The National Weeds Management Facilitator is John Thorp. John is a private consultant funded under the Natural Heritage Trust and supervised by the Australian Government Departments of the Environment and Water Resources, and Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry.

Role

He is the first point of contact for national weeds information, the National Weeds Strategy and operates the Weeds Australia web site, that contains a purpose built search facility of Australian weeds web sites. The site also contains summaries of state and territory weeds legislation, lists the noxious weeds of Australia and carries a weed identification tool.

John also works with the Australian Weeds Committee (the weeds forum for government agencies) and can advise on national policy and provide papers published by that Committee. Some issues addressed are weed prioritisation, incursion management, legislative principles, voluntary vendor declaration and weed risk assessment.

John maintains a national weed network and can advise on contacts and activities around Australia.

John can discuss any weed issues with you during his routine visits to all states and territories and would be happy to help you address problems faced in your region.

The Weed Problem

Weeds have been traditionally controlled with spray, slash and burn techniques, but today it is recognised that weed management is an integral component of natural resource management. Prevention of spread is the cheapest form of control and weeds must be replaced with desirable vegetation if they are to be conquered. Weeds usually follow land disturbance in its many forms, but some species are invasive in their own right, requiring proactive campaigns for their management.

Weeds of National Significance

There are active programmes for managing the 20 Weeds of National Significance (WONS) which are managed by coordinators with the Facilitators assistance. WONS Coordinators contact details can be found on this web site. Every WONS is supported by a national strategy and annual reports are posted on this web site.

Useful National Programmes

A number of national programmes are in operation, the National Weeds Strategy, national weed awareness program, a range of biocontrol projects, monitoring of weed spread and national mapping, maintenance of the country's quarantine barrier and the CRC for Australian Weed Management.

Documents for Download

Terms of Reference (PDF - 8kb)

Facilitator Reports
3 March to 4 June 2003 (PDF - 71kb)
4 June to 3 September 2003 (PDF - 66kb)
4 September 2003 to 3 March 2004 (PDF - 69kb)
4 March to 3 September 2004 (PDF - 315kb)
4 September 2004 to 3 March 2005 (PDF - 46kb)
4 March to 3 September 2005 (PDF - 65kb)
4 September 2005 to 3 March 2006 (PDF - 67kb)
4 September 2005 to 3 May 2006 (PDF - 67kb)

Contact Details

John Thorp
National Weeds Management Facilitator
PO Box 96
Newstead Tas 7250

16 Flowers Court
Launceston Tas 7250

Phone: 03 6344 9657
Fax: 03 6343 1877
email: jthorp@weeds.org.au

SITE MAP

Weeds Australia Search

Australian Weeds Strategy | Weed Identification | State and Territory Contacts | About Weeds Australia
Australian Weeds Committee | Weed Management | Training and Materials
Web Addresses | Feedback | Weeds of National Significance | Noxious Weeds List
Glossary of Acronyms | National Weeds Management Facilitator