Weeds of the North Coast of NSW - NEW Book
Weeds of the North Coast of NSW - NEW Book
The new book utilises a traffic light system to highlight priority weeds and help simplify the expected actions of landholders and managers.
Collaborations -
LP022-017
The issue
The change in legislation, from the repealed Noxious Weeds Act 1993 to the Biosecurity Act 2015, meant that resources regarding weed management had to be updated.
The original Weeds of the North Coast of NSW book, developed by the late Pia Dollmann, was a grassroots resource which has been invaluable to Landcare and widely popular on the North Coast, utilised by Councils, NPWS, TAFE, Landcarers and landholders, making significant contributions to conservation.
The solution
CHRL successfully applied for funding through the Coffs Harbour City Council's (CHCC) Environmental Levy (EL) Program to update the resource. Concurrently, North Coast Local Land Services's Regional Weed Officer was looking to create a new resource that reflected the North Coast Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan (NCRSWMP). Contact was made between LLS and CHRL and discussions regarding collaboration were held.
The project was a collaboration between CHRL's EL funded project and NCLLS's Every Bit Counts project and the North Coast Weeds Action Program.
The impact
The new book is a practical guide to support land managers to identify and manage weeds, and understand their obligations under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015. The resource is applicable region wide. The new book is in alignment with the NCRSWMP and includes all priority weeds in the North Coast region.
It is now the primary resource used by Council Weed Officers on the North Coast. It will be used by NPWS as a field guide, TAFE as a training resource, Landcarers and landholders as an educational resource and a field guide for weed identification and control.
Learnings
The project was a collaboration with CHRL and LLS. There is always compromise when it comes to collaboration and it was challenging to balance the priorities of both parties. It was important to CHRL that the resource did not lose the integrity of the original book by Pia Dollmann, which is a grassroots resource invaluable to Landcare and to conservation.
LLS required all priority weeds listed in the NCRSWMP to be included. As a result, the resource loses some local practicality. The focus is no longer on the widespread weeds that exist within the majority of our Landcare sites and that our Landcarers work to control.
Key facts
- The NEW Weeds of the North Coast Book assists Landcarers, land managers and landholders to:
- Recognise priority weeds (displayed by a simple traffic light system)
- Obtain information on how to identify and control weeds
- Understand that it is every person's responsibility to control, report and prevent the spread of weeds.