Supporting Communities Manage Pest Animals and Weeds Program

In March 2022, then Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, and then Minister for the Environment, approved $20 million for 30 state and territory-led projects. Projects will deliver on-ground management of established pest and weeds to reduce the impact on our agricultural production, our native wildlife and environment, and the community.

Our funding leverages $45 million from State and Territory governments. Projects will be undertaken across the country to reduce the burden of pests and weeds on-ground, through activities such as coordinated control and removal, trapping, baiting and biological control release.

The Australian Government has offered funding for the following projects across states and territories over four years (2021-22 to 2024-25):

New South Wales

Funding: $3,480,000
Agency: Department of Primary Industries
Projects:

• Releasing weed biocontrol agents – increasing numbers, coverage, and impact
  • Target Species: Multiple weed species, including Weeds of National Significance
  • Key Activities: to fast track and optimise the release of weed biocontrol agents through increasing the area, extent, number, and types of agents released.
• Better Predator Control
  • Target Species: Wild dogs, red foxes, feral cats, and feral pigs
  • Key Activities: to enable more effective suppression of wild dogs, red foxes, feral cats, and feral pigs in highly productive areas (tablelands/escarpment) to reduce the impacts posed by surviving pests and immigrating animals causing ongoing problems.
• Reducing feral deer and pig impacts in NSW hotspots
  • Target Species: Feral deer and pigs
  • Key Activities: to significantly increase the area within the North-West and Central regions of NSW in which feral deer and pigs are controlled to low densities; aerial- and ground-based shooting (both with thermal imaging) of deer and pigs, trapping and ground-baiting of pigs, and exclusion fencing (deer and pigs) – all methods that are highly effective in these landscapes.

Victoria

Funding: $4,813,000
Agency: Department of Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria
Projects:

• Expanded deer control under the Victorian Deer Control Program
  • Target Species: Feral deer
  • Key Activities: to expand deer control activities through the Victorian Deer Control Program in identified areas of high environmental, agricultural, and cultural significance across the state; delivery of aerial deer control, as well as additional capacity building activities for delivery staff and landholders.
• French Island Feral Cat Eradication Project
  • Target Species: Feral cats
  • Key Activities: to eradicate feral cats from French island to provide a sanctuary for local native wildlife. Strengthen the nation’s populations of several threatened fauna species, including several wetland bird species that inhabit coastal salt marsh and Ramsar wetlands on the island.
• Melbourne Peri-urban Invasive Program
  • Target Species: Multiple pest animals and weed species
  • Key Activities: to control priority pest plants and pest animals that are impacting high value environmental areas in Melbourne’s peri-urban area, and reduce the threat of these pests on adjacent private land including agricultural areas.
• Intensifying Victorian Alpine Integrated Pest Animal and Plant Control
  • Target Species: Multiple pest animals and weed species
  • Key Activities: to expand and intensify a suite of existing invasive species management programs delivered by Parks Victoria and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, with a focus on alpine areas.
• Victorian Arid Country Rabbit and Weed Control
  • Target Species: Rabbits and multiple weed species
  • Key Activities: to facilitate capability and capacity building for Parks Victoria, North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA), Mallee CMA and Traditional Owners, to expand pest plant and animal programs across the Semi-arid Woodlands of the Mallee and three of Northern Victoria’s Ramsar sites: Hattah Lakes, Kerang Lakes and Gunbower Forest.

Queensland

Funding: $2,220,000
Agency: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Department of Environment and Science - Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Projects:

• Coordinated management of feral deer in Queensland
  • Target Species: Feral Deer
  • Key Activities: to undertake coordinated management of feral deer in Queensland. Deer will be managed by aerial and ground shooting at several demonstration sites in a range of Queensland environments.
• Strategic invasive grass control to reduce risk of further invasion in Northern Queensland
  • Target Species: Multiple invasive grass species
  • Key Activities: to engage with a wide range of land managers within the Queensland distribution of these grasses including local government, Indigenous, conservation and agricultural land managers to identify and control or eradicate strategic outlier infestations of these grass species on both private and publicly owned land.
• Cape York biosecurity (feral animal control)
  • Target Species: Feral pigs and wild stock
  • Key Activities: to remove feral pigs and wild stock (unsuitable for market) on State-owned land in collaboration with Traditional Owners. This work will broaden the biosecurity buffer in this priority Region.
• Feral pig biosecurity risk
  • Target Species: Feral pigs
  • Key Activities: to manage feral pigs on two key sites where pigs are known vectors of pathogen spread (Bunya Mountains National Park and in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area). The work will focus on mitigation of biosecurity risks associated with Phytophthora and Panama Disease (TR4) and the protection of priority natural values associated with wetlands.
• High biomass grasses
  • Target Species: Multiple invasive grass species
  • Key Activities: to improve biodiversity outcomes and enhance agricultural productivity by delivering control of priority invasive grass species over a range of protected areas. Management intervention will focus on the use of a range of chemical and physical control methods.
• Predator control for the protection of endangered species
  • Target Species: Multiple pest animal species
  • Key Activities: to manage predators on a number of national parks and contribute to existing programs aimed at the protection of threatened species from predators (cats, dogs and foxes).

