Established Pest Animals and Weeds Management Pipeline Program

Bringing together industry, governments, natural resource management groups and the wider community we are delivering a national approach to pest animal and weed management. We are supporting the expansion of more coordinated management activities and improvements to information sharing through:

• a National Feral Pig Management Coordinator Program. This has led to the development of the National Feral Pig Action Plan ($1.4 million through Australian Pork Limited).
• building on the previous WoNS initiative, improvements to the coordination and management of priority weeds. A National Established Weed Priorities (NEWP) framework has been developed, and best practice manuals are being developed for WoNS such as cat’s claw creeper, Madeira vine, sagittaria, gamba grass, fireweed and African boxthorn ($1.1 million to Wild Matters Pty. Ltd.)

To gain a better understanding of the impacts of established pest animals and weeds on Australia’s agriculture and environment, we have or are funding:

• ABARES to undertake three projects to improve our understanding of the distribution, economic and social impacts of pests and weeds in Australia ($2.2 million)
• CSIRO to explore the possibility of identifying different populations of feral pigs in Australia using DNA samples ($160,000)
• CSIRO to continue research into a biological control option for fireweed ($291,500)
• University of Queensland to undertake further research into herbicides to target WoNS ($299,830)

We are funding research to find innovative solutions for priority established pests and weeds of national significance.

Through the Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions competitive grant round, $13 million has been committed to fund 19 successful projects. These projects will further research and develop control solutions such as biological controls, genetic modification and advanced automation technologies.

Project outcomes will deliver new and enhanced ‘farm ready’ control tools for over 45 of Australia’s most invasive pest species, including fall army worm, hive beetle, lantana, prickly acacia and cane toads. $12 million in additional cash or in-kind support will add great value to the delivery of the projects and increase uptake and accessibility of tools by farmers and land managers.

Successful projects - Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round

Grant Opportunity Guidelines can be viewed below.

We provide support to state and territory governments who are responsible for the on-ground management of pest animals and weeds. We are currently funding:

Wild dog fencing

$1 million to both South Australia and Western Australia in 2019–20 for their state wild dog fencing projects. The funding to South Australia, together with $9 million from other Commonwealth sources, delivered on the $10 million election commitment to the South Australia wild dog fence project, from 2019–20 to 2022–23.

Prickly Acacia Weed Management program

Prickly acacia (Vachellia nilotica) is a Weed of National Significance (WoNS). It is regarded as one of Australia’s worst weeds because it:

• spreads rapidly;
• reduces available pasture for livestock;
• damages soils by facilitating erosion;
• interferes with mustering, livestock movement and access to water; and
• threatens biodiversity through the transformation of natural grasslands into thorny scrub and woodland.

In 2019, the North Queensland floods washed prickly acacia seeds downstream, potentially increasing the distribution of the weed into areas that were not yet infested. As part of the North Queensland flood recovery effort, the Australian Government committed $5 million over five years (2019-20 to 2023-24) to reduce the impact of prickly acacia on primary producers and the environment in affected areas of north-western and central-western Queensland.

The funding is being provided to three natural resource management (NRM) groups to undertake on-ground weed management and control, surveillance, community extension and awareness raising activities.

Final reports have been submitted and are under review by departmental officers.

Prickly Acacia Weed Management program funding allocation

$5 million to state and territory governments through a Federation Funding Agreement.

We have partnered with state and territory governments to improve the skills and capacity of land managers and communities to better manage established pest animals and weeds.

We have allocated $5 million over three years to fund projects investigating research, adoption, coordination and extension. Each of the 11 successful projects are supported by co-contributions from the relevant state or territory government.

New South Wales

Funding: $930,354

Future-proofing Australia’s National Post-Border Weed Risk Management System

• Target species: All weeds
• Key activities: Development of a national, standardised, web-based weed risk assessment system to assist land managers to assess weed risk and prioritise management actions. This project aims to develop a weed risk assessment tool that improves existing systems by incorporating post- disturbance risk capability (e.g. fire, drought) and allows for more effective use of existing weed response and trait data to inform weed risk management prioritisation. Additionally, this project will develop decision support tools for land managers to allow a priori decision making and integration of management objectives into existing planning systems.

National Invasive Grasses Research, Development & Engagement Business Plan – Stage 2 Adaptation and Coordination in NSW

• Target species: Serrated tussock, Chilean needle grass, African lovegrass
• Key activities: This project sought to reduce the impact of invasive grasses in NSW by implementing stage 2 of the National Invasive Grasses Research, Development & Engagement Business Plan, building on stage 1 which saw the establishment of three NSW demonstration sites for the management of invasive grasses. This project appointed two NSW invasive grasses coordinators to oversee the establishment of 21 demonstration sites (7 per species) hosted and co-designed by land managers across NSW. Training was provided at these sites to improve the knowledge base of NSW land managers in best practice management methods and tools for each of the target weeds. Technical staff from Stage 1 of the Invasive Grasses Project (funded through the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions) formed part of the Project Steering Committee for this project.
• Completed May 2023

