The Department of Parks and Wildlife has numerous programs and policies in place to control or, where possible, eliminate key invasive pest animals, plants (weeds) and diseases.
Cane toads
Cane toads first crossed into Western Australia in February 2009. To help fight this invasion, the government is working closely with community groups to slow their progress, while research to find a biological control for the pest continues.
Western Shield - controlling ferals cats and foxes
Western Shield is the department's lead animal conservation program, one of the biggest such programs ever undertaken in Australia.
Western Shield aims to return the balance and mixture of animals in selected areas to levels comparable to pre-European settlement, through 1080 baiting of introduced foxes and feral cats.
Other feral animals
Control of feral cattle, goats, camels, rabbits, wild dogs and other pest species is carried out to protect areas of key conservation significance.
Dieback
The arrival and spread ofPhytophthora dieback disease in Western Australia has been catastrophic for a number of ecosystems in the south-west.
As many as 2,000 of the estimated 9,000 native plant species in the south-west are susceptible to dieback disease.
Myrtle rust
Myrtle rust is a fungus that causes disease in plants in the Myrtaceae family, which includes eucalypts.
While there are no confirmed reports of myrtle rust in Western Australia, the Department of Parks and Wildlife is on alert since the fungus was first detected in New South Wales in 2010.
Invasive plants
Weeds, along with other invasive species, pose one of the most significant threats to biodiversity.
