Fears of ‘weed highways’ as summer rains spread invasive plants through rural Australia
Written by Eliza Spencer from the Guardian
Floods and extreme weather causing greater spread of seeds, buds and roots, while weed spraying interrupted by rain and wind
Posters of Cowra’s most wanted hang from a fence near the shopping centre. The fugitives are invasive plants: fire weed, Chilean needle grass, parthenium and sticky nightshade. The descriptions are lengthy and the instructions clear: anyone who has seen the offending plants is to contact the authorities.
The posters show the big hitters in the New South Wales central west, but the national wanted list is long. There are 398 invasive plants in the Australia-wide online weed database, of which 32 are considered weeds of “national significance”.
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Written by Eliza Spencer from the Guardian
Floods and extreme weather causing greater spread of seeds, buds and roots, while weed spraying interrupted by rain and wind
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Posters of Cowra’s most wanted hang from a fence near the shopping centre. The fugitives are invasive plants: fire weed, Chilean needle grass, parthenium and sticky nightshade. The descriptions are lengthy and the instructions clear: anyone who has seen the offending plants is to contact the authorities.
The posters show the big hitters in the New South Wales central west, but the national wanted list is long. There are 398 invasive plants in the Australia-wide online weed database, of which 32 are considered weeds of “national significance”.
Continue reading...
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you.