Botanica by Air Wick is proud to announce the launch of The Rare Bloom Project™, in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF) and working in collaboration with The Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP).
Over the next three years these organisations will work to help protect Australia’s uniquely rich biodiversity by helping save 120 native wildflower species from the threat of extinction.
Incredibly, we have more than 24,000 species of native plants in Australia, which play an important role in our unique and diverse ecosystem.
Not only creating a mosaic of vibrant colours and shapes in our landscape, native wildflowers also form rich habitats that feed and shelter wildlife, and provide us with food and natural medicines.
The variety of wildflowers, other flora, micro-organisms and fauna make up Australia’s unique biodiversity; essential to providing fresh air, water, food security, shelter and medicines.
The greater the diversity of plants, the more resilient an ecosystem will be to threats and change. Genetic diversity is crucial to maintaining a species, and species diversity is crucial to maintaining a healthy ecosystem, which we cannot survive without.
Currently, Australia’s native wildflowers are under serious threat, pushed closer to extinction by climate impacts including drought and bushfires. Over 1,300 native plant species are threatened, according to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation List of Threatened Flora.
The devastating Australian bushfires of 2019/20 placed further pressure on our struggling ecosystems, many of which were experiencing severe drought. Since then, the Final National prioritisation of Australian plants has identified an additional 486 species in need of urgent attention.
Many species have adapted to Australia’s changing environment, however the intensity and severity of bushfires and drought in recent years mean many plants are slow to recover. Further, these climate occurrences also cause stress on plants affecting their floral scent, and reducing the ability of bees and other pollinators to recognise them to pollinate.
If no action is taken to safeguard the species at risk, hundreds of native wildflowers could be extinct within the coming years, leading to devastating and irreparable damage to Australia’s ecosystem.
“The devastating double-blow of drought and bushfires has left many of our native plants fighting for survival. Without urgent action we risk losing some of these beautiful species forever,” said Dr Romola Stewart, WWF-Australia’s Head of Evaluation and Science.
To help conserve our nation’s rich biodiversity, The Rare Bloom Project™ was created to help protect native flora for the benefit of future generations. Through this partnership with Botanica by Air Wick, WWF-Australia is collaborating with The Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP) to proactively build collections of flora species.
This will be done through a mix of proactive seed collection, germination trials, and propagation to help protect these species from extinction.
Examples of flora species to be protected include: Baeckea kandos in NSW; Craspedia canens in VIC (grey billy-buttons); Brachyscome muelleri in SA; Euphrasia scabra in ACT (rough eyebright); and Polyscias “Douglas-Dennison” in TAS.
Damian Wrigley, National Coordinator for the Australian Seed Bank Partnership said, “we are thrilled to be working with Botanica by Air Wick and WWF-Australia to help conserve some of Australia’s rarest and most threatened wildflowers. Australia is home to many unique and endemic plants that provide our native fauna with essential food and habitat.”
“Seed banking can help save our precious plants by ensuring the genetic diversity of our native species is secured safely in seed banks for future generations. Thanks to this project, our Partner seed banks will be working throughout fire-affected areas over three years to document fire impacts over time and collect, germinate and store seeds for use in ongoing research and restoration efforts.”
On The Rare Bloom Project™, Saurabh Jain, Marketing Director for RB Hygiene (ANZ) said, “It is of utmost importance that we understand the threat of extinction for Australian native wildflowers. If we are to lose these species, the impacts on our wider ecosystem will be truly devastating.”
“Thankfully, we can take action to help protect Australia’s threatened blooms, and in-turn our beautiful and unique biodiversity.”
“Through this partnership with WWF-Australia we are proud to be collaborating with seed scientists and conservation experts from the Australian Seed Bank Partnership on research and germination programs, that support Australia’s at-risk native wildflowers for the benefit of future generations,” added Jain.
“Seed banks are critical to our conservation work – imagine being able to store a precious piece of flora and bank it for the future. The Rare Bloom Project™ will help us to future-proof Australia against further disasters, by allowing the seeds of threatened plant species to be conserved in long-term conservation seed banks and available to be propagated, and if needed, used to restore to bushfire-affected landscapes,” said Dr Stewart.
To launch The Rare Bloom Project™ a new TVC from Air Wick will air nationally from Sunday, 21 February 2021. The creative shares the story of Botanica by Air Wick’s goal to connect people with nature and help protect Australia’s threatened native wildflowers.
Botanica by Air Wick is a sub-brand of Air Wick; a curated collection of nature-inspired fragrances infused with exotic natural ingredients that are responsibly sourced from around the world.
The range includes reed diffusers, room sprays, candles and liquid electric plug ins available in seven scents. Featuring planet conscious packaging, Botanica by Air Wick is suitable for Aussies looking to refresh their homes with scents inspired by mother nature, available nationally at all major supermarkets.