Western Australia

Funding: $1,494,000
Agency: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
Projects:

• Demonstration of effective feral deer control in WA hotspots
  • Target Species: Feral deer
  • Key Activities: to target two feral deer populations to demonstrate local eradication: one containing rusa deer, a C1 species requiring eradication, and one with red and fallow deer, both C3 species requiring management. By working collaboratively with the National Feral Deer Taskforce to trial selective deer feeders, and NSW Department of Primary Industries to train Departmental staff to perform Thermally Assisted Aerial Shooting (TAAS), this project will build capacity with the WA biosecurity framework to conduct best practice feral deer control.
• Improving the efficacy of bait uptake by dogs and foxes
  • Target Species: Wild dogs and foxes
  • Key Activities: to investigate how to improve the uptake of baits by both dogs and foxes through on-ground field trials, leading to the implementation of enhanced baiting on agricultural and government managed lands.
• Gamba grass management
  • Target Species: Gamba Grass
  • Key Activities: to increase targeted removal of this weed to prevent it from becoming established in northern Western Australia.
• Prickly acacia management
  • Target Species: Prickly acacia
  • Key Activities: to enable more intensive and effective control of this priority weed to prevent it from becoming established in northern Western Australia. Currently WA has a single infestation site of prickly acacia which is managed by the Kimberley Rangelands Biosecurity Association (KRBA) in collaboration with Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).
• Rubber vine management
  • Target Species: Rubber vine
  • Key Activities: to increase the intensity of control programs to reduce the density of infestations, with the long-term goal to eradicate rubber vine from the region. In addition, the funding will allow refinement of current aerial surveillance with the use of digital cameras to improve detection of flowering plants.
• Improving management tools for feral cats
  • Target Species: Feral cats
  • Key Activities: to examine the strategic application of feral cat baiting using Eradicat across four sites to improve cost-effectiveness and efficacy.

South Australia

Funding: $4,000,000
Agency: Department of Primary Industries and Regions
Projects:

• Eradication of feral deer from South Australia
  • Target Species: Feral deer
  • Key Activities: to eradicate feral deer from South Australia and drive control activities during the initial 4 years of the 10 year program, during which the greatest level of investment is required and the largest reduction in feral deer is forecast. The project will align with the development of both State and National Action Plans for feral deer.
• Eradication of wild dogs from SA sheep country
  • Target Species: Feral dogs
  • Key Activities: to eradicate wild dogs from South Australia sheep country inside the Dog Fence for the first 4 years of the eradication program, which requires the greatest level of investment and will see the largest reduction in wild dog populations.
• Priority weed control programs
  • Target Species: Multiple weed species
  • Key Activities: to deliver state-wide, best-practice weed control programs and on-ground activities focused on the provision of support and advice, and regionally-based equipment, chemicals and expertise, enabling landholders to better control weeds.

Tasmania

Funding: $1,575,000
Agency: Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
Projects:

• Regional Collaborative Deer Management, Tasmania
  • Target Species: Feral deer
  • Key Activities: to partner with the local communities, local governments, and other stakeholders in the Launceston region and King Island to develop their awareness of the need to manage deer in peri-urban environments; to develop their capacity to plan and implement deer management, including evaluating and undertaking control options and operations.
• Strategic management and control of feral pigs on Flinders Island
  • Target Species: Feral pigs
  • Key Activities: to use a range of innovative techniques and technologies for the detection, surveillance, control and management of feral pigs on Flinders Island. The project will seek to remove pigs from priority agricultural and natural areas using best-practice methods and the use of trained contractors, in conjunction with Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania officers.
• Protecting the economic and natural assets of Tasmania’s off-shore Islands from the impact of vertebrate pests and weeds.
  • Target Species: Multiple pest animal and weed species
  • Key Activities: to add significant value to existing pest animal and weed control activities and extend that work and knowledge to a broader suite of strategically important off-shore islands, to ensure the values present on those islands can be protected.

Australian Capital Territory

Funding: $1,000,000
Agency: Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate
Projects:

• Invasive Species Management in the ACT
  • Target Species: Multiple invasive species
  • Key Activities: to expand operational activities to prevent, eradicate, and undertake early containment of invasive species in priority areas, protecting agricultural and conservation values in threatened ecosystems.

