After months of consultation and drafting, the NSW Government’s final Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plans were implemented over the weekend.
There are 11 plans, each corresponding to an LLS region and they can all be accessed online.
Along with a region specific focus, the new plans were also intended to initiate a shift towards tenure neutral obligations in pest management.
NSW Farmers strongly supports this neutral approach as it should be the duty of all landholders to share equally in the burden of pest management.
As with many new policies, the merit of the plans will likely not be well understood until they have served time on the ground and NSW Farmers is keen to hear the experiences of farmers.
Members of the agricultural community have already expressed frustration at the government’s treatment of deer in the plans.
Deer are an introduced species that generate significant costs for landholders and pose serious biosecurity risks.
Select local government areas have been exempt from some of the red tape governing deer control but we continue to maintain that this should be extended across NSW.
Concerns have also been raised about the failure of the plans to take a hard stance on wild dogs.
This approach to wild dog management may perhaps be a reflection of the prioritisation of dingo preservation; however we maintain that one of the greatest threats to the purebred dingo population is interspecies breeding with wild dogs.
Effective wild dog management should be a shared interest among landholders and environmentalists alike.
NSW Farmers and Local Land Services is coordinating a forum to bring together representatives and major stakeholders in pest management.
We hope this will be an opportunity to discuss any prevailing issues and develop stronger coordination, transparency, and collaboration.
Derek Schoen, NSW Farmers president.
