Guest blog by Linden Gillbank, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne. A shocking discovery was made at the end of 2011. A whiskery-leaved yellow daisy was found flourishing on Victoria’s Bogong High Plains. These grasslands are rich in yellow daisies, indigenous and alien, but this daisy spells danger – ecological havoc. It…
Archive | 2013
New report reveals feral horse damage in Australian Alps
Horses have gone feral in Australia’s alpine national parks and in the absence of effective control programs are damaging the mountain catchments and native animals and plants. They are incompatible with the natural values for which the national parks have been established. A new report titled ‘Observations of Pest Horse Impacts in the Australian Alps’ was released in March…
South Australia excels at pest control
South Australia is doing some great work on feral animal control, including the world’s largest island eradication program. In mid-May I joined a South Australian Government seminar to learn more about their feral animal control programs. Claimed to be the largest in the world, a goat and deer eradication program on Kangaroo Island is close to claiming success. After eight years…
Weeds need more advocates
The scientific literature burgeons with papers about escalating weed problems but the public airwaves are largely silent on the creeping peril that is one of Australia’s biggest environmental threats. There is a noticeable lack of coordinated scientific and expert voices forcefully promoting policies and laws that will address some of the root causes of weed…
Fox in Tasmania – Eradication Program Dropped
Stopping the fox eradication program in Tasmania may go down in conservation history as one of the most short-sighted decisions ever made, risking the future of the island’s native mammals and wasting the investment to date. On 4 June the Tasmanian Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, Brian Wightman announced there will be no more funding for…
Stop feeding weeds
The idea that nutrients are good is deeply embedded in society – driving the profitable vitamin-popping industry and the sale of fertilisers. But nutrients added to the environment can do great harm, including by promoting weed invasions. Like most people, I haven’t thought much about the destination of nutrients I excrete or discard but I’ve…