Northern Territory

Funding: $1,418,000
Agency: Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security
Projects:

• Feral cat control to secure the future of the critically endangered central rock-rat
  • Target Species: Feral cat
  • Key Activities: to expand the extent and duration of feral cat control and increase collaboration with Aboriginal Rangers and Traditional Owners, to boost the central rock-rat population in Tjoritja National Park. It will also significantly enhance monitoring of the feral cat and central rock-rat populations.
• Containment of Siam Weed in the Northern Territory
  • Target Species: Siam Weed
  • Key Activities: to reduce the threat that Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) currently poses to northern Australia by designing and delivering a coordinated Siam weed control program to contain core infestations and eradicate outliers in the Northern Territory.
• Expand the Gamba Grass program in Litchfield National Park
  • Target Species: Gamba Grass
  • Key Activities: to expand the gamba grass program to halt the rapid spread of the grass across the Litchfield National Park.

$6 million has been allocated to regional natural resource management organisations to deliver on-ground pest animal and weed reduction activities that will protect and recover threatened species and ecological communities. Projects will focus on priority species and places to be identified in the Threatened Species Strategy (2021-2031) and its five-year Action Plan

$4 million has been allocated to expand the role of Indigenous rangers in on-ground pest animal and weed management, with a particular focus on the protection of biodiversity and cultural values. It is expected that projects will focus on Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy priorities, and will be delivered through a combination of fee-for-service activities, grants and capability building initiatives to undertake on-ground activities.

Up to $8.2 million will fund research, development and extension grants to advance a range of breakthrough control solutions to improve pest animal and weed management tools.

This includes meritorious research, development and extension projects that were identified (but not initially able to be funded) through the oversubscribed Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round that were invited to submit updated applications for reassessment.

Grant round overview

• Reserve applicants from the previous grant round were invited to submit updated applications in late 2021.
• Information on the previous grant round including the selection outcomes, and the Grant Opportunity Guidelines can be found at Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round.
• Six eligible applications were received in early February 2022 and were assessed by an Expert Assessment Panel.
• Successful projects were announced by then Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, in March 2022.

Projects

Novel rat-specific toxin for improved management of rats in intensive livestock production systems

Delivered by: CSIRO, partnering with Australian Pork Limited, Poultry Hub, and Landcare Research NZ.

Current control strategies rely mainly on anticoagulant rodenticides, which can negatively impact non-target species. This project will assess the effectiveness and delivery of a newly designed analogue of the rat specific chemical toxin, Norbormide, in Australian Intensive Livestock Production Systems. This project aims to deliver cost-effective rodent control that significantly reduces non-target risks to livestock and native wildlife.

Development of drone detection technology to enhance Tropical Soda Apple control in rugged high-value grazing country in northern NSW

Delivered by: North Coast Local Land Services, partnering with Charles Sturt University, Southern Cross University, Kempsey Shire Council, Coffs Harbour City Council, Clarence Valley Council and Rous County Council.

Tropical Soda Apple (TSA) is native to South America but highly invasive in agricultural and natural landscapes in Australia. Current control and management strategies are proving effective in accessible and easy to monitor environments such as open pastures. However, present management efforts are at risk of failure as TSA is difficult to control in rugged ‘out of sight’ terrain. This project aims to develop drone-based remote sensing technology to detect TSA. This will allow targeted control activities that will greatly increase the chances for regional-scale eradication.

Night-Adapted Eye survey and species classification system — realising the capacity for real-time and cost-effective monitoring of pests on a landscape scale

Delivered by: Monash University, partnering with Nocturnal Wildlife Research Pty. Ltd., Definium Technologies Pty. Ltd., Firmus Grid Pty. Ltd., University of Southern Queensland, Zoophotonics.

Current pest survey methods are mostly highly labour intensive, non-automated, and require the placement of devices in the field that need to be maintained. This project aims to utilise the power of high-performance computing and Artificial Intelligence to develop a hand-held digital sensor that can determine the distribution, density, and species classification of pests in many hectares of habitat in minutes.

Integrated chemical and biological control systems for established agricultural and environmental weeds

Delivered by: The University of Queensland, partnering with CSIRO, and Bayer AG.

The main chemical control tools deployed by farmers are either herbicides or biological control agents such as insects or fungal pathogens. Herbicides are often not entirely effective and can negatively impact non-target species including biological control agents. The goal of this project is to modify existing herbicides to become more effective, and to develop new herbicides that target an important plant enzyme not found in animals that allows for easier integration of chemical and biological control systems.

The Australian Government is providing $6.27 million (2021-22 to 2024-25) to engage up to 10 national coordinators for established pest and weed management. They will co-deliver improvements to coordination, extension, best practice management adoption and information sharing to maximise the management of priority pest animal and weed species.

Further information on National Coordinators can be found at Priority pest animals. On 4 April 2022, the national feral deer, wild dogs and feral cat and fox pest animal management coordinator programs were extended to 30 June 2023.

$2.2 million has been provided to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). The funding expands and continues the national prioritisation and better information projects to improve our understanding of the distribution, abundance and impact of priority established pest animals and weeds.