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Recovery objectives

In support of the long-term conservation and recovery of the Wollemi Pine, the objectives of this plan are that by 2034:

 the wild Wollemi Pine population and its habitat are protected from threatening processes to the extent practicable, and have not decreased in size or quality

 understanding of the biology of the Wollemi Pine and co-occurring species in its natural habitat has been improved and informs the conservation of the species and its habitat

 representative ex situ collections are established and maintained

 translocated stands of Wollemi Pine are maintained, and additional translocations are undertaken, as required

 community and Indigenous awareness of the Wollemi Pine and engagement with recovery efforts is maintained and improved.

The implementation of this recovery plan will be monitored and reported on by the members of the Wollemi Pine Recovery Team.

Acronyms Acronyms

Acronyms

Acknowledgements Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The research into, and management of, Wollemi Pine over the past 30 years has been a joint effort of the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (NSW DCCEEW) Science and Insights Division (SID), the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust (RBGDT). This recovery plan is a revision of the 2006 plan and has been the combined effort of many people who have contributed to survey, research, on-ground management and ex-situ conservation of the species. In particular, the Wollemi Pine Recovery Team (currently Tony Auld (UNSW), Steve Clarke, David Coote (BCD), David Crust (NPWS), Berin Mackenzie (SEID), Lisa Menke (NPWS), Cathy Offord (RBGDT), Maureen Phelan (RBGDT), Brett Summerell (RBGDT) and Heidi Zimmer (CSIRO)) would like to thank the following people and organisations:

 David Noble (NPWS) and his companions Tony Zimmerman and Michael Casteleyn who discovered the species, and Wyn Jones (NPWS), Ken Hill (RBGDT) and Jan Allen (BMBGMT), who formally described Wollemia nobilis and brought it to the attention of the world.

 Sharon Nash and Julie Ravallion (NPWS) who prepared the original 1998 recovery plan and Patricia Meagher (RBGDT) who prepared the revised 2006 recovery plan.

 Jan Allen (RBGDT); Wyn Jones, Chris Pavich and Michael Sharp of NPWS; and Hayden Washington, for their early contributions to fieldwork, research, monitoring and recovery planning.

 NPWS rangers and field staff, for operation and field support.

 NPWS Park Air pilots and crew, for aerial support.

 Evan Curtis, Andrew Denham, John Porter, Jane Williamson, Katy Wilkins, Liz Tasker and Mark Tozer (SID); Terry Mazzer and Jessica Peterie (BCD); Ian Allan, Stuart Allan, Stefanie Carusi, Matt Coyne, Adam Pigott, Antony Rivers, Randy Sing, Jessica Wait and Dean Whitton (RBGDT); Stephen Bell and Phil Lamrock for field contributions to the translocation program.

 John Benson, Jason Bragg, Peter Cuneo, Graeme Errington, Glen Fensom, Edward Liew, Robert Makinson, Hannah McPherson, Patricia Meagher, Carolyn Porter, Jaime Plaza, Amanda Rollason, Maurizio Rossetto, Joanne Tyler, Veronica Viler and Samantha Yap of RBGDT, for their past and present work in the field or on the propagation and cultivation of the species or its population genetics, and/or Wollemi Pine research and recovery planning.

 The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife and the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens for donations early in the conservation program; the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program, which has been the primary source of funding for the conservation program since 2016; the NPWS Assets of Intergenerational Significance program for additional operational funding; and the National Geographic Society for its support of the translocation program via a 2021 Species Recovery Grant.

The neighbours of Wollemi National Park, who continue to assist this project in many ways.

1 General information

1 General information

1.1 Introduction

Wollemia nobilis W.G. Jones, K.D. Hill & J.M. Allen (Wollemi Pine) is a large tree endemic to Wollemi National Park (WNP) in central eastern New South Wales. It is currently known from just one wild population of 45 mature individuals and 46 juveniles occurring across four discrete stands (Mackenzie et al. 2021; Mackenzie & Auld in press). Conservation of this single population is critical for the species’ persistence in the wild.

