An agapanthus infestation in Lysterfield Park, Victoria.
Image: A Lamb

Research released on 11 November by the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC) shows that public concern over the spread of weeds continues to rise.

From an already high level of concern in 2003 over weeds invading bushland and impacting on biodiversity, the number of people who saw the issue as important in 2008 jumped a further 6 per cent to 84 per cent.

CEO of the Weeds CRC, Ms Jan Fair, said that given the increasing public concern over water and climate change as well, it was highly significant that the weeds issue continued to command such a high level of attention from the general public.

'The public clearly continues to be concerned about weeds exerting pressure on native plants and animals in bushland, especially where native species are already threatened and in retreat', Ms Fair said.

The same research project revealed a 4 per cent increase in the number of people who felt weeds invading farmland was also an important issue, from 72 per cent to 76 per cent.

'Considering that this survey was of 750 households in cities and towns, and thus is dominated by urban dwellers rather than country people, these results reveal an increasing awareness on the part of the wider population about the impact that weeds continue to have on the environment and our agricultural production', Ms Fair said.

However, additional results from four random focus groups held in Sydney and Adelaide suggested that despite efforts by government and research groups over many years to demonstrate the ecological and economic impact of weeds, the issue still tends to rank down the list of 'environmental problems' as
perceived by city dwellers.

The top four environmental problems in 2008 for most Australians living in cities, according to this study, are preserving and restoring rivers, the protection of surface water and groundwater, air pollution, and global warming.

'We seem to have increased people's awareness about specific aspects of weed problems, such as the impact on native plants and animals, and on farming costs', says Ms Fair, 'but we don't seem to have shifted the issue up the public's priority list compared to the other big environmental issues they see around them', she said.

However, according to Ms Fair, the Weeds CRC and its partners have definitely been successful in influencing government and industry perceptions about the weeds issue during the five-year period.

'We saw major policy shifts that greatly reduced the risk of weeds entering the country, and we saw a genuine recognition from Canberra that the weed issue deserved long-term attention and enhanced research capacity. We also saw widespread uptake by farmers of new information and guidance for managing weeds in pasture and cropping systems, especially the concept of 'integrated weed management' for grain growers', she said.