Pest plants

Invasive plants targeted for control in the Bundaberg Region due to serious environmental, economic, and social impacts are Easter Cassia, Leucaena, Cocos palms and Brazilian cherry. These plants are listed as declared under Bundaberg Regional Council’s Biosecurity Plan and the Biosecurity Act 2014. Land protection officers are working to reduce current infestations of these species as well as preventing the spread of these weeds from lands within the local government area. Landholders are required to control these weeds and replace them with more appropriate species.

Easter Cassia

Senna pendula var. glabrata

Native to South America this plant is often sold as an ornamental garden plant and is regarded as highly invasive in Queensland and is found along waterways, disturbed sites, roadsides and urban bushland. Easter Cassia produces seed pods which are filled with black seeds that germinate readily and remain viable for up to 10 years.

Easter Cassia Fact Sheet

Leucaena

Lucaena pest plant

Leucaena leucocephala

Native to Central and South America, leucaena is a small tree that forms dense thickets hindering movement of wildlife and excluding other native plants. Leucaena seeds are spread by cattle, wind, water and machinery and can spread rapidly.

Cocos Palms

Syagrus romanzoffiana

Cocos palms are native to Brazil and are a fast growing long lived species traditionally grown in many Queensland gardens. They are considered highly invasive.

Brazilian Cherry

Eugenia uniflora

Brazilian cherry is native to South America and is sold as an ornamental hedge and fruit tree. It is regarded as highly invasive in Queensland particularly in most fertile soils. The bright coloured fleshy seeds are highly attractive to birds which results in its dispersal throughout natural areas.

Brazillian Cherry Fact Sheet

Prohibited, restricted and other invasive plants in Queensland

Business Queensland has a list of prohibited, restricted and other invasive plants that threaten Queensland’s primary industries, natural environment, livestock, human health and people’s livelihoods.

Business Queensland

If you wish to report a suspected weed on your property please contact the Land Protection Officers at Bundaberg Regional Council on 1300 883 for action and advice.

If you wish to report a suspected weed on your property please contact Council's Land Protection Officers on 1300 883 699 for action and advice.

The following sites and Apps may also assist you.

Business Queensland has a comprehensive site including how to identify weeds, weed control laws, weed control strategies, herbicide control methods, prohibited and restricted plants, pest plant surveillance programs.

Business Queensland

Weeds of South East QLD and Northern NSW App

This free mobile App provides an identification key to over 700 garden and environmental weeds and includes fact sheets, colour photographs and a glossary of commonly used botanical terms. Bundaberg Regional Council was one of five Councils that supported the development of this App and assisted in making this freely available to the community.

Queensland Herbarium

The community can access the free plant identification and information service provided by the Queensland Herbarium by emailing photos to queensland.herbarium@qld.gov.au or by sending specimens to the Herbarium. Visit the Queensland Herbarium website for details on how to collect and submit botanical specimens.

iNaturalist App

The iNaturalist App is a free App you can download from the iNaturalist website and is suitable for all devices. When you upload your photos of weeds the iNaturalist identification tool, which is trained on users' photos and identifications, can make suggestions as the identity of the weed. Other App users can also suggest or confirm the identification. Biosecurity Queensland will be notified of any high-risk priority target weed species identified through this channel who will then work with local governments and others to investigate the status of the detection and take on-ground action if required.

Identification of pest plants is not always easy. To assist land holders a Plant Swap Program has been launched in partnership with Bundaberg and District Landcare Association to help residents rid their yards of undesirable plants.

Residents who register for the Help Stop The Spread, Plant Natives Instead program and remove weeds are eligible to receive free native replacement plant vouchers.

The program targets specific pest plants including the Broad-leaved pepper, Brazilian cherry, Easter cassia, Yellow Bells, Asparagus Fern, Black-eyed Susan, Captain Cook tree, Guava, leucaena, Mother-of-millions and Ochna.

