Weed Warriors

Weeds are a problem that affect us all. Each year in Australia, weeds cost primary producers in excess of $4.4 billion dollars in lost production, they cause immeasurable damage to our natural environment, affect human and animal health, contaminate water supplies and increase fire hazards.

We can all be a part of the solution

Weed Warriors is a national education and awareness program that challenges students both in and outside the classroom. Designed to engage students in Key Learning Areas through a hands-on approach, biological control agents are used as the vehicle to introduce weed studies into school curricula. Students raise biological control agents in the classroom and, while doing so, learn all about their life cycles and ecology. Students also learn about the impacts of weeds and different control techniques, before releasing the agents into local weed infestations.

The Weed Warriors program views the youth of today as land managers of the future, and aims to instil in them a sense of connection and responsibility for their natural surroundings. The program strives to not only raise awareness, but to build communities and a new generation of land managers that are capable of dealing with and taking action on the environmental challenges that confront them.

Weed Warriors in South Australia

Weed Warriors was introduced to South Australia in 2003 through the CRC for Australian Weed Management and the Animal and Plant Control Commission. Over 30 schools have participated in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Region, and many more throughout South Australia. Students from reception to year 12 have participated in the rearing, release and monitoring of biological control agents.

Program Structure

NRM Education with mentors, such as local Animal and Plant Control officers, National Park rangers and other local land managers, support teachers in the delivery of the program, answer students’ questions about the local environment and help them develop skills in natural resource management.

Throughout the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges students have raised and released agents, such as Bridal Creeper Leaf Hopper, Gorse Spider Mite and Horehound Plume Moth, into high priority weed infestations in national parks, conservation reserves and on private land. Many schools have maintained their interest in the release site by monitoring the weed infestation and impact of the agents.

For further information on the Weed Warriors Program please contact your local NRM Education Office