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A brief history of Florabunda Nursery ~ In 2000, the Petrie Creek Catchment Care Group identified a need for a community nursery to supply the endemic plants needed for revegetation projects in the Petrie Creek catchment. There was no nursery in the local area able to supply these plants. Private native nurseries mainly sold ornamental stock and seed source was often not locally collected. A small piece of land that was road reserve alongside Petrie Creek was identified as a site, and was approved for use by Maroochy Shire Council. The next step was finding the funding for the structures needed for propagation and growing out. The first igloo was from a grant received from the Maroochy Shire Council, plus donations. A grant for a part-time coordinator for one year was successful from the Jupiter Gambling Fund, which stipulated that this was seed funding and that after the one year period the nursery would be self-sustaining. Meanwhile, after considerable discussion, it was also envisaged that the nursery could be the commercial arm of the group, and support the group's portion of rent for the main office in Nambour. It was also agreed that for the nursery to be sustainable into the future, and not be reliant on government grants, it has to sell the plants to cover operating cost, and hopefully raise additional funds to support the office. Since the initial year of operation, Florabunda Bushcare has grown in size and reputation, supplying over 70,000 trees to landowners, developers, council, and grant recipients. Operations are self-sufficient, with a coordinator working 4 days a week, a trainee 3 days a week, and is open 5 days a week. All activities and finances of the nursery are open and transparent, and accountable as per the group's constitution. The success of Florabunda is largely due to 'people power' volunteer support, active marketing, vertical integration with revegetation grants, and an enthusiastic committee that meets once a month to lend support to the coordinator.
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