In short:
Infestations of invasive arum lilies are worsening across WA's southern forests.
asserted
Infestations → worsen → forests
Private landowners say the WA government needs to step up eradication on public land.
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government → say → land
The National Biosecurity Committee has included the arum on a list of 14 priority weeds, which could unlock new control methods.
uncertain
which → include → methods
The sea of white lilies carpeting the forest floor south of Margaret River is a picturesque view, but an ugly sight for conservationists.
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sea → carpet → conservationists
The arum lily, considered one of the most damaging weeds in the country, was banned from sale in WA more than 20 years ago, but the rogue garden plant's infestation of forests across WA's South West shows no sign of slowing.
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infestation → consider → slowing
More than 3,000 private landowners have requested help to eradicate the weed on their properties.
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landowners → request → properties
Forests under threat
In Boranup Forest, 300km south of Perth, Obelia Walker has mapped an enormous arum infestation through her work for Nature Conservation Margaret River.
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Walker → map → River
The organisation is co-ordinating a three-year blitz helping private landholders control the spread of lilies on their properties, funded by the WA government.
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landholders → co → government
Those efforts have been successful, but she is worried about the infestation on public land.
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she → worry → land
"If you think about where the majority of diversity happens in the forest, it's in the understorey," she said.
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she → think → understorey
"The way the arum lily behaves when it gets out of control like this is it's just smothering the understorey, out-competing native plants and destroying habitat for wildlife as well."
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it → behave → wildlife
Further north, in the Ludlow Tuart Forest near Busselton, local volunteer Des Donnelly has petitioned the Cook government to do more about the national park infestation.
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Donnelly → petition → infestation
"It's probably worse than it ever was," he said.
"
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he → say → ?
If we don't manage them, we can probably kiss [the forest] goodbye in the next 50 years."
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we → manage → years
Mr Donnelly was behind a petition presented to state parliament earlier this year, calling for government agencies to do more to fight the flower in the forest
"
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agencies → present → forest
It's a token effort if you like; Main Roads do a little bit, DBCA do what they can do with their small budget," he said.
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he → like → budget
"Generally, we're only just fiddling around the edges."
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we → fiddle → edges
Glen Taylor's beef farm sits opposite the Boranup National Park, where there is a large infestation.
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farm → sit → Park
He has managed to all but eradicate the lily from his own land, but it still encroaches at the borders.
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it → manage → borders
"That is where it's a struggle," he said.
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he → say → ?
"It's a difficult thing to educate people how much damage they are doing to the natural environment."
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they → educate → environment
March of the arum continues
The state government's focus is on controlling arum lily in priority areas, rather than trying to eradicate the plant, prompting criticism from conservationists.
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focus → continue → conservationists
But a state government spokesperson said eradication was not realistic, with more than $2.6 million granted to arum lily control programs across the South West over the past nine years.
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eradication → say → years
"While arum lily can be managed, it is not currently considered feasible to completely eradicate the species from the landscape due to its extensive distribution and ability to regenerate and spread," the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → manage → distribution
The spokesperson said it had undertaken control across areas in the Tuart Forest National Park, Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Wooditjup National Park, Yelverton National Park, and selected state forest and nature reserve sites.
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it → say → sites
Creative solutions required
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solutions → require → ?
Conservationists agreed that the National Biosecurity Committee's inclusion of the arum lily on its list of Nationally Established Weed Priorities could lead to more innovative methods of control.
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inclusion → agree → control
Nature Conservation's Obelia Walker hoped it would unlock funding for research into more cutting-edge methods to tackle the weed.
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it → hop → weed
"We can't spray out way out of this problem,"she said.
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We → spray → problem,"she
"It might be something quite novel; it might be a fungus or a disease, but it's an exciting space."
Invasive Species Council policy director Carol Booth said the war on the lily was ultimately reliant on political will.
"I mean, the arum lily is one of the classic examples in Australia of a garden plant that's just gone rogue," she said.
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she → say → plant
"Which of these weeds are our state and federal governments prepared to put funding into to generate a much more collaborative and concerted approach to managing their risks?"
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governments → put → risks
The Aporia