What is this issue
Environmental weeds (such as blackberry, gorse, broom and grass weeds in grazed areas).
Impacts of the issue
- Competition with native flora and fauna species, resulting in declines in biodiversity and production values
- Reduction in quality of appropriate habitat for native species
- High rainfall areas = rapid spread
- Nutrient enrichment, disturbance, overgrazing = increased susceptibility
- Garden escapes
- Difficulty of control (terrain, poor access)
- Low landholder knowledge and capacity, increase in 'lifestyle' blocks
- Climate change (shifts in weed species distributions and ecosystem health)
- Gaining voluntary compliance with the Natural Resources Management Act 2004
- Engaging landholders to control weeds on their properties
- Capacity of individuals to identify weeds
- Insufficient resources, time and personnel to tackle on a largescale
- Different perceived impacts of weeds, i.e. organic farming, broad acre, lifestyle
- Regular new weed incursions
- Lack of follow up treatment in successive years
- Difficult terrain
- Reinfestation likely when neighbours are not coordinating their efforts
- Continued spread and reinfestation by stock
- Human movement and transport
- Industry hygiene and movement from businesses outside of farming, i.e. earthmoving, construction, transport
- Build community capacity to understand and manage weed threats in line with the Regional Pest Strategy
- Prevention of new incursions of weeds, through targeting ALERT weeds within a region
- Continued investment in biological control agents and landscape approaches to weed management
- New and emerging weed control technologies
- Some weeds may not fare as well under future climate change scenarios
- Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (particularly Parks SA staff)
- Landholders
- Local Action Planning and Landcare groups
- Local Government (District Council of Yankalilla, City of Victor Harbor, Alexandrina Council)
- Primary Industries and Regions SA
- SA Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board
- Regular monitoring of areas with known weed populations
- Promote and support landholders to undertake early and regular containment works, to minimise further spread
- Support landholders to coordinate with neighbouring properties for weed management
- Support quarantine measures, i.e. Control movement and sale from infested properties, holding pens and plant hygiene
- Promote good biosecurity hygiene practices to prevent further infestations
- Map key assets/ sites of the region and their weed threats
- Support control of infestations in close proximity to key assets/ sites, aiming for a significant reduction in density
- Monitor change in distribution within and in close proximity of key assets/ sites
- Prevent incursion of weeds by encouraging natural regeneration and/or planting native species
- Prevent incursion of weeds by managing total grazing pressure
- Research, trial and develop integrated weed management packages - using both biological and herbicide treatments where possible
- Promote integrated weed management technique to land managers
- Support the collaboration of neighbours on control campaigns as a landscape approach
- Recognise and reward land manager efforts at best practise weed control