Sponsored by the NSW Department of Primary Industries
Winner Division A, Overall Winner
Hilltops Council: Hume Highway aerial granular flupropanate trial
Hilltops Council, in partnership with Roads and Maritime Services, undertook an aerial application trial to precisely control an invasive grass species known as African lovegrass.
Spread along the Hume Highway in hard and sometimes inaccessible terrain, the control of weed species such as African lovegrass can be difficult and expensive using traditional methods such as spraying from vehicles. Using granular flupropanate dispensed from a helicopter, council was able to treat about 300 hectares along the Hume Highway in one day instead of four to five weeks and at a substantial cost saving.
Read more in the case study
Winner Division B
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council: WeedsCon 2020
This program was developed as an online mini-conference enabling Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council to increase the delivery of educational material during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The series of almost 30 short stories provides key information on local weeds planning, control, education and inspection programs, along with strategic projects. The low-tech design of pre-recorded videos delivered via a YouTube playlist in less than an hour avoided the technical issues that often plague live videoconferencing. Despite less than a week of limited promotion, more than 100 people registered for the event.
Council also simultaneously launched its revamped biosecurity website, featuring enduring links to individual stories and other useful resources. Almost a year after the event, there has been an average of more than 1,000 story downloads a month.
Winner Division C
Fairfield City Council: Red-eared slider turtle - most unwanted in Fairfield LGA
Fairfield Council's ongoing commitment to protecting and preserving the environment has seen it respond to a newly realised threat within its borders: the Red-eared slider turtle.
Following sightings of the turtle in local wetlands, council partnered with the Department of Primary Industries to identify and control this species and to discover the many unique behaviours and hidden tendencies of this remarkable creature, which offered positive results in terms of its study and capture.
The program also included awareness raising, training and education of council staff and the community and the development of a best practice manual for use throughout NSW.
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