Declining rainfall, salinity, preservation/conservation of biodiversity and rural population decline are major issues facing communities within the drier areas of the south coast region (350-600mm).

These areas desperately need a range of ecologically sustainable industries.

The diversity of the South Coast flora is enormous and yet hasn’t been commercially exploited to any significant degree. Many species have the potential to become economically viable products in the oil, food, timber, extractive and flower industries.

Past research 

Significant research and development into profitable revegetation options using native species have already been conducted in the South Coast region, focusing in recent years on sandalwood, broombush, Platysace tubers and Acacia seeds for human consumption, myrtaceous oils and native plant floriculture.

All of these options, and the systems developed, have made varying degrees of progress towards becoming economic reality. Our work has focused on research and development in the following areas;

• Southern sandalwood (S. spicatum).
• New extractives - Acacia extracts for the world perfume trade, new wood preservative compounds to replace CCA and similar products.
• New food products (seeds, tubers and the like).
• Structural products (brush fencing, poles).
• New local native fodder plants (native grasses, prostrate and shrubby Allocasuarina species).
• Incorporating Acacia, Casuarina, Allocasuarina and grasses in new silvo-pastoral systems.
• Incorporating biodiverse native-plant-based agroforestry (development of profitable systems with high nature conservation value) into farming systems.
• New systems for the establishment of new commercial native plants.

The team working on these projects includes staff from CENRM and Greening Australia.