Local South Australian plants will make up the majority of State Government plantings under a new policy co-ordinated by the Department for Environment and Heritage which favours indigenous species.

Minister for Environment and Conservation John Hill said the new policy directs all State Government Agencies to give priority to planting South Australian species that are native to that area whenever revegetation, restoration or landscaping works are undertaken.

“For too long we have taken the easy option and planted trees and shrubs that were readily available, rather than those that are best suited to the area,” the Minister said.

“Under the new policy, Government departments and agencies will give priority to planting grasses, shrubs and trees that have been grown from seed collected in the area where the works are happening.

“This will mean that revegetation projects will have to be planned to ensure that there is adequate time to obtain local seed and to grow plants to a suitable stage for planting out.

“There is a great opportunity here for small business and local community groups to develop seed and seedling businesses based on local plants. All seed collection however needs to be undertaken under permit from National Parks and Wildlife for public land areas, and in accordance with the Native Vegetation Act. It is important to harvest local seed in a sustainable way so that stress isn’t placed on remnant vegetation by seed collectors trying to collect too much seed too often. The State Government’s Million Trees program is already operating on this basis.

“The policy is flexible enough to enable individual situations to be assessed for their suitability for local species. While every effort should be made to use local species, this may not always be appropriate where, for example, heritage values require exotic species to be used or where fire safety would be effected if local grasses and shrubs were used.