Australian Media Release - Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research

[Jim Croft]

Fax copy: Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria
                Australian Biological Resources Study


          MEDIA RELEASE
          =============

          Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research
          ======================================

          A joint initiative between the
          Australian National Botanic Gardens and the
          CSIRO Division of Plant Industry.


     Establishment of new Biodiversity Centre
     ----------------------------------------

     A memorandum of understanding was signed on 3 February to
     establish a Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research. The Chief
     Executive Officers of the Australian National Parks and Wildlife
     Service (ANPWS) and the CSIRO, Dr Peter Bridgewater and Dr John
     Stocker, signed the memorandum on behalf of the Australian
     National Botanic Gardens and the CSIRO Division of Plant
     Industry.

     The Centre will combine the activities of the herbaria at the
     Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) and the CSIRO
     Division of Plant Industry to operate as a single national
     collection, the Australian National Herbarium. It will also
     bring together the research activities of the two organisations
     in the areas of plant systematics, horticulture and conservation
     biology - continuing and expanding the on-going collaborative
     work between ANBG, the Endangered Species Unit of the ANPWS and
     the CSIRO on rare and threatened plants.

     The Centre will take responsibility for the coordination,
     maintenance and upgrading of important national botanical
     databases developed by ANPWS and CSIRO, including the Australian
     Plant Name Index and the Census of Australian Vascular Plants.
     The Centre will also take an active role in the development of
     national and international standards of botanical data
     exchange.

     The operations of the Centre will be modelled on those developed
     by the Commonwealth for the Cooperative Research Centres
     program. It will be established with existing facilities made
     available by CSIRO and the ANBG on Black Mountain and will take
     full advantage of the extended herbarium facilities to be
     constructed at the CSIRO site in 1993. Staff from both parent
     organisations have been meeting in working groups for some
     months to decide on the mechanism for the amalgamation. Staff
     for the Centre will be seconded from the Botanic Gardens and
     CSIRO Plant Industry.

     The Centre will be managed by a Board, with representatives of
     both CSIRO and ANPWS and an independent chair. Professor Derek
     Anderson , the Pro Vice Chancellor of Sydney University, has
     agreed to chair the Board once the Center becomes a reality with
     the signing of a legal agreement in the next two months.

     Further information:  Dr David Kay, Australian National Parks
                           and Wildlife Service.  ph (06) 250 9500

                           Dr Judy West, CSIRO Division of Plant
                           Industry.  ph (06)246 5113

     3 February 1993


______________________________________________________________________________
Jim Croft                  [Herbarium CBG]           internet: jrc at anbg.gov.au
Australian National Botanic Gardens                     voice:  +61-6-2509 490
GPO Box 1777, Canberra, ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA               fax:  +61-6-2509 599
____Biodiversity Directorate, Australian National Parks & Wildlife Service____