This project is a national-scale initiative that aims to
improve monitoring and reporting of invasive animals, and develop a
national system for up-to-date information on the distribution,
abundance and impacts of invasive animals throughout Australia. It
has been running since July 2005, and is jointly funded by the IA
CRC, the National Land and Water Resources Audit (NLWRA, Land and
Water Australia Research and Development Corporation) and NSW
Department of Primary Industries (DPI). Peter West from NSW DPI is
the national coordinator.
The project has produced national, state and natural resource
management (NRM) region maps that show the distribution and
abundance of 10 key pest animals: feral pigs, feral goats, rabbits,
foxes, feral cats, wild dogs and dingoes, common carp,
starlings, cane toads and deer. These maps can be
viewed through the 'View the maps' link
below (high-resolution products are available from the
Australian Natural Resources Data Library website).
The project has also resulted in the first set
of nationally agreed, standardised protocols for
monitoring and reporting on invasive animals. Data-rich datasets of
invasive species, maps of the potential range of these species, and
case studies on a variety of their impacts have also been produced.
These outcomes will provide a benchmark from which managers can
prioritise and monitor pest control activities.
The project will also make Australia better prepared for
potential exotic disease events involving feral and wild animals.
It will improve our detection of, and response to, existing pest
animals, emerging pest species, and disease.
Future work will aim to produce better quality maps at a finer
scale, and for more species. Peter also aims to identify high-risk
sites of exotic animal disease incursion, where there is high
potential for contact bewteen feral populations and livestock or
native wildlife.
Why do we need a national
approach?
Achievements to date
View
the maps
Why do we
need a national approach?
Invasive animals cause a wide range of adverse impacts on
biodiversity and the environment, primary production, ecosystem
services, health and tourism in Australia. They can also present a
significant potential risk for exotic diseases (such as
foot-and-mouth disease) that may be introduced to
Australia. We need to know where pest animals are to effectively
manage their impacts and potential impacts.
To manage invasive animals across land tenure types,
political boundaries and jurisdictions, we need detailed
information about populations and their impacts across the
country. Current information on the distribution and
abundance of invasive animals is inconsistent across states and
territories, and is dated in many places. Information on impacts is
often not detailed enough to be useful. Collecting such information
for effective management ideally requires standardised techniques
for monitoring and reporting, and agreement on a national approach
to managing the information.
This project has produced a collaboration with the NLWRA and all
states and territories to agree on and implement a national work
plan, including a list of priority species and a National
Monitoring Protocol. Information from all state and territory
government agencies on the occurrence, abundance, distribution,
trend and underlying data quality (at a 0.5 degree scale) for the
above-mentioned 10 pest species has been collected, collated and
aggregated. National maps and other products on the
distribution, abundance and impacts of these invasive animals have
been produced.
Data was obtained from a wide variety of sources including
aerial surveys, spotlight count data, field sampling, control
activities, community groups and landholder questionnaires.
Information on additional species including feral horses, feral
donkey, one-humped camel, water buffalo and red-eared slider
turtles was also collated where available.
