This initiative is pivotal in restoring and enhancing native ecosystems through the propagation of native plants for food, medicinal, spiritual, and cultural uses.
- Protecting Biodiversity
- Creating Food Security
- Native Seed Production
- Climate Resilience
- SeedKeepers
Community Seed Bank Network
PRIORITIZING WHAT MATTERS
Restoration
you can Taste
The efforts of Bush Botanics are crucial in planning, constructing, and managing native plant nurseries in remote locations. Their work exemplifies a successful participatory engagement between federal agencies, Traditional Owners and the needs of remote Aboriginal communities.
Powering the Restoration Economy in remote communities
There is one, and only one solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing the natural world, and train all our young people to help. They want to; we need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean waters, clean energies, secure communities, stable regions, and to know how to do it from hands-on experience.
- Bill Mollison
Native Food Innovations
Native foods are a growing trend in the food and beverage industry. We source, develop and market native ingredients for use in food products, supplements and personal care items.
Our new products include quandong, bush tomato, native lemongrasss, Northern Wild Orange, Apple Bush, bush mint tea, Saltbush and a wide variety of bush herbs.
Plant Medicines
Our native foods and native botanicals are sustainably sourced in alignment with Traditional cultural practices, and are of the highest quality. We have an extensive range of native plant based ingredients that can be incorporated into your product development.
All our products have been developed in consultation with local Indigenous communities.
Product Development
Bush Botanics works with remote communities across WA, SA, the NT and QLD to develop capacity within the bush foods and botanicals sector. We support these communities in land management, education & training, variety selection, infrastructure support, consulting, value-add, labelling and an online marketplace for marketing and selling indigenous bush food and botanicals products, services and tourism experiences.
The Oldest Foods in the World...
Bush Botanics Australia, Ltd. is an agricultural incubator with a focus on growing and sourcing indigenous bush foods, medicinal plants and essential oils.
We can support your remote bush food enterprise with:
• Business plans • Consultation and individual, item or species-specific enquiries • Crop and species advice • Feasibility studies • Mentorship • Project management • Research studies and market/industry information • Support services for specific projects • Seed Bank Development • Geo-Mapping • Product development • Packaging and Design • Video production • Website, Marketing and ADM's • Land Use Agreements • Bio-Diversity Registration • Festivals and Events • Grant Funding & Management • Remote agricultural and harvesting support •
Sustainability : The collection of our native ingredients is done sustainably, ensuring the future of our unique Australian food sources for generations to come.
New opportunities : We provide pathways for education, training, employment and financial independence to Indigenous Australians. Bush Botanicals supports projects in bushcraft, bush tucker, bush medicines, bush food workshops & events and indigenous cultural tourism.
Promoting authenticity : Bush Botanics Australia works to promote traditional cultural knowledge and preserve authenticity of ingredients and Indigenous cultural practices
Mobile Agricultural Processing Unit (MAPU)
Bringing the power of mobile agricultural processing units into remote communities.
Our Mobile Agricultural Processing Unit (MAPU) provides year-round support for site-prep, seedlings, planting, irrigation, harvesting and food processing for remote populations.
Our Mobile Agricultural Processing Units (MAPU) are self-sufficient and fully automated. Each unit has tools and equipment, a composting unit and produces its own electricity from solar panels on the roof.
We partner with land owners, indigenous communities and other businesses to generate and supply high quality, sustainable bush food products.
We offer ongoing R&D in plant selection, sustainable production systems and post-harvest systems.
When we plant a tree,
we don't plant it for outselves
but for our children...
Growing native grain isn’t just culturally symbolic, it enables local communities to challenge the dominance of industrial-scale mono-culture, re-take control of the local food system, and provide food security for their families.
An ounce of practice is worth more than
a ton of theory...
- EF Schumacher
Remote Essential Oil
Distillation
Bush Botanics provides on-location distillation and processing of bush medicines for essential oils.
These oils are available to local communities for the creation of a wide variety of health & wellness products.
Our Process
- Evaluations of potential emerging
farms and assess viability of
essential oil production.
- Recommendations of essential oil
crops to be planted.
- Assessment of agricultural
infrastructure required before
essential oil production can be
considered.
- Continual, on-farm agronomic
training of incubates from
experienced horticultural field
officers.
- On site training in the process of
essential oil extraction by steam
distillation.
- Assistance with developing
business plans for communities
and their stake holders or
financiers.
- Assistance in obtaining financial
support from the public and
private sectors both locally and
internationally
- Comprehensive assistance with
initial land preparation and
plantings.
- Access to cost-effective mobile
steam distillation equipment for
smaller scale farmers.
- Access to reliable and competitive
international markets via long
term supply contracts.
- Chemical and sensory analyses of
essential oils in orders to
determine quality and
marketability.
- Design & implementations of the
appropriate governance, legal and
management structures for the
business being incubated.
