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Australian biosecurity warriors honoured in national awards


This year’s national Froggatt Awards, which are named in honour of the man who warned Australia of the dangers of releasing the cane toad into the country, have been announced.

The awards go to a young man who saved the NSW town of Lismore from invasion by yellow crazy ants, a Queensland council that is enlisting local land owners in its fight against weeds and feral animals, and former federal agricultural minister David Littleproud for creating the country’s first ever Office of Environmental Biosecurity.

“We all have a role to play in protecting Australia from dangerous new pest animals, insects, weeds and diseases, and fast and immediate action can be as simple as reporting a suspicious plant, animal or insect to the authorities,” Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox said.

Queensland’s Southern Downs Regional Council won its Froggatt Award for its Invasive Pests Control Scheme, which recognises landholders for taking action on pests and weeds including African boxthorn, blackberry, cacti, rabbits and wild dogs. The scheme has led to unprecedented weed and animal control, gains in farm productivity and protection of the region’s natural areas.

“The Southern Downs Regional Council is enlisting locals in the fight against the region’s most damaging pests and weeds in a scheme that empowers people to be actively involved in biosecurity,” Mr Cox said.

“This extraordinary scheme will save the region $96 million over the next 30 years in environmental and social costs and will have untold benefits for the local community.”

Milo Yeigh was recognised for staving off an invasion of yellow crazy ants from the NSW town of Lismore.

Yellow crazy ants are listed among the world’s worst invasive species. Milo’s keen interest of ants led to his discovery of yellow crazy ants in Lismore’s central district in May 2018.

He reported his find to the NSW Biosecurity Hotline and immediate surveillance and eradication of the infestation was carried out.

“Milo showed the importance of everyday people being part of Australia’s efforts to stop new pest animals, weeds and insects getting new footholds in Australia,” Mr Cox said.

Australia’s former agricultural minister David Littleproud was honoured with a Froggatt Award for creating the Office of Environmental Biosecurity and appointing the country’s first ever Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer, Ian Thompson.

“In its first year, the office has made significant progress on defining the pests and diseases we should be worried about, led responses to new pests and diseases entering the country, built stronger relationships with the community and provided a leadership role on environmental biosecurity at the federal level,” Mr Cox said.

“Improving environment biosecurity will take time and further resources given the historical origins of Australia’s modern biosecurity system founded on agricultural risks.

“The award acknowledges David Littleproud’s leadership in implementing a major structural change to the federal biosecurity system to better address the risks of pests, weeds and diseases that could harm the natural environment.”

About the Froggatt Awards

Invasive species have become one of the biggest threats facing Australia’s natural environment, but their continued arrival and spread is all too often neglected as a conservation issue.

The Froggatt Awards are given out by the Invasive Species Council every year and are named in honour of Australian entomologist Walter Froggatt, a lone voice in the 1930s warning of the dangers of releasing the cane toad into Australia to control beetle infestations in sugar cane.

The awards are given to those who have made a major contribution to protecting Australia’s native plants and animals, ecosystems and people from dangerous new invasive species.

Nominations are now open for the 2020 Froggatt Awards. Visit our Froggatt Awards page for more details.

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Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

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.

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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.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


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.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]