COASTS: New Bitou bush management manual

Australian Government Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett has launched the new Bitou bush management manual at La Perouse, on Sydney’s south-eastern coastline.

Mr Garrett said the aggressive coastal weed bitou bush was one of 20 Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) and could out-compete or even totally eliminate native flora. In addition, the weed, which has invaded 80 per cent of the New South Wales coastline, could threaten the habitat of native fauna such as the eastern bristlebird, little tern and beach stone curlew.

La Perouse is home to the endangered ecological community Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. This community of native species once occupied about 5300 ha between North Head and Botany Bay in the Sydney Basin Bioregion. Due to various threats including the invasion of exotic species like bitou bush and lantana, only 146 ha of the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub remains on small pockets of land.