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Invasive Species Council appoints former CEO Andrew Cox as Global Ambassador

The Invasive Species Council has announced the appointment of its long-serving former CEO, Andrew Cox, as a new Ambassador – a role that will see him continue advancing Australia’s leadership on invasive species prevention and management at the global level.

Mr Cox stepped down as CEO in February 2025 after more than a decade at the helm, during which time he helped transform the Council from a small advocacy group into one of Australia’s most influential environmental organisations.

‘I’m deeply grateful to be appointed as an Ambassador, allowing me to continue to advance the important work of the Invasive Species Council at the global level,’ Invasive Species Council Ambassador and founder of 4nature, Andrew Cox said. 

‘As CEO, I was aware Australia was at the mercy of the international trade system, and I’m now devoting my time to being a strong environmental voice within this system, seeking to benefit all countries, particularly small island nations in the Pacific.

‘I look forward to collaborating with the Invasive Species Council to ensure invasive species – the biggest driver of animal extinctions in Australia and a major threat worldwide – receive the global attention and coordinated action they demand. By strengthening international biosecurity, we can protect not just Australia’s wildlife, but biodiversity across our region and beyond.’

Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said: ‘Andrew’s vision and dedication over the last decade led the Council to grow into the formidable force it is today. I am thrilled he will continue with us as an Ambassador, lending his expertise, particularly to international biosecurity efforts. 

‘Given the enormous contribution Andrew made leading the Council for so long, we are absolutely thrilled that we will continue to collaborate with us on this critical mission.’

In his Ambassador role, Mr Cox is already representing Australia’s environmental biosecurity interests at key global events, including:

  • The IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, UAE (October 2025).
  • The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Panama City, Panama (October 2025).

He is also leading the Global Environmental Biosecurity Initiative, a new effort to accelerate international action on invasive species – including by strengthening global rules on biofouling and shipping containers, improving trade regulations and boosting support for developing countries.

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

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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]