Northern Territory

Funding: $500,000

Advancing the detection, control and management of Siam weed in northern Australia

• Target species: Siam weed
• Key activities: This project sought to reduce the threat that Siam weed poses to northern Australia by supporting land managers to contain and eradicate the single infestation site in the Northern Territory, and to address identified gaps in the development and implementation of best practice management. To achieve this, a project officer was tasked with building land manager capacity to identify, survey and control Siam weed as part of a long-term strategy for containment and eradication, advancing a new cost-effective, catchment-scale surveillance method, and developing a Siam Weed Management Guide (which has been distributed to the National Siam Weed Work Group)
• Completed January 2024

Queensland

Funding: $998,000

Biological and chemical approaches to ‘on-farm’ management of the invasive weed, Navua sedge

• Target species: Navua sedge
• Key activities: This project focuses on research, development and extension (RD&E) activities that will offer innovative solutions for holistic management of Navua sedge. RD&E activities will include research into classical biological control agents and the development of mycoherbicides (fungal-based herbicides), and assessments of the efficacy of conventional herbicide control techniques. Results of this research will be extended to landholders through field days and demonstration sites to improve the on-ground management of Navua sedge.

Enhancing feral pig management in northern Australia – validation through demonstration of optimised management

• Target species: Feral pigs
• Key activities: This project aimed to improve the management of feral pigs in northern Australia by appointing a feral pig management coordinator to establish demonstration sites for field validation of optimised monitoring and control strategies. This research was required before widespread adoption of these approaches could be recommended. Best-practice management guidelines for feral pig management relevant to northern Australia have been reviewed and updated.
• Completed April 2024

South Australia

Funding: $740,000

Coordinated control of established pest animals and unpalatable perennial grasses through community-led action

• Target species: Feral deer, rabbits, foxes, unpalatable perennial grasses
• Key activities: This project sought to improve management outcomes for rabbits, deer, foxes and unpalatable perennial grasses in South Australia by extending the successful community-engagement model currently used in South Australia for rabbits, deer, wild dogs and weeds. This project fostered collaboration between stakeholders, establishing landholder management groups, coordinating control programs, supported the uptake of new technologies, and delivered information through workshops and training.
• Completed April 2023

Coordinated capacity building for Aboriginal Land Managers to control Weeds of National Significance and other high priority established weeds

• Target species: Athel pine, African boxthorn, opuntioid cacti
• Key activities: Through a program coordinator, this project aimed to build the capacity of Indigenous land managers to reduce the impact of target WoNS on remote Indigenous land in South Australia. The coordinator worked with Indigenous communities to provide advice on best practice management, emerging technologies and invasion pathways, coordinate workshops and training, and develop priorities for weed issues at the local level.
• Completed April 2023

Tasmania

Funding: $495,546

Coordinated action to support landowners to improve agricultural productivity and protect significant environmental values from the impacts of highly invasive perennial grasses, including Nassella grass species

• Target species: Chilean needle grass, serrated tussock, Mexican feather grass, Texas needle grass
• Key activities: This project built on a project funded through the Australian Government’s Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper that focussed on building the capacity of landowners affected by Nassella species and highlighted the need for a more coordinated management approach. This project sought to update existing property plans and develop new ones to manage the Nassella grasses, with a focus on developing plans encompassing multiple properties to achieve landscape-scale outcomes. Additional activities included updating distribution and abundance data, development of an educational package and undertaking formal risk assessments.
• Completed March 2024

Victoria

Funding: $880,000

Indigenous Facilitator for the management of pest and weeds in culturally sensitive landscapes

• Target species: Rabbits, gorse, blackberry, serrated tussock
• Key activities: This project appointed an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Coordinator who worked with Traditional Owner groups to co-design a guide for managing established invasive species in culturally sensitive areas. This guide included a decision-making matrix with an agreed methodology that will be extended for use by both public and private land managers, allowing for more effective landscape-scale outcomes whilst building awareness of Aboriginal heritage throughout Victoria.
• Completed December 2023

Advancing feral pig management in Victoria – coordination and community

• Target species: Feral pigs
• Key activities: This project sought to apply a community-based, cross-tenure approach to feral pig management, supported by a dedicated Victorian Feral Pig Coordinator. The coordinator was responsible for conducting system mapping to identify key stakeholders, current management programs, levels of knowledge and funding flows. Other responsibilities included establishing feral pig working groups, developing and delivering training and resources to support feral pig awareness and control, and facilitating connections between on ground control and feral pig research projects.
• Completed June 2024

Western Australia

Funding: $445,800

Establishing a landscape scale wild dog and feral pig monitoring network to improve delivery of coordinated and effective pest management.

• Target species: Wild dogs, feral pigs
• Key activities: This project sought to increase the capacity of the three Recognised Biosecurity Groups in the northern agricultural zone to detect and mount timely and effective responses to wild dogs and pigs. This was achieved by establishing an expansive remote camera trapping surveillance network, incorporating the latest technology to enable wireless upload of data and AI software data analysis.
• Completed May 2024