$15m for weeds research a winner
09 May 2008
WWF-Australia today welcomed the Australian Government's announcement to spend $15 million on a new National Weeds and Productivity Research Program in its budget next week, and warned of a new wave of invasive weeds threatening to jump the garden fence and take hold in Australian bushland.
WWF-Australia's Biodiversity Policy Manager, Averil Bones praised the Australian Government's commitment to the research centre as far-sighted and essential in ensuring the cost-effective management of existing weeds and the prevention of new weeds.
"Weeds are second only to landclearing as the biggest existing threat to Australia's biodiversity and they cost Australian farmers hundreds of millions of dollars every year," Ms Bones said.
"What's worse is that the threat of weeds is only expected to increase with climate change, as warmer temperatures break down the resilience of existing ecosystems and speed the spread of weeds into new areas," she said.
Most of Australia's agricultural and environmental weeds are garden escapees. Just one escaped invasive garden plant - Lantana - now degrades more than four million hectares of Australia's environment.
WWF hopes the research centre will be independently managed, that priorities will be drawn from the National Weed Spread Prevention Action Plan, and that its focus will be on protecting both the environment and Australia's agriculture from weed invasion.
A report released in November last year by WWF-Australia and the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators NSW documents the emergence of new invasive plants in NSW as well as the spread of established problem species into new areas of the State.
The report identified 171 escaped garden plants that had invaded remnant native bush areas, and confirmed that many of the invasive weeds ravaging NSW are not declared under the State's Noxious Weeds Act.
Ms Bones said the situation was similar in other State's around the country, with many known invasive plants still available for sale in nurseries despite the risk they pose to the environment.
"The fact that many of these species have not been declared as Noxious Weeds means the vast majority of them can still be promoted and sold as garden plants, which raises the threat of a new wave of invasive plants."
Last year the CRC for Australian Weed Management released a report on the impacts of weeds on Australia's biodiversity, which found that invasive plants were the biggest threat to the survival of native species after land clearing.
For more information:
Charlie Stevens, WWF-Australia Press Office, 02 8202 1274, 0424 649 689
Averil Bones, WWF-Australia Biodiversity Policy Manager, 02 8202 1289, 0437 864 153
