Australia’s State of the Environment Report, 2021, tells us that the greatest threats to biodiversity are habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change, with invasive species actually responsible for most extinctions.
While foxes, cats and wild dogs have had a devastating impact on Australian’s unique fauna, invasive plants have also taken their toll, often smothering native plant species.
The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions reports that weeds in NSW cost the economy between $1.67 billion and $1.9 billion annually, admitting that the impact of weeds on biodiversity and natural environments is harder to quantify, but equally significant.
The NSW government currently spends just $50 million annually on weed control, and clearly this is nowhere close to what is needed, as weeds continue to proliferate.
Invasive weeds such as Lantana are rampant in the state’s forests and national parks, with weed control in the former seemingly restricted to road verges to reduce scratching of vehicles, while national parks receive only cosmetic weed control around the more visited locations.
National parks and reserves have Plans of Management detailing weed control policy, which generally reads along the lines of: “NPWS weed control activity is conducted in accordance with the North Coast Region Pest Management Strategy. This strategy has been developed for the region as a whole and identifies pest populations, priorities for control, and control programs”.
However, while Lantana is probably the most invasive species in lower altitude forests, and is listed as a priority weed at a state level, it’s not listed as a priority for the North Coast region.
So essentially, because funding is so limited, the official policy focuses on newly emerging pest species such as Tropical Soda Apple and Devil’s Fig, hoping to eliminate them; while placing well established weeds into the ‘too hard basket’, allowing their uncontrolled proliferation.
“Collaboration” is a major theme throughout the regional plan, and we need to acknowledge that the weed problem is way beyond any government’s ability to deal with alone, so we all need to lift our game.
- John Edwards
Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent , 23rd July, 2025.
