL submit to DEH a report detailing all the native seed and fruit that has been collected by all TFL staff and volunteers over the previous twelve months. This report identifies the quantity and location of each species collected in each TFL zone. Annual reporting data are to be submitted to the Abundant Species and Sustainable Use Unit, preferably electronically to deh.florapermits@saugov.sa.gov.au or mailed to Flora Permits, Biodiversity Conservation Program, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide SA 5001. Sustainable collection practicesIt is the role of the permit holder to ensure that collection activities do not negatively impact upon the surrounding habitat. Such impacts may be minimised or avoided by:
DEH recommends that collectors refer to the Native Plant Material Collection policy documents and Best Practice Guidelines. |
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