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A normal weed is any plant that is out of place. A Noxious Weed is a plant that legally has to be removed or controlled.
Weeds are declared as Noxious if they cause a problem to Human Health, the Environment, Livestock or the Agriculture Industry. Sydney's northern regions have many Bushlands that are invaded by Noxious Weeds that have been cut out of our gardens and thrown into the Bushlands. It then reproduces and grows Noxious Weeds that aren't meant to be there.
Urban noxious weeds begin there life in backyards. Common garden species can be spread by people throwing garden clippings in the bush or birds eating the seeds.
These overseas plants are invaders that smother Australian plants and feed off excess nutrient levels in disturbed soils.
Introduced plants have a few predators, they grow faster than the natives and usually produce more seeds.
Once weeds take over an area the character of the bushland changes, reducing habitat for native wildlife and increasing fire problems.
1. Remove noxious weeds from your property.
2. Never dump your weeds into bushland areas.
3. Compost garden clippings on site or place in Council green waste bins for collection.
4. Replace unwanted plants with local native plants.
5. You could join or start a Regeneration Group.
In NSW the Minister for Agriculture is responsible for, and declares noxious weeds. However Local Control Authorities, (LCAs, usually the local council) are responsible for areas under their control.
A LCA can enforce penalties on land holders failing to control noxious growth on their land.
The act specifies four control categories, each with a particular action.
1. A very bad weed is one which is limited distribution but poses a severe treat to the native plant.
2. The bad weeds are also a threat to native plants and spreads very easily in lots of areas.
3. The weed that spread very wildly are not that dangerous but it still hard to get rid of them.
4. These are not distinctive but they are noxious to grow in your backyard.
The Indian Myna birds an introduced bird to Austraila. It is a pest. They spread weeds by eating berries from weeds and they can't digest the seeds so they spit it back out and then the seeds turn into weeds.
So in Western Austraila they have people who shoot these birds so they don't spread over there.
- Weed invasion is one of the most serious and expensive land problems in Australia.
- Pest plants usually have no natural predators and can therefore outgrow native plants.
- Weeds cost the Australia economy more than $3.3 billion every year in lost agricultural production alone.
Pest plants cause problems in three main ways:
* environmental damage
* health problems for both humans and animals
* loss of agricultural production.
- Weeds are spread by wind, water, birds, stock, animals, humans, and vehicles.
- Almost half of Australia's 450 declared (noxious) weeds were introduced deliberately.
- There are 2800 weeds in Australia.
Weed buster Week 1999 will be held nationally from 10-17 October 1999 each year.
Weed buster Week is an opportunity for the whole community to work
together to minimize the damage weeds cause and protect native flora and
fauna for future generations.
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