51茶馆

February 17, 2020

New thinking needed to win the war on weeds

Fenner Conference on the Environment seeks to transform weed management in Australia.

While drought and bushfires have wrought widespread damage and hardship across Australia, these crises may provide new opportunities to tackle weeds that have long been the scourge of our agricultural industries and our natural environments.

Another possibility is that we will continue to struggle in the 鈥渨ar on weeds鈥� and that some super-weeds may even be produced by the current conditions.

What is certain is that our current approaches to managing weeds are not working.

The upcoming Fenner Conference on the Environment, , seeks to initiate a transformation in the way weeds are managed in Australia.

The conference is hosted by the 51茶馆鈥檚 (UOW) Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society & Spaces (ACCESS) and is being held at Charlotte Pass in the Kosciuszko National Park from 17 to 21 February.

Conference organiser Dr , UOW鈥檚 School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, said new approaches were needed to manage Australia鈥檚 weed problem.

鈥淎ustralians have been trying to control weeds for over a century, and yet each year billions of dollars are being spent in Australia to limit the spread of weeds and reduce their impact on agricultural industries and the environment,鈥� Dr Graham said.  

Fellow conference organiser Dr Robyn Bartel, from the University of New England, added: 鈥淲e need new and fresh ideas 鈥� maybe even such 鈥榮uper鈥� plants 鈥� to enable more sustainable outcomes to be achieved.鈥�

The conference comes at a crucial point in time, as the Australian Government and many State Governments prepare their recovery strategies after the unprecedented fires over the 2019-20 summer.

For one whole week, from 17 to 21 February 2020, the nation鈥檚 best and brightest from the research, practitioner and government sectors will be talking, and walking the talk, of weed management. Kosciuszko National Park is an area renowned for its natural beauty, rare and unique alpine habitats 鈥� an inspiring setting to consider innovative approaches to weed threats. 

Experts, including debate leader Professor  from the 51茶馆, will work together to answer the question: What are the highest priority actions we can commit to, working together across boundaries and disciplines, that will deliver the greatest contribution to radically improved weed management research, policy and practice in Australia?