Grass Roots Giving Project
Community backing to bank our native grasslands
In mid-2023 we ran our Grass Roots Giving Appeal seeking community support to fund a grasslands conservation project. Over $5,500 was raised thanks to public donations, which we then directed to the Tasmanian Orchid Conservation and Research Program to help conserve the Critically Endangered Midland Greenhood Orchid (Pterostylis commutata).
This grassland orchid is endemic to the Tasmanian Midlands and is found in low numbers across severely fragmented sub-populations. It is threatened by altered fire regimes, grazing and slashing, and weed invasion.
In 2022-23 a new sub-population was located within the native grasslands at Kingston Farm, a property which is managed for both wool production and biodiversity conservation with the support of M.J. Bale and the Midlands Conservation Partnership.
This sub-population is the largest known for the species and has provided a crucial opportunity to collect and bank precious seed.
The Grass Roots Giving Project enabled us to work with landowners to improve conservation efforts for this imperilled orchid. Check out our project aims and outcomes below.
Project Aims
Under this initiative, the Tasmanian Orchid Conservation and Research Program aimed to:
- Cage and hand pollinate the orchids to protect them and encourage seed production.
- Secure seed to improve the diversity of banked collections and enable future translocation efforts.
- Secure collections of the symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi partner that helps the orchid to grow and survive.
- Germinate the orchid using seed and fungus collections.
Project outcomes
Between December 2023 and June 2025, the Grass Roots Giving Project made significant advances in the conservation of the Midland Greenhood Orchid.
Field surveys in 2024–25 uncovered three new sub-populations, increasing the known population from an historic estimate of just 50 plants to 183 individuals across new and existing sites. This important discovery has expanded our understanding of the orchid’s distribution and carries strong implications for its conservation status.
At the Kingston Farm sub-population, temporary fencing was installed to protect plants from grazing, and hand-pollination was carried out to encourage seed production.
In February 2025, seed was collected from 17 plants, yielding over 180,000 seeds that are now safely banked at the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre for long-term storage and future propagation.
The project also delivered vital progress in propagation research. Mycorrhizal fungi is essential for germination of this orchid, and our project successfully isolated six isolates which are now banked along side the collected seed.
Using seed collected in 2023, the first symbiotic germination trials for the species were also undertaken, resulting in two successful germination protocols. These protocols will help to unlock germination secrets of this species, helping to inform species management.
The outcomes of this project have strengthened the long-term outlook for the Midland Greenhood, and will guide conservation and restoration efforts into the future.
Acknowledgements
The success of this project would not have been possible without:
Project management from:
- Tasmanian Orchid Conservation and Research Program
- Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
- Landscape Recovery Foundation
Funding contributions from:
- Community donors
- Australian Government’s Saving Native Species Program
Project support from:
- Kingston Farm
- M.J. Bale
- Midlands Conservation Partnership
- Australian Orchid Foundation
If you’d like to sponsor an initiative like this one, check out our donations page, or reach out to our friendly Partnerships team discuss your ideas further.