Classical weed biocontrol – the deliberate introduction of a weed’s natural enemies (or “biocontrol agents”) sourced from its native range – is a highly successful tool for managing weeds across landscapes, demonstrably reducing weed spread and abundance. While the economic benefits of weed biocontrol in agriculture are well-documented (e.g., on average, $23 return per dollar invested), a comprehensive understanding of its environmental benefits over broad scales remains limited. This is largely due to the absence of a standardised monitoring and evaluation system linking biocontrol agent release activities to agent establishment, weed suppression and environmental recovery outcomes.

The NSW Environmental Trust, having invested in multiple stages of weed biocontrol research and implementation, aims to strengthen environmental management through improved monitoring and evaluation practices. In partnership with CSIRO, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, this workshop will lay the foundation for a monitoring and evaluation system that can be embedded into future weed biocontrol programs to better capitalise on successes and learn from setbacks.

This workshop will leverage the collective knowledge and experiences from biocontrol researchers and practitioners gained over more than a decade of Trust-funded weed biocontrol programs to identify: (1) the range of success metrics by which biocontrol programs are evaluated, and (2) the data collection and analysis protocols and/or tools that are used to support such evaluations. The workshop will move beyond reflections on past/current practices to also identify shared ambitions for effective, and practical, future weed biocontrol monitoring and evaluation.
Workshop results will inform subsequent consultations with participants and other stakeholders towards developing a roadmap for a connected and adaptive weed biocontrol release, monitoring and evaluation network in NSW.

Target audience: researchers and weed management practitioners with experience or interest in weed biocontrol

Preferred number of participants: up to 25 (incl. 10 invited)

Preferred duration: 3 hours