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Summary
Could you explain your role in weed eradication?
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Student: Could you explain your role in the weed eradication?
Geoff: I work for Sutherland Shire Council and my first job, I was the Noxious Weed Officer and now I'm the Green Web Officer
Geoff: but both positions involve the restoration of bushland and that includes weed eradication, natural, assisting natural regeneration and revegetating with native plants.
Summary
You are going to be a key contact person for us, what will you be doing?
What methods have you used to destroy weeds?
Could you name any biocontrols you have released before?
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Student: You are going to be a key contact person for us. What will you be doing?
Geoff: I'll probably assist with some of the resources that you need, I'll identify some of the release sites,
Geoff: I'll find out some good patches of bitou and make sure that council doesn't undertake any control work while the agents are trying to establish. Can provide more technical advice and assist with the monitoring.
Student: What methods have you used to destroy weeds?
Geoff: Well, we've used a number of methods. Firstly hand weeding where we simply pull the plant out. We also use a technique called 'cut and paint' where you cut the stem of the woody weed down near the ground level and you apply a herbicide to the stump and that gets drawn into the roots.
Geoff: We spray, we use aerial spraying, we also use fire and when we remove the weeds we revegetate with native plants and that acts as competition against the weeds and we've also used biological control agents.
Student: Could you name any biocontrols that you have used before?
Geoff: Yeah, I've been part of the Lantana Stem Sucker, we released that out into the peninsula here and we have released the leaf-rolling moth before
Geoff: but unfortunately soon after we released it we had a fire come through the peninsula and that wiped out the agents before they had a chance to establish.
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How do you know that aerial spraying will not damage native vegetation?Captions:
Student: How do you know that aerial spraying is not going to damage native vegetation?
Geoff: When we undertake aerial spraying for bitou bush we use a helicopter with a boom underneath it but we do it at the time after the bitou bush has flowered, so it's used up all it's energy and what it's doing now is when it's photosynthesising
Geoff: it's drawing that energy back into it's root system, so, we can use a very low dosage of the herbicide and when we spray it'll only kill the bitou because they're absorbing that herbicide readily,
Geoff: whereas the natives they can tolerate that small dosage, so, it will only kill the bitou and no other plants.
Student:: Would aerial spraying affect us?
Geoff: Before we aerial spray we advertise, we let people know, we restrict people from entering that area and we're using a herbicide and not an insecticide, so there is a difference but we take all precaution and we do it all under very strict regime.