- Community development
interventions within the incubated
business and the broader
community in which it operates.
- Business skills training;
- Liaison with other appropriate
Government Departments e.g.
Agriculture and Land Councils.
traditional
cultural practices
New crops for food and botanicals
Regenerative land
management
Geographic
Indicators
EMPLOYMENT IN
REMOTE COMMUNITIES
Community
Seed Bank Network
At Bush Botanics, we understand the importance of protecting and preserving living links to our past. We are committed to keeping the ancient traditions of seed saving, Indigenous agriculture, and storytelling alive. Our mission is to provide access and to protect a wide variety of native seeds and plants so that they may be shared and preserved for future generations.
Join us in creating a more vibrant and resilient future – one where our stories and seeds can live on through the ages.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
An innovative approach to Ecological Restoration while building capacity in the Australian bush foods business
Australia's bush food industry is booming, with traditional varieties in high demand, yet there is still less than 1 per cent indigenous representation in the supply chain. Bush Botanics is an initiative that engages more indigenous people in small-scale bush food enterprises in remote communities across Australia - WE ARE BUILDING A RESTORATION ECONOMY.
Our aim is to cultivate native species in order to process and distribute high-quality, authentic native food products from Australia's natural environment. We partner with Indigenous communities to help sustainably manage their land and develop small-scale enterprises that provide opportunities for employment and community development into the future.
Bush Food Innovation Hub
• Bush Botanics knowledge library : Learn about the uses, benefits and preparation of native Australian botanicals and bush foods.
• Bush tucker plant nursery : An extensive collection of native plants and seeds.
• Bush food & plant medicine making workshops : Develop your product with trusted, hygienically-processed food and medicinal plant products from our commercial kitchen.
Mobile Processing Facilities
Our Mobile Agricultural Processing Unit (MAPU) provides year-round support for site-prep, seedlings, planting, irrigation, harvesting and food processing for remote populations.
Market-Making
Connecting the wild harvesters with the end user, our smartphone app provides a storefront and back-office services for small-scale bush food enterprises on-country.
Join us on-country in one of our upcoming seed planting trips with local elders,
or sign up for our educational classes...
Upcoming Courses
Unlocking the Potential of Wattle Seeds: From Conservation to Commercial Production
This program will help support your community in growing wattle trees for seed and environmental services in remote community. Learn about the process of domesticating wild wattle populations to make them more stable, easier to handle, and more valuable for establishing successful wattle seed orchards. Discover the process of establishing wattle seed orchards and the potential for significant seed production as an ongoing revenue generator for your community. This program is designed to help you increase wattle seed production while restoring degraded lands and providing valuable ecological restoration.
Community Seed Banking: Infrastructural Considerations and Collection Management
Discover the essential aspects of managing a community seed bank, including the infrastructure considerations, seed preservation processes, data management, and the significance of community engagement. We'll take you on a journey through the world of seed banking and show the critical role of seed banks in safeguarding Aboriginal biodiversity and ensuring the future of our planet. Includes bio-registry forms and handbook.
6 weeks - Online Course
Starts April 2024
Working with Ancient Grains
Across the country there is massive demand for native grains like Kangaroo grass and native millet. These traditional varieties provide a great opportunity for indigenous communities to engage with the bush food industry.
This 8 hour online course happens over 6 sessions and will help you to identify the grains in your region, and link these varieties to specific language groups, and in some instances, to specific bread makers.
We also help you to identify opportunities for native grain production in your community.
Put the interests of community first.
At Bush Botanics, we believe that the best medicines are found in nature. We work with indigenous communities to support ecological restoration projects using native trees, medicinal plants and bush foods. Our unique approach combines research, education and economic development to create positive change from the ground up.
We honor the rich history and knowledge of Indigenous Australians in relation to their land, resources, and traditional practices. Indigenous Australians have lived sustainably for thousands of years, drawing on the vast array of native plant species for nutrition, therapeutic uses, and agricultural products.
The management and rights to agricultural production are determined by Indigenous laws, customs, and lore, with specific responsibilities assigned to individuals within their societies. Indigenous women often hold authority over the practices of propagation, harvest, and use of traditional foodstuffs and agricultural products.
Bush Botanics recognizes and upholds the rightful place of Indigenous women in decision-making processes related to Indigenous botanicals.
Made by hand, on the land....
Bush Botanics Australia, Ltd. supports native Australian bush regeneration, sustainable harvesting and the protection of endangered species
Indigenous Australians have been the first land managers, farmers, and manufacturers in Australia, their knowledge and practices continue to be vital for the sustainable use and care of the country’s resources.
We acknowledges the Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of this nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
Always was, always will be…
© Copyright 2024. Bush Botanics Australia, Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Bush Botanics are active members of
the Society for Ecological Restoration
contact us at 04 1179 8772