The Wollemi Pine is threatened by demographic and environmental stochasticity due to its extremely small population size and geographic distribution; high severity and high frequency fire; dieback from the pathogens Phytophthora cinnamomi and P. multivora; unauthorised site visitation resulting in trampling of seedlings and juveniles, soil compaction and erosion, introduction of novel pathogens and weeds, and spread of existing pathogens; disturbance by feral pigs and deer; and the effects of anthropogenic climate change, including changes to temperature, rainfall, and disturbance regimes (fires, floods, heatwaves, and storms) (NSW TSSC 2015).

This document is the third National Recovery Plan for the Wollemi Pine and has been prepared in accordance with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It describes the current conservation status, documents past and ongoing management actions, summarises current biological and ecological knowledge, and details the research and management actions necessary to halt decline and support recovery of the Wollemi Pine.

1.2 Historical context

The Wollemi Pine was discovered in 1994 by NSW NPWS Officer David Noble who, whilst off-duty and canyoning in Wollemi National Park, found a single stand of Wollemi Pine consisting of 19 mature individuals within a remote rainforest gorge (Jones et al. 1995; Mackenzie et al. 2021; Mackenzie & Auld in press). The significance of this rare species, which belongs to the 200-million-year-old Araucariaceae family, was quickly recognised, and the Wollemi Pine was subsequently listed as Endangered in NSW in 1995 due to its restricted distribution and small population size. In 1998, the species was also listed as Endangered by the Commonwealth and the first recovery plan for the Wollemi Pine was released, produced by the Wollemi Pine Recovery Team (Nash & Ravallion 1998).

Due to the rarity of the Wollemi Pine and the fragility of the species and its habitat, the exact location of the wild population has never been publicly released. The Wollemi Pine Access Strategy, which was first implemented under the 1998 recovery plan, remains in place to this day and restricts access to the wild stands to the minimum essential staff (Nash & Ravallion 1998; NSW DEC 2006a). However, public interest in the species has remained strong due to the species’ rarity, the history of its discovery and its connection to the age of the dinosaurs. Therefore, in 2005, a commercialisation strategy was launched to release Wollemi Pine cuttings to the public for sale and propagation. The purpose of this strategy was primarily to reduce the risk of damage to the wild population through illegal collection. Commercialisation has also increased community engagement in the conservation of the species, increased its prevalence in international botanic gardens, and has raised funds through royalties for the species conservation (NSW DEC 2006a).

In 2005, Phytophthora cinnamomi, a water-borne mould, was detected within Stand 1 of the wild Wollemi Pine population, representing a significant new threat to the species. It is thought that the mould was brought into the stand by unauthorised visitors via contaminated footwear or equipment (Mackenzie et al. 2021). Following this discovery, a second, updated recovery plan for the species was published in 2006 (NSW DEC 2006a) and adopted under the EPBC Act in 2007. Under the 2006 recovery plan, the establishment of new Wollemi Pine stands using translocation was prioritised to improve the long-term viability of the species in the wild by increasing its population size and geographic range, and thereby reducing its risk of extinction due to stochastic events (NSW DEC 2006a). In 2012, a pilot experimental translocation site was established off-park, on land managed by BMBGMT, with the goal of learning what was required for successful Wollemi Pine translocation into more remote areas (Zimmer et al. 2016). During this time, the Wollemi Pine was also uplisted to Critically Endangered in NSW in 2015 and nationally in 2018, in part due to an inferred projected decline in population size caused by the threat of dieback from Phytophthora infection (NSW TSSC 2015; Cwlth TSSC 2018).

The results of the 2012 pilot translocation informed two remote-area translocations into WNP conducted in 2019, with the long-term goal of increasing the size and geographic distribution of the wild population, although translocated stands will only be considered part of the wild population once they have produced second-generation seedlings and are self-sustaining (Mackenzie 2021; Mackenzie et al. 2021). Unfortunately, during Australia’s catastrophic 2019–20 ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season, the wild Wollemi Pine population and all three translocated stands were heavily impacted by fire. The impacts of these fires on the wild Wollemi Pine population were mitigated by an intensive, multi-agency fire suppression effort which involved the installation of irrigation systems, active water bombing, laying of fire retardant around the catchment, and active fire suppression by remote-area firefighters. This nationally recognised emergency effort likely limited the severity of the blaze to understory fires which primarily impacted juvenile plants (Mackenzie et al. 2021). The impacts of the 2019–20 fires, the early success of the three translocations, the species’ up-listing to Critically Endangered, and a review of the previous recovery plan (Appendix 2: Evaluation of progress toward

This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.