Weeds, Pests and Diseases
The threat posed to Australian native species by invasive weeds and pest animals is growing. It is now second only to land clearing as the biggest threat to Australia's biodiversity.
Hybrid Mother of Millions - one of the CSIRO's Top 10 invasive weed species
© John Hosking
Escaped invasive garden plants are the biggest source of agricultural and environmental weeds, costing farmers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Phytophora, a serious fungal disease, acts like a biological bulldozer destroying forests in Western Australia. Pest animals have played a major part in the extinction of many native animals, with rats causing the extinction of five bird species on Lord Howe Island alone.
WWF has been instrumental in convincing the Australian Government to commit another $40 million to combat the growing weeds problem, toughen quarantine laws to ban more than 3,000 weeds not yet in Australia, list cane toads and rats on off-shore islands as key threats under Federal environmental law, and put in place a national action plan that will remove rats from islands rich in wildlife.
Recent Weeds, Pests and Diseases News
Funding agreement to save Macquarie Island: WWF
A major threat to the survival of the grey-headed albatross will be removed thanks to a joint decision today by the Australian and Tasmanian governments to fund a pest eradication program on World Heritage Macquarie Island.
Continue reading 'Funding agreement to save Macquarie Island: WWF'
Australian species face new invasions under changed climate
A push to remove the scourge of exotic plants and animals from vulnerable Australian ecosystems must begin before warmer temperatures encourage the further spread of invasive species, a leading conservation organisation said today.
$15m for weeds research a winner
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.
Gamba declaration
Nearly 200 scientists today asked the Queensland and Northern Territory governments to ban the sale and planting of gamba grass, one of Northern Australia's most destructive invasive grasses.
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