Page 22 - Tropic Magazine Issue 32

TROPIC • ENVIRONMENT

Ant warfare 1

INVASIVE PEST
After years of tough work and
Partnerships, persistence, and collaboration with partners, the
innovation are helping win the Authority can celebrate the complete
fight against yellow crazy ants in eradication of the pests from four sites. 2
the Wet Tropics. In remaining areas, the number of ants 1. Credit: Alan Henderson 2. The endangered
has been reduced to such an extent that Kuranda tree frog is threatened by the ants.
only 15 per cent of the infestation area Credit: Michaela Jacoby
Yellow crazy ants are among the world’s
top 100 worst invasive species, but strong requires targeted, rather than broad-
scale, treatment.
community partnerships, innovative Through ongoing refinement and The Authority also uses an odour
technologies plus a lot of hard work on detection dog, Fury, to sniff out small
the ground is proving our best bet to novel approaches, the Authority has colonies that can be difficult to detect
developed a strategic step-by-step
eradicating them from the region’s using conventional field survey methods.
World Heritage tropical environment eradication guidebook, ensuring there Fury will soon be joined by another
is a systematic approach. It is on track
and surrounds. to completely eradicate yellow crazy ants two odour detection dogs to increase
When the Wet Tropics Management surveillance capacity.
Authority (WTMA) first led the battle from the region by 2030. Approximately 70 people are employed by
Using innovative technology, such as
against yellow crazy ants in 2014, the the Authority to work on the eradication
situation was so bad that large areas of GIS mapping, extensive field surveys, program, including Gimuy Walubara
a treatment program that has minimal
agricultural land were infested, sections impact on the environment, as well as Yidinji Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples.
of rainforest were stripped of native The community effort continues to
fauna and people couldn’t even growing community awareness through monitor and eradicate the pest and
a variety of channels, the Authority has
go out in their own backyards preserve one of the planet’s most
because they were overrun by managed to go from reducing large, important biodiverse places.
heavily populated infestation sites
the aggressive formic acid- to monitoring areas to detect small
spraying ants.
residual ant populations. MORE: wettropics.gov.au
Kuranda “A big part of this success story comes
from the strong, positive relationships
the Authority has developed with
the sugar cane industry, councils, Success
government agencies, community
members and Traditional Owners,” against the pest
Project Manager, Lucy Karger said. “In • Eradication from four sites
May this year, our partnership with totalling almost 42ha
Bentley Park the Far North Queensland Regional • Treatment of all known
Edmonton Organisation of Council’s (FNQROC) infestation areas through
Natural Assets Management Advisory approved baiting
Mount Peter Committee resulted in the largest
annual taskforce to date, where more • Significant advancements in
Gordonvale than 100 people covered 572 hectares surveillance, mapping and
and recorded some 78,955 data points in data capture
Current infestations one week.”

22 • Tropic • Issue 32