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Re: Invasive Weeds in Bushland in SE Australia
2014-04-01 19:58:23 UTC
Hi Karen, its been a while since we last were in touch but understand your predicament. I am still in the field of pest management here in north Queensland and have attended Doug's introductory course recently. We ran a project here with Peri urban farmers called "healthy habitats" a bit of a spin on the "land for wildlife" program. This program worked with property owners to identify the natural values and indigenous flora and fauna while identifying pest problems and causes of such. Only a few landholders from each area could be funded because of costs and time associated with each property report and incentives. Behaviour change is best achieved when the desired actions are visible and durable, in our case much weed management activities are not visible when they happen on property. The use of gate signage, we found, can be of great benefit with this issue in announcing the landholders commitment to the practice. Council has a major part to play in making the environmental work on roadsides and parks visible and again signage works really well as has been the case in the Cardinia and Yarra ranges already. What are the benefits to managing weeds for environmental outcomes, we know but most people don't and cant really process it sell it on the benefits of being a good neighbour and overall environmental health, all of which i'm sure you are already using. We risk isolating people from the cause with the garden plant/pest issue. Prioritization environmental areas most at risk from garden plants escapees and work with these landholders to achieve the desired change, promote there positive actions and commitment to the cause. Have you considered involving your regional catchment group in a program (port philip?) and council and DPI has a role in enforcement, if required.
Hope this helps and good luck, some time has passed since your post and i am keen to hear how you got on with finding a solution.
Byron Kearns
Project Officer
NQ Dry Tropics
Australia
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