Regenerators and volunteers battling an ecological bulldozer
29 Nov 2007
The Australian Association of Bush Regenerators NSW (AABR) today, with the support of WWF-Australia, launched an alarming report that highlights the battle bush regenerators are fighting against a flood of escaped garden plants that are smothering remaining natural areas in eastern Australia.
The report indicates the sheer volume of the bush regeneration workforce on Australia's east coast - an estimated total labour effort of over half a million hours was put into bush regeneration work in 2005 in selected areas of NSW, southern Queensland and northern Victoria. The workforce in the study areas amounted to around 6,700 people - 90 per cent of whom were volunteers. The cost of this work was estimated (including volunteer labour) at $18 million in 2005 alone.
"This large volunteer-dependent workforce is fighting an overwhelming battle against a flood of invasive garden plants that are literally driving NSW's native species to extinction" says WWF's Invasive Species Policy Officer, Nicola Thomson.
The bush regenerators surveyed through the study identified 171 escaped garden plants that have invaded remnant bush areas. The report documents the on-going emergence of new invasive plants as well as established problem species spreading into new areas.
"One of the more disturbing findings of the report is that many of the garden plant species that are confirmed as ravaging NSW's native bushland are not declared under the State's Noxious Weeds Act 1993. Hence the vast majority of these plants can still be promoted and sold as garden plants in NSW," said Jane Gye, an AABR spokesperson.
Last year the CRC for Australian Weed Management released its own 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.
WWF-Australia has nominated the garden plant invasion pathway for declaration as a Key Threatening Process under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
"There are thousands of garden plants waiting to jump the back fence and become the next generation of agricultural and environmental weeds. We have a major opportunity to get a suite of plants under control before they add to this overwhelming and devastating environmental problem," WWF-Australia's Invasive Species Policy Officer, Nicola Thomson said.
AABR and WWF-Australia are urging the NSW Government to better support the bush regeneration workforce to protect NSW biodiversity.
"The weed problem is likely to worsen unless more resources can be put into natural area restoration. The Government cannot continue to rely so heavily on volunteer bush regenerators to carry the can for them on this major environmental issue", AABR spokesperson Jane Gye said.
Full Report (1.2mb, PDF).More information
Jane Gye, Australian Association of Bush Regenerators
Mobile: 0415 647 409
Nicola Thomson, WWF-Australia
Mobile: 0406 384 288
NOTE
Weeds identified by AABR as emerging problems in the study areas included; Sheena's Gold (Duranta erecta), Seaside Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus), Orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata), Bluebell creeper (Sollya heterophylla) – all of which are popular garden plants that are available for sale in Australian plant nurseries.
Concerned members of the public that want to voice their concern to the NSW Minister for Primary Industries (MacDonald) and the NSW Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water (Koperberg) can do so using a sample letter that can be downloaded from the AABR site.
Consumers are urged to use WWF's list of invasive garden plants as a guide when they shop for plants. The list can be downloaded from the WWF site at: http://wwf.org.au/publications/ListInvasivePlants/
A copy of the report can be downloaded from the AABR website.
About AABR
AABR was established in 1986 out of concern for the continuing survival and integrity of bushland and its dependent fauna in or near bushland areas. The Association's aim is to foster and encourage sound ecological practices of bushland management by qualified people, and to promote the study and practice of Bush Regeneration/Natural Area Restoration
About WWF
WWF-Australia is part of the WWF International Network, the world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation. It has close to five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. This is achieved by working on the ground with local communities, and in partnership with government and industry, using the best possible science to advocate change and effective conservation policy.
