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Project: 274/2010

Title: Support for the attendance of a Threatened Species Project Officer at the 1st International Conference on the Conservation and Sustainable use of Wild Plant Diversity, Chania (Crete), May 2010.
Applicant: Kate Vlcek
Institute: The Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria

Threatened Species Project Officer Kate Vlcek was supported to attend the 2010 Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild Plant Diversity Conference to present the following paper;
‘In-situ and Ex-situ Conservation of Victoria’s Nationally Threatened Orchids: Case Studies’
to be published in the conference proceedings in September 2010.
The paper (co-authored by Karen Lester, Geoff Nevill, Andrew Pritchard and Pauline Rudolph) presented the results of management techniques such as reintroduction for the following species;
Caladenia hastata, Caladenia versicolor, Caladenia cruciformis and Diuris fragrantissima.
The Caladenia hastata case study section presented results from the AOF funded project ‘Pollination biology of the sexually deceptive threatened orchids Caladenia richardsiorum, Caladenia hastata and its pollinator Catocheilus caelebs.’
The presentation also provided some brief background information on Victoria’s native orchids and the Threatened Orchid Recovery Program, showcasing not only this interesting and often very beautiful group of plants but also promoting the significant works and research undertaken to conserve Victoria’s orchids.
The conference aimed to provide an international forum for combining the disciplines of Ecology and Theology to promote and discuss the appreciation and conservation of wild plants in partnership with Plant Europa.
Attending the conference allowed Kate to liaise with other orchid researchers (notably the Polish mycorrhizal team), promote various techniques and demonstrate Australia’s continuing leadership in the field of orchid conservation.