The Gulf Catchment Pest Task Force meeting was held at the Mount Isa Civic Centre on April 17-18.
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The two-day conference discussed issues, current updates relating to biosecurity and remedies for noxious weeds in the region.
Rural Lands Officer for Mount Isa City Council and Chair of Gulf Catchments Pest Task Force, Russel Hunter said the attendance was the biggest they have ever had.
“We have 11 different Shires in the Gulf Catchment area and they were represented at the meeting by giving a yearly update. It’s crucial to have networking between these different regions because when you're dealing with pests what happens in one region can affect what happens in another one,” Mr Hunter said.
“Mark Van Ryt from Landcare conducted a presentation on what they had been tackling locally – the likes of rubber vine, bellyache bush and coral cactus.”
The Carpentaria Land Council, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries from Townsville and Cloncurry and presenters from Biosecurity Australia in Brisbane also attended.
Under the Biosecurity Act 2014, there is a firm list of plants which are restricted or prohibited.
Mr Hunter said any plants that are local and don't appear in the Biosecurity Act come under the Mount Isa City Council biosecurity plan.
“Leucaena is in our backyards around town and so is Calotrope.The reason they are growing so rampart is because they are not a declared pest under the Biosecurity Act, however the Council has declared them as such under our Local Laws Act so we can get rid of them,” he said.
“The Council have factsheets on each noxious plant and weed on their website to help you identify them,” he said.
During the meeting, The The Gulf Catchment Pest Task Force released some bio bugs called Cochineal onto a local pest called Coral Cactus.
“It will probably take around 4-6 weeks to kill the pest, then we will go out and collect the white film from part of the cactus so we can harvest the bio bugs and put them on other plants.”