Collecting seed may seem like an easy process, and it maybe that anyone can walk along and pick it off a tree, however as the Noongar Boodja Ranger team develop a growing seed enterprise they are focused on ensuring that industry standards for seed collection are met.
Licencing, provenance, species ID and record keeping are our focus. We want all clients to be confident in the product we supply and having quality systems in place will support that. Our team members are licenced through the DBCA and we collect herbarium species and complete the necessary routine returns for the Department. We will never pick seed without the landholders permission, including from reserves and other public lands.
The most exciting part of our enterprise is new technology we are developing. The team have developed an online collector tool that ensures when out in the field we collect the spatial data required. Our growing database will enable us to track our seed back to the exact place we collected it from. We can almost return to the exact tree.
Species identification is imperative and we are developing species toolkits. On each trip to scout for seed the team takes along a manual which helps identify species in the field. If we’re not sure on the identity we can check in with the rest of the team back in the office and take advantage of the skills and knowledge there.
As members of the Revegetation Industry Association of Western Australia we are keen to meet the standards for accreditation and we are on our way to achieving that. Collecting the seed is just one small part of the process. The Noongar Boodja Rangers are keen to build an enterprise that is based on the principles of sustainable harvest and usage.