Invasive Species
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The Australian Government is leading the way when it comes to stopping the risk to Australia's biodiversity from cane toads.
In 2005 cane toads were listed as a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, recognising the toads' impact on biodiversity.
The Australian Government has committed over $18 million towards cane toad projects, including research and analysis to find better ways of reducing their numbers and spread, and the damage they cause.
The Australian Government was an active member of the Cane Toad Taskforce, which finalised its report in June 2005 - A Review of the Impact and Control of Cane Toads in Australia with recommendations for future research and management approaches. The report assessed the effectiveness of a range of cane toad control options. The report also prioritised research and development of short-term and longer-term approaches to cane toad management.
In the financial year 2006-07 the Australian Government invested just over $5 million in projects such as developing bio-controls, protecting native fauna from cane toad impacts and on-the-ground work trapping cane toads.
Thanks to a further $3 million in funding from Natural Heritage Trust and CSIRO.
This University of Adelaide project is working to develop an 'olfactometer'. This device is used to detect pheromones, which could be used to either attract toads to traps, for example, or repel toads from important areas. This project has been funded with $113,600 from the Natural Heritage Trust.
This project has been co-funded by the West Australian government and with $2.7 million in funding from the Natural Heritage Trust. The project aims to identify species under threat from cane toads and develop ways to minimise the threat, including possible transfer of threatened and endangered species to Kimberley Islands for sanctuary.
The great work of the Toadbusters is being supported with a $79,000 grant for on-the-ground work capturing cane toads. The grant supported transportation arrangements for junior 'toadbusters' from the Kununurra region to the toad colonisation 'fronts' to help with the capture of toads.
This project was co-funded with the Northern Territory Government, with $422,000 in funding from the Natural Heritage Trust for work on island biosecurity, protection of native fauna and community awareness raising.
Frogwatch North's project in the Northern Territory is testing whether trapping can effectively reduce cane toad numbers on a landscape scale. This project is being funded with $85,000 from Natural Heritage Trust.
In the longer term the main focus of the Australian Government is on achieving a broad-scale Cane Toad control method such as a self-disseminating virus, which is the focus of the CSIRO biological control project.
In an effort to develop short to medium term control techniques for cane toads the Australian Government funded research projects with three universities: James Cook, Sydney and Charles Darwin. The projects have focussed on acoustic and chemical signalling and detection, spawning site preferences and trapping of tadpoles and juveniles; and the cost and feasibility of exclusion.
Natural Heritage Trust funding has helped expand quarantine facilities on Tiwi Islands. The quarantine holding area is a critical part of the barrier between the mainland and the Tiwi Islands. When cane toad numbers are low, individual animals can be seen easily and disposed of during normal barge operations. Monitoring traps have been installed around the premises and an extensive training and public awareness campaign completed.
This Envirofund project installed traps at wetland sites surrounding Darwin to capture breeding pairs of cane toads before they can colonise ecologically sensitive sites. Frogwatch North worked in partnership with other community-based environmental groups. Once in place the traps were monitored by on-site volunteers.
Groups such as Frogwatch North and the Kimberley Toadbusters are actively involved in cane toad control activities, including mobilising volunteers for on-the-ground work in toad-trapping.
Indigenous groups have also been an integral part of efforts to stop the spread of toads across northern Australia.