Native Plant Nursery

The Kangaroo Island (KI) Native Plant Nursery is gearing up to meet the demand for habitat restoration with seedlings of KI provenance to be planted in fire affected areas.

While much vegetation is expected to regenerate, there are areas where the fire burned too hot or where vegetation was physically removed during fire-fighting operations that will need to be replanted.

KI is home to many endemic plant species that are found nowhere else, and native vegetation provides many important benefits. It provides habitat and food for our precious native animals such the KI kangaroo, koalas, pygmy possums and emu wrens, as well as many threatened and endangered species such as the KI echidna, the KI dunnart, Rosenberg’s goanna and the glossy black-cockatoo.

Native vegetation prevents soil erosion, filters runoff, provides shelter for livestock, and provides the basis for the Island’s honey industry, which has been significantly impacted by the fires, and supports many native pollinators, such as the endangered green carpenter bee and the blue-banded bee.

The KI Native Plant Nursery has offered an important service for many years, providing landholders with critical advice about what to grow where, ensuring that seed is of KI provenance, and ensuring that there is no biosecurity risk posed to the island by bringing over plants that are grown on the mainland.

It is critical that the nursery is now able to support recovery efforts on the island so please give generously. Your donation will be used to provide fire affected landholders with a diverse range of KI’s native plants, together with tree guards (where needed), at no cost.

Donate online or contact Nature Foundation on 08 8340 2880 or [email protected].