The elusive promise of better national biosecurity
14 November, 2023
Unfortunately the lofty promise of the National Biosecurity Strategy is at risk.
Unfortunately the lofty promise of the National Biosecurity Strategy is at risk.
Ever wondered what bugs are living in your garden or hanging out on a hike? Join the Bug Hunt now to discover all of our awesome native bugs, and a few non-native ones that we want to protect our communities from.
Removal of 711 deer from the Walls of Jerusalem is critically important to protect Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.
In the lead-up to World Biodiversity Day on 22 May, the Invasive Species Council has reviewed recent research showing Australia has been averaging at least 4.5 probable extinctions every decade since the 1960s. More than previously thought.
The federal budget has taken important steps, but more work is needed to ensure key sectors are paying for the biosecurity risks they create.
The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Australian Government to urgently prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly bird flu known as HPAI H5.
While COVID has been spreading around the world, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has also been spreading.
The agricultural and environmental biosecurity office has had budgets slashed, biosecurity funding is on the table, the National Biosecurity Strategy is moving forward, and the Decade of Biosecurity has a new national coordinator.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Australia has an urgent invasive species problem. Invasive species pose the greatest threat to our native plants and animals – even greater than climate change.
A visit to New Zealand is to witness a growing movement targeting the killing of pest animals and the excitement in seeing the return of birds and their songs.
Varroa mites were detected in two of six sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, NSW, on 22 June. As of the latest official update on 27 July, there are now 43 known infested premises across central-eastern and north-eastern NSW.
As the Invasive Species Council celebrates 20 years, a major milestone was achieved – we co-hosted Australia’s second ever Biosecurity Symposium
Five national conservation groups launched a report called Averting Extinctions.
There’s a federal election slated for May this year, and we have one word at the top of our priority list.
Unfortunately the lofty promise of the National Biosecurity Strategy is at risk.
Ever wondered what bugs are living in your garden or hanging out on a hike? Join the Bug Hunt now to discover all of our awesome native bugs, and a few non-native ones that we want to protect our communities from.
Removal of 711 deer from the Walls of Jerusalem is critically important to protect Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.
In the lead-up to World Biodiversity Day on 22 May, the Invasive Species Council has reviewed recent research showing Australia has been averaging at least 4.5 probable extinctions every decade since the 1960s. More than previously thought.
The federal budget has taken important steps, but more work is needed to ensure key sectors are paying for the biosecurity risks they create.
The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Australian Government to urgently prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly bird flu known as HPAI H5.
While COVID has been spreading around the world, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has also been spreading.
The agricultural and environmental biosecurity office has had budgets slashed, biosecurity funding is on the table, the National Biosecurity Strategy is moving forward, and the Decade of Biosecurity has a new national coordinator.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Australia has an urgent invasive species problem. Invasive species pose the greatest threat to our native plants and animals – even greater than climate change.
A visit to New Zealand is to witness a growing movement targeting the killing of pest animals and the excitement in seeing the return of birds and their songs.
Varroa mites were detected in two of six sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, NSW, on 22 June. As of the latest official update on 27 July, there are now 43 known infested premises across central-eastern and north-eastern NSW.
As the Invasive Species Council celebrates 20 years, a major milestone was achieved – we co-hosted Australia’s second ever Biosecurity Symposium
Five national conservation groups launched a report called Averting Extinctions.
There’s a federal election slated for May this year, and we have one word at the top of our priority list.
Unfortunately the lofty promise of the National Biosecurity Strategy is at risk.
Ever wondered what bugs are living in your garden or hanging out on a hike? Join the Bug Hunt now to discover all of our awesome native bugs, and a few non-native ones that we want to protect our communities from.
Removal of 711 deer from the Walls of Jerusalem is critically important to protect Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.
In the lead-up to World Biodiversity Day on 22 May, the Invasive Species Council has reviewed recent research showing Australia has been averaging at least 4.5 probable extinctions every decade since the 1960s. More than previously thought.
The federal budget has taken important steps, but more work is needed to ensure key sectors are paying for the biosecurity risks they create.
The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Australian Government to urgently prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly bird flu known as HPAI H5.
While COVID has been spreading around the world, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has also been spreading.
The agricultural and environmental biosecurity office has had budgets slashed, biosecurity funding is on the table, the National Biosecurity Strategy is moving forward, and the Decade of Biosecurity has a new national coordinator.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Australia has an urgent invasive species problem. Invasive species pose the greatest threat to our native plants and animals – even greater than climate change.
A visit to New Zealand is to witness a growing movement targeting the killing of pest animals and the excitement in seeing the return of birds and their songs.
Varroa mites were detected in two of six sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, NSW, on 22 June. As of the latest official update on 27 July, there are now 43 known infested premises across central-eastern and north-eastern NSW.
As the Invasive Species Council celebrates 20 years, a major milestone was achieved – we co-hosted Australia’s second ever Biosecurity Symposium
Five national conservation groups launched a report called Averting Extinctions.
There’s a federal election slated for May this year, and we have one word at the top of our priority list.
The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. The Invasive Species Council supports voting ‘YES’ for a Voice to Parliament.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
