of one population in an experimental regeneration fire. The mature plants were killed, and the seedlings that volunteered did not survive the summer drought. A Matchstick Banksia Recovery Team was established in 1995, and over time they succeeded in establishing a large number of seedlings. A large adult population was destroyed by bushfire in 1996, causing further concern, but this was followed by the recruitment of large numbers of seedlings. Threats to B. cuneata include land clearing, which leads to direct plant loss and population fragmentation, grazing pressure, competition from exotic weeds, changes to the fire regime, and encroaching salinity. The Banksia Atlas survey found one population to be on the side of a road; the plants were aging with no new seedlings noted, and the site was weed-infested. A large part of the surviving populations are on private land, and depend on good relationships with local landowners. Many have obliged by fencing off areas and restricting entry of rabbits. There has been some attempt by CALM to translocate populations away from hazardous areas; these have met with some success, helped with watering in the first year. Land clearing Even before the extensive clearing of the Wheatbelt in the 1930s, B. cuneata must have had a highly fragmented distribution, since the deep yellow sand favoured by the species occurs only in patches, and makes up only 10 to 15% of the area. Around 93% of the land has now been cleared of native vegetation, with the remaining 7% occurring in remnants of various sizes. Thus land clearing must have further fragmented an already fragmented population, as well as greatly reduced the number of individual plants. Protection of genetic diversity Levels of genetic diversity within individual populations of B. cuneata are unusually high for a rare and endangered species, but the populations fall into two genetically distinct groups. These are separated not by geographical distance but by the Salt River, an ephemeral saline river system that provides a habitat unsuitable for both B. cuneata and the birds that pollinate it. It thus functions as a barrier to the exchange of genetic material, allowing populations on different sides of the river to diverge through genetic drift. The implication for conservation is that effort should be invested on both sides of the river in order to conserve as much genetic diversity as possible. It was suggested that one large population from each population