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NSW National Parks sets the gold standard with new strategies for invasive species control – while state forests remain unmanaged and exposed

The Invasive Species Council has today welcomed the release of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service’s new 10-year feral animal and weed management strategies, describing them as a ‘blueprint for strategic biodiversity protection’ that should be replicated across the country.

‘NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is setting the gold standard for a strategic approach to feral animal and weed control,’ Invasive Species Council Policy Director Dr Carol Booth said. 

‘These strategies are long-term, science-based and designed to actually protect wildlife with the available tools – not just tally up kills or square metres cleared. 

‘These are blueprints for strategic biodiversity protection and we urge other government agencies to adopt similar approaches to ensure better expenditure of taxpayer dollars and conservation outcomes. 

‘It is fantastic to finally see a clear decision-making framework that prioritises prevention, eradication and responsiveness to seasonal conditions and major disturbances like fire and drought.

‘Of course, the success of the implementation of these strategies will depend on the level of funding that is provided by the NSW government for implementation.

‘These strategies are a stark contrast to the ad hoc nature of recreational hunting and unmanaged weeds in state forests in NSW. Currently 1.8 million hectares of public land in NSW is managed with no strategy, no monitoring and no evidence of conservation benefit.

‘Shooting animals without any plan or population targets is not conservation. It’s opportunistic killing that doesn’t reduce invasive animal numbers or protect native species.

‘We urgently need evidence-based strategies like this in all public land tenures – not just our national parks. The managers of state forests and crown lands need to step up to the mark.

‘The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has shown what good looks like. Now it’s time for the rest of the NSW government to follow their lead – and for parliament to reject any proposal that undermines this work, like the dangerous new hunting bill currently under consideration.

‘Recreational hunting should never be allowed to dictate invasive species policy. We need trained professionals, not weekend warriors.’

In 2022/23 NSW National Parks spent $47 million on invasive species control across 7 million hectares, whereas Forestry Corp only spent $644,000 for dog and fox control and $450,000 on weeds across the 1.8 million hectares of native forests they manage. Forestry Corp spent nothing on pig, deer, or other feral animal control. 

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]