Dear members,
At the recent ANPSA conference in Tasmania, it was decided to provide regular updates on ANPSA, so people better understand its role in growing and conserving native plants. Here is the first such update, an introduction to what ANPSA does, from President, Riita Boevink.
ANPSA is the acronym for Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) Inc., our national body.
Because the individual member societies are fully autonomous, the role of ANPSA is largely an advisory one. The main practical roles are to support and administer the Study Groups and to organize and determine the nominations for the Australian Plants Awards. Other roles include supporting member Societies in achieving certain objectives, such as conservation issues, which are becoming more important to member societies. The recent Biennial meeting voted to discontinue the appointment of delegates to the board of ACRA (Australian Cultivar Registration Authority). The main rationale for this decision was the perceived changes in the operation of ACRA, making it less useful for members of ANPSA member societies.
The ANPSA website http://anpsa.org.au is expertly managed by Brian Walters. To quote the Webmaster’s report for the Biennial meeting, the main activity in 2017 has been setting up newsletter archives for existing and closed Study Groups with the aim of making the work of the Groups more accessible. The website is a fantastic resource and we need to express our appreciation for the work Brian is doing. Most Study Groups now have their newsletters available to read on the ANPSA website.
The Biennial meeting, associated with the biennial ANPSA conference, is the main forum in which delegates from the member societies can meet face to face to discuss issues and vote on motions. These provide very valuable opportunities to get to know representatives from other parts of Australia and to identify common issues as well as to understand differences in our large continent with different climates and plants. Other meetings throughout the two-year interim period are conducted by teleconference. Each member society has two delegates to represent them at the Biennial meeting. The delegate from your Society will take issues raised at state level to the national body. If your group has concerns with a national or state focus, then your Society will send these concerns with the delegate to a national (ANPSA) meeting. Delegates will then report back to the member society.
The executive members are elected at the Biennial meeting (normally from the conference host-Society) for the following two years.
The new executive members elected in Hobart at the 2018 conference are:
President: Riitta Boevink, Australian Plants Society Tasmania (anpsa2018@gmail.com)
Vice President: Ben Walcott Australian Native Plants Society Canberra
Vice President: Margaret Matthews, Wildflower Society of WA
Secretary: Mary Slattery, Australian Plants Society Tasmania
Treasurer: Rosemary Verbeeten, Australian Plants Society Tasmania
Study Group Leader: Jane Fountain, Native Plants Queensland.