19 February 2026
Our two year "Guarding Gariwerd" project, which has been funded through Agriculture Victoria's Partnerships Against Pests Program, is wrapping up after supporting our region to develop new tools and resources for weed management.
A key step in managing weeds affectively is knowing where those weeds are distributed, and how much area is affected. During a series of weed priority setting workshops run under this project, Landcare groups met to discuss which weeds posed the highest risk to their local environment.
One of the gaps identified during these workshops is adequate knowledge of how the weeds are distributed within their region.
This is key knowledge, because the distribution of a weed directly affects your likelihood of eradicating it. For example, a weed that is only present in a small, but expanding, location is likely to be a much higher priority for control than a weed that is already present widely and no longer expanding.
To support our Landcares to better collect information about the extent of weeds in their area, we have created a new digital mapping system that is now accessible to all our Landcare groups. Landcare groups can now use a phone or tablet to access the weed mapping app anywhere. They can then draw out polygons affected by different weed species and save the records.
The Landcare Groups can then see all their weed map records by logging into their online map. They can explore which weed sites they have already controlled, and which require more monitoring. They can quickly plan for grants and set control goals for the next year.
Halls Gap Landcare has been using this mapping to guide their work over the last year and is making inspiring progress. They have found and mapped many new patches of kunzea, a weed of growing concern to the Landcare and local Parks staff. They have also been leveraging their annual Landcare Grants to remove large sections of kunzea, with the help of the Landmate program.
So far, Halls Gap Landcare has mapped over 60 hectares of weeds, including kunzea, and with the help of Landmate and Project Platypus we have already treated 90% of those infestations. But they know this is going to be a long term fight, and are continuously inspecting and mapping new areas to ensure infestations don't grow under our noses.
Way to go Halls Gap Landcare!
Elia Pirtle
Landcare Facilitator