In August 2022, MCMC received 500 Silver Banksia seedlings (Banksia marginata, tree form) from the Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands, a volunteer group working to rebuild the Banksia, Bursaria and Sheoak woodlands that were once a keystone of the Victorian Volcanic Plains. The seedlings have been planted into our new Tree Banksia Orchard in Fawkner, which brings together genetic material from ten different Silver Banksia populations on the volcanic plains, along with material from three populations from places matching Melbourne’s future modelled climate. The Banksia project was made possible by generous donations to the Merri Creek Environment Fund.
The tree form of Silver Banksia once populated the volcanic cones and stony rises of the Merri catchment and beyond, but the Merri’s remnant Banksias have long since gone extinct. We hope that in the coming years, the Tree Banksia Orchard will provide a convenient source of genetically-diverse, climate adapted seed, to help MCMC and like-minded groups repopulate the volcanic plains around Melbourne with Tree Banksias once again.
Watch our webinar to find out more about the project and work to rebuild the Forgotten Woodlands.
See a web version of these fabulous panels which celebrate the outstanding community achievement since 1975 in transforming Merri Creek from a weed-smothered drain to a much-loved waterway running through a bushland corridor: 
Merri Creek Management Committee. 2 Lee St, East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia 3057