Strategic Pest Management Program
The Department of Environment and Science, through the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), manages more than 13 million hectares of protected area and forest estate across Queensland. QPWS is responsible for pest management on the protected area and forest estate that it manages.
QPWS pest management objectives are to:
- protect natural and cultural values, including threatened species and ecosystems, by locally eradicating pests or significantly reducing impacts
- prevent the introduction or spread of any declared plant or animal onto the QPWS estate and
- undertake pest control programs in cooperation with neighbouring landholders, other State agencies and local government in accordance with the QPWS Good Neighbour Policy.
Pest plants and animals cause significant adverse impacts in Queensland. The Biosecurity Act 2014 places responsibility on land owners, including QPWS, to manage pests on the land and waters for which they have direct management responsibility.
The Strategic Pest Management Program (SPMP) provides one of the main funding sources for QPWS Rangers to deliver management of pest species threatening key values of the protected area and forest estate and to support QPWS custodial obligations (to work with neighbours and communities).
Since the inception of the SPMP in 2004, the funding has been used for a variety of critical conservation initiatives including management of cats and foxes to protect endangered species like the bilby, bridled nailtail wallaby and marine turtles.
The SPMP funding is allocated annually by QPWS and was $900,000 for the 2019/20 financial year.
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