Plan to Protect Environmental Assets from Lantana - Weeds Australia

Plan to Protect Environmental Assets from Lantana
5 Implementing the Plan
This Plan provides a framework for lantana control that will provide positive outcomes for the
conservation of environmental assets within lantana infestations in NSW and QLD. This is to
be achieved by:
1. developing a strategic framework for targeting lantana control in areas where the
biodiversity benefits will be greatest
2. promoting best practice management
3. monitoring the effectiveness of control programs in terms of the recovery of
threatened biodiversity
4. fostering community education, involvement and awareness
5. identifying and filling knowledge gaps where possible.
In addition, a Site Management Plan proforma has been prepared (Appendix 1) and is to be
developed and implemented at all identified high-priority control sites. Actions in each Site
Management Plan must address, or aim to protect, the high-priority environmental assets
listed in Appendix 3. It must be noted that this Plan is solely directed at reducing the threat to
biodiversity, rather than control per se, therefore a staged approach to lantana management at
high-priority control sites is recommended. Site-specific management plans are imperative to
ensuring control is effective and is targeted towards protecting the high-priority assets and
minimising any non-target impacts to high-priority assets and other threatened biodiversity . To
date, there has been limited consultation with Indigenous communities. It is expected that
input from Indigenous communities will increase as site plans are developed in consultation
with Indigenous people.
5.1 A staged approach to lantana control
At many sites, the density and area infested by lantana is such that it cannot be controlled in a
single control operation. Even if lantana could be controlled in a single operation at a site,
long-term follow-up will still be needed (for example, see Section 2.8). Thus, the control of
lantana at sites needs to occur in a staged manner with planned follow-up of previously
treated stages.
The first stage is the removal of lantana and other weed species from the immediate vicinity
of the environmental assets most at risk. This will reduce the direct threat in the short-term.
The second stage is the expansion of stage one to cover a larger area of the lantana
infestation at the site. In this stage, the removal of lantana should be prioritised in areas that
contain suitable habitat for the priority assets to expand in the future, thus decreasing the
threat by providing a bigger buffer zone between lantana and the threatened entity. Stage two
also involves the follow-up control of lantana seedlings that germinate within all previously
controlled areas.
The third and subsequent stages involve the further expansion of earlier stages, with the
aim of removing all lantana from the site and surrounding areas to prevent re-invasion. This
stage also includes the continual follow-up control of lantana seedlings in all previously
controlled stages/areas of the site (that is, stage one and two areas). An illustration of this
mapped, staged approach can be found in an example Site Management Plan at:
www.environment.nsw.gov.au/lantanaplan/implementation.htm
A staged approach can be beneficial for a number of reasons:
control is focused on an area for which there are sufficient resources available
thought is given to follow-up control constraints
control can be focused initially on areas where the highest priority assets occur
habitat or resources that might be provided by lantana will be removed gradually to
reduce any impact this might cause on dependant species.
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