Residents interested in participating in the program can contact the Land Protection team to arrange an inspection and identification of targeted environmental weeds on their property.

Introduction to the Plant Swap Program

Plant Swap Program - Extended information

Under the Biosecurity Act 2014 private land owners must take reasonable steps to keep their land free of prohibited and restricted matter.

Local Governments may request the removal of prohibited and restricted matter and if necessary issue a Biosecurity Order. Where the land owner's property is adjacent to an environmentally significant area, the local government may also issue a Biosecurity Order regarding restricted matter.

Landholders can access the Grow Me Instead website, an initiative of the Nursery and Garden Industry Australia (NGIA) identifying invasive plants and their native alternatives.

Grow Me Instead

Biosecurity order

A Biosecurity Order is designed to notify land owners of prohibited or restricted matter on their land that require removal under the Act. The Biosecurity Order will identify:

• the land and pest to which it relates,
• the environmentally significant area (if appropriate),
• the action the owner must take against the pest ,
• the compliance period the owner has to take the action.

An authorised person may enter the land, without further notice, to ensure or monitor compliance with the Biosecurity Order. The owner may ask to extend the compliance period or change the required action within 14 days after receiving the Order. It is an offence to fail to comply with a Biosecurity Order.

If you wish to report a suspected weed on your property please contact the Land Protection Officers at Bundaberg Regional Council on 1300 883 699 for action and advice.

Biological control, or biocontrol, is the use of living organisms such as insects or pathogens to reduce pest populations in a way that they can then be managed. This is a cost effective option that doesn’t require the use of chemicals and is of no threat to human health. This method also provides landholders with an additional tool in their fight against invasive pest plants.

Bundaberg Regional Council operates a bio-control facility for the breeding of a weevil (Cyrtobagous salviniae), brought into Australia many years ago from Brazil by the C.S.I.R.O, to be used in the fight against the aquatic pest plant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta).

Salvinia Weevil - Cyrtobagous salviniae

Council also breed and release the Leaf-mining Jewel Beetle (Hylaeogena jureceki) to control the invasive pest plant Cats Claw Creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati). The beetle lays eggs on the leaves of the vine, and when the larvae hatch the leaf is then quickly eaten. The beetle has proven to be extremely effective in greatly reducing the speedy growth rate of the problematic vine.

Leaf-mining Jewel Beetle - Hylaeogena jureceki

Land holders interested in accessing either the Jewel Beetle or Salvinia Weevil can contact one of Council's land protection officers on 1300 883 699.

This free mobile App provides an identification key to over 700 garden and environmental weeds and includes fact sheets, colour photographs and a glossary of commonly used botanical terms.

Bundaberg Regional Council was one of five Councils that supported the development of this app and assisted in making this freely available to the community.

You can download the app here:

Available on the iPhone App Store

Android App on Google Play

Giant rat's tail grass (GRT) is a restricted invasive plant native to Africa. This aggressive grass is found from northern Cape York to the New South Wales border and can reduce pasture productivity and significantly degrade natural areas.

Landholder's must manage the impacts of giant rat's tail grass on their properties.

Image: Giant rats tail grass, Sporobolus pyramidalis, courtesy Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Gladstone Regional Council and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) have partnered to create two videos, one on managing the seed spread of giant rat's tail grass and the other on the use of herbicides to treat giant rat's tail grass.

Seed spread and other management options

This video looks at why GRT is hard to manage, how to minimise the risk of it establishing, how long it takes for seed to pass through cattle, how to minimise its spread, whether fire can be used as a management tool and if fertiliser increases its palatability.

The video runs for 8 minutes and 33 seconds.

Herbicides

This video covers registered herbicides to treat GRT, the best time of year to apply these herbicides, how long you should wait between spraying and sowing new pasture, the effect of fire on herbicides and the role of glyphosate.

The video runs for 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

More information about giant rat's tail grass, including how it is spread, prevention and control methods can be found on the Business Queensland website.