Broken Hill volunteers eradicate exotic cactus

It's cactus. That's the verdict from David Langford junior about the exotic cactus that used to pervade his property.

'The Springs' is located 20 kilometres out of Broken Hill. The boxing glove cactus was originally found at an old homestead, built around the late 1800s. But when it started to infiltrate the rugged cliff tops, David decided it was time to kill it.

Funding

With more than $7,000 from the Australian Government and support from the Western Catchment Management Authority (CMA) David was able to help protect threatened species habitat and control the spread of the cactus.

Activities

This project is helping protect the habitat of two threatened species, Curly Mallee and Tawny Crevice Dragon which were being taken over by the boxing glove cactus.

To combat the cactus take-over, five volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Australia were kitted out with chemical backpacks housing a chemical combined with diesel. They embarked on a trek around the rocky hills in a search and destroy mission to kill the troublesome cactus.

"The cactus was thick and spreading. It's ball-like and spreads easily. The balls fall onto the ground and sticks to you - or 'roos, sheep and goats," David said.

"It took between a week and 10 days for the cactus to die off." David said the chemical and diesel mix was pretty potent. "It would have been a lot of work if it didn't do the job," he said. "We had asked Elders what to use and they got onto a few chemical companies for us."

Western CMA officer Melinda Fletcher said the South American cactus was in too steep an area to be pulled out manually.

"The volunteers needed to walk around the hills to determine where the cactus was. They used GPS and surveyor tape to mark out the boundaries," she said

David said he was grateful to Melinda, the Trust and the Western CMA for their help.

"It would have been a lot more difficult for me to pay for this if I hadn't received the grant, especially with the labour," he said.

More information

1. Melinda Fletcher, Western CMA: (08) 8082 5200

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts