Soaring results from latest aerial weeds inspection in Western NSW
29 Aug 2023
A recent aerial inspection for high priority and troublesome weeds in Western NSW has returned favourable results, however landholders are still being encouraged to remain vigilant against the serious threat of weeds and plant diseases.
In late June, Western Local Land Services Regional Weeds Coordinator, Andy McKinnon, coordinated a multi-agency aerial survey to scour the landscape for priority weeds.
The areas surveyed included the channels and flood outs of the lower Paroo River and Cuttaburra Creek.
The main targets were Rubber Vine and Parkinsonia, two high-priority and troublesome weeds which have been making their way into NSW during flood events in recent years and have been previously found near and north of Wanaaring.
The great news is that these weeds were not found in any areas along the Paroo River north from Peery Lake to halfway between Wanaaring and Hungerford, or in adjacent flood outs and swamps to the east of the Paroo River.
Regional Weeds Coordinator, Andy McKinnon, who was joined by Ben Matthias from the National Parks & Wildlife Service and Robert Boyd from the Carrathool Shire Council, was pleased with the survey’s findings.
“We have been concerned that these priority species could have been spreading in this high-value environment. To confirm that spread hasn’t occurred to date is a relief,” Andy said.
“As most of our northern rivers run out of Queensland, we remain vigilant in this region to catch new interstate weed incursions early.
“This is difficult country to inspect from the ground, and the aerial inspections made the process much more effective. It was great to have a multi-agency team available to undertake this work.”
Giant Reed (Arundo donax), commonly called “cane” in the Western region, was found along some areas of the Paroo River, as was three Tree Cactus plants.
These plants will be locally eradicated in the coming months by the property landholders.
If you have any questions about weeds or find new weeds on your property, please call your local shire council, visit the weeds and plant diseases section of our website.