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. The individual
national maps,
state maps and
NRM region maps are available online (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 final reports associated with this project, Assessing
invasive animals in Australia 2008 and Significant
invasive species (vertebrate pests), can be downloaded from
the Documents link on this page.
The project 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.
