Undesirable plants - the Wet Tropics Management Plan 1998

Schedule 2 of the Wet Tropics Management Plan 1998 (the Plan) lists introduced plants and animals that are considered ‘undesirable’ in the Area because of their invasive potential and the environmental impacts they can cause. The Plan includes provisions to help minimise the potential impact of these species on the integrity of the Area. The current Plan prohibits the bringing of undesirable plants into the World Heritage Area and lists 47 prohibited species.

Proposed changes

It is proposed to expand the number of undesirable plants (invasive weed species) listed in schedule 2 under the Plan to over 140 species. The draft Amendment Plan also includes a provision to allow the Authority to update the Schedule without the need to undertake the detailed statutory processes normally required for making an amendment to the Plan. This is so the Authority can readily update the list of undesirable plants without having to go through the long and complicated process of a Plan amendment.

Download a list of the proposed undesirable plant list for Schedule 2 of the amended Wet Tropics Management Plan.

The updated draft list was derived from the Authority’s 'Naturalised Plants of the Wet Tropics' which lists over 550 naturalised plants. This list was then short-listed to identify those with a proven record of environmental weediness using the following five data sets as the basis for justifying a species inclusion or rejection:

• The Wet Tropics Conservation Strategy list
• The Declared Plants of Queensland list – Land Protection ( Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002
• The FNQROC (Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils) lists
• ISSG’s 100 of the world worst 100 invasive alien species list
• Lists of dominant or significant plant invaders of the Pacific region
• World lists of invasive woody plants.

You can read more about the Plan review process and proposed Plan amendments.