The Federal Government has announced $2.6 million for the first phase of a $4 million national partnership to develop the next generation of rabbit biocontrols. According to Jack Gough, CEO of the Invasive Species Council, it is a tool that gives native species a fighting chance against one of the single greatest drivers of species decline in Australia – rabbits.
The last biocontrol was released back in 2017, and resistance has been building ever since, so this investment is overdue says the ISC.
“This funding is a direct result of sustained campaigning by our team, other environment groups and scientists,” says Jack Gough.
With an estimated 200 million rabbits across Australia right now, stripping landscapes bare, stopping native plants from regenerating, destroying habitat for wildlife and fuelling the decline of hundreds of threatened species, it is good news. Gardeners should also be celebrating the announcement.
Read the full media release here from the Invasive Species Council.
Photo credit: Wiki Commons
