Common to many urban environments, the presence of weeds can present a threat to biodiversity within our bushland reserves, parks and gardens.

A weed is defined as “a plant out of place”.

Weeds are very context specific. In bushland we consider any plant which is not historically part of a given ecosystem a weed, thus even a non-local native plant may be a weed outside of its natural range. To provide clarity we use the term “indigenous plant” to refer to those plants which are naturally a part of the ecosystems which occur in our area.

Removing weeds forms a large part of what we do to manage and protect bushland. Work priorities are based on the level of threat a given weed may present to the overall functioning of an ecosystem.

Some weeds are considered such a widespread threat that their control or removal is required by law.

You can find a list of the Priority Weeds for the Greater Sydney Region here: https://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/WeedBiosecurities?AreaId=110

Information on Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) can be found at: https://weeds.org.au/weeds-profiles/

Comprehensive information on the identification, impact, management and removal of many of the weeds found locally can also be found at https://weeds.org.au/ or www.sydneyweeds.org.au.

Here are some examples of key environmental weeds found in Randwick City