Calls for emergency action plan as myrtle rust pushes plants to extinction

Experts say some members of 'enormously important' myrtle family could be extinct within five years, with others to follow

Australia must roll out an emergency national response to an invasive plant disease that is rapidly pushing at least four plant species to imminent extinction, experts have told Guardian Australia.

A draft emergency action plan for the fungal disease myrtle rust proposes that a rapid collection of seeds and plant material needs to be mobilised before several species disappear altogether.