Aerial Attack on Bitou Bush Infestations
23 April 2008
The fight against the spread of the nationally significant noxious weed bitou bush will be taken to the air next week. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service will conduct helicopter aerial spraying in four key areas across the Hastings where the weed has a stranglehold on native vegetation.
The control of bitou bush in the Hastings has been ongoing for many years in conjunction with similar control programs conducted by neighbouring council's in Kempsey, Taree and the Great Lakes. All council's are part of the Mid North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee, which is supported by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority.
The areas to be targeted next week include Sea Acres Nature Reserve, Harry's Lookout and Tacking Point; Kattang Nature Reserve and Diamond Head; North Shore and Point Plomer; Dunbogan Beach and Crowdy Beach.
Council's vegetation management officer Paul O'Connor said bitou bush control in the Hastings has shown significant improvements in the restoration of native vegetation. Control methods will be implemented for the first time on the North Shore in conjunction with bush regeneration works currently carried out by the Green Corps team.
"There has been a big expansion of bitou bush infestation on the North Shore with more than 55 hectares between Point Plomer and the breakwall to be targeted in next week's spraying program," Mr O'Connor explained. "The weed has become a monoculture in this area and is literally smothering native vegetation. The few mature banksia and wattle trees that are left are producing seed, but they don't have the opportunity or the environment to germinate."
Bitou bush is regarding as one of the worst weeds infesting the coastal areas of Australia, forming thickets that smother native plants and prevent regeneration. In New South Wales alone, bitou bush threatens more than 150 native plant species, three endangered plant populations and 26 ecological communities.
Spray control programs are effective because they eliminate vast infestation areas and greatly reduce the spread of seed. Spraying is conducted during the cooler, winter months when native vegetation is dormant. For further information on this program, contact vegetation management officer Paul O'Connor on 6581 8111 or Catherine Mardell at NSW NPWS on 6588 5506.
