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What is a Weed?
To a gardener, a farmer
or a botanist a weed may mean different things, but broadly it is a
plant growing outside its natural environment and having some sort
of adverse impact. The majority of weeds are from overseas but
some native Australian plants grown outside their natural range can
also become weeds within Australia. Whatever their origin they
spread "like weeds" when they arrive in a favourable environment,
often because they have left their natural pests and diseases
behind.
Types of Weeds
Declared Noxious
Weeds have been proclaimed under the Noxious Weeds Act 1993,
generally because they are serious economic pests, toxic to stock or
a danger to human health. They are usually weeds of
agriculture. There is a legal requirement on landowners to
control these weeds. The species listed as noxious in your
area can be obtaind from the website
www.agric.nsw.gov.au/weeds
Environmental Weeds
are plants that invade native vegetation and may replace native
plants and cause loss of habitat for native animals. Some
environmental weeds have been declared noxious (such as bitou bush),
but most have not and there is no legal requirement to control them.
A plant may be both an
agricultural and an environmental weed, depending on where it is
growing.
Some local native
plants can even behave in a weedy fashion as a result of changes to
land management such as clearing of forest or changes in frequency
of burning. Examples are bracken and the shrubs blackthorn
(Bursaria spinosa), burgan (Kunzea ericoides) and sweet
pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum) and various wattles.
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2007-08 Weed Management Action Programme
Bega
Valley Shire Council Weeds Strategy
Pesticide Notification Plan 2007-2012
Categories of Noxious Weeds
There are
several categories of noxious weeds.
Classes 1, 2 and 5 are notifiable weeds - an occupier must
notify the Council within 3 days. For any notifiable weed a
permit must be obtained if moving or transporting it.
Class 1 plants are declared
state-wide and must be eradicated from the land and the land must be
kept free of the weed. They may not be sold, propagated or
knowingly distributed.
Class 2 plants must be eradicated
from the land and the land must be kept free of the weed. They
may not be sold, propagated or knowingly distributed.
Class 3 plants must be fully and
continuously suppressed and destroyed.
Class 4 The growth and spread of plants
must be controlled according to the measures specified in a
management plan published by the Council and the plant may not be
sold, propagated or knowingly distributed.
Class 5 plants are declared
state-wide. The occupier must notify the Council within 3 days
of finding these weeds. They may not be sold, propagated or
knowingly distributed.
Local Management Plans for
Class 4 Weeds
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