NSW Bitou Bush Threat Abatement Plan - Department of ...

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Threat Abatement Plan - Invasion of native plant communities by Chrysanthemoides monilifera
following removal of bitou bush therefore indicating they were limited by bitou bush
invasion.
< years of bitou bush control have not provided information on which species are
affected by bitou bush invasions.
An integrated approach to broad-scale weed management that incorporates plant conservation is
long overdue. Such an approach is needed in order to deliver conservation outcomes from weed
management (Downey 2003a, b, submitted). Thus, the ‘no change in current management’ control
option would be a retrograde step which will not benefit biodiversity conservation.
The cost of ‘doing nothing’ in terms of controlling bitou bush for biodiversity conservation can be
assessed using the estimated cost of losing a species due to weed invasion, being $86,700 per
species per year (see Sinden et al. 2004) and the number of species identified here as being at risk
(158). Thus, the cost of ‘doing nothing’ equates to $13.7 million per year.
Lastly, given the scale of the problem the cost of doing nothing at sites where species are
threatened far outweighs the economic benefits of controlling new or isolated infestations.
Arguments have also been made that control for biodiversity should also address potential or
future impacts. Again, given the scale of the problem, the limited nature of resources, and the
aims of a threat abatement plan, the current impacts to biodiversity are so great and
immediate that they outweigh any potential or future impacts to un-infested areas. Such control
programs are thus outside the scope of this plan and should be addressed in other plans (i.e.
regional strategies).
7.9 Roles and responsibilities with respect to bitou bush control
The declaration of bitou bush as a noxious weed under the Noxious Weeds Act requires land
managers to control bitou bush (a list of all the local control authorities in New South Wales, in
which bitou bush or boneseed is declared noxious, is presented in Appendix 1). In addition, the
control of bitou bush and boneseed in areas containing threatened species may require a licence
(see Chapter 2 for further details).
7.9.1 The role of the Bitou TAP in bitou bush management in NSW
The role of the Bitou TAP is to prioritise the control of bitou bush in New South Wales for
species, populations and ecological communities at risk and their locations where control will
have the greatest biodiversity outcomes (see Chapters 4 and 6 and Appendices 3, 5 and 8). While
the TAP aims to address the highest priorities, lower priorities (both threatened biodiversity and
sites) should be used to establish regional and local priorities for bitou bush control. The priority
lists are not definitive and other species and ecological communities in New South Wales
threatened by bitou bush invasion may be identified in the future. The control of bitou bush other
than for the priorities established here is outside the scope of this TAP, except for the species that
co-occur at control category 1 sites. Control of bitou bush at lower priority sites (i.e. Category 2,
3, 4 and 5 sites) is the responsibility of local land managers and other strategies e.g. regional bitou
bush strategies. Other funding sources should be maintained to combat bitou bush where
programs are already in place or in other important areas.