The discovery of amazon frogbit in a Forster wetland earlier this month has prompted MidCoast Council to embark on a campaign to make the public more aware of the significant threat the plant poses to the region's biodiversity.
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The highly invasive aquatic weed was found in the Pioneer Wetland off Pioneer Drive by a maintenance worker who passed on the information to council's strategic weeds biosecurity officer, Terry Inkson.
It is the third time the floating freshwater plant - which hails from Central and South America and is considered a major biosecurity threat in NSW - has been found in the Great Lakes, following previous discoveries at Green Point and Bulahdelah.
Mr Inkson said the plant had been there for some time, judging by the size of the infestation.
"It's a fair size chunk; it's a couple hundred metres of infestation," he said.
In response, council's biosecurity team drained the constructed wetland to contain the weed and treated it with herbicide.
They also received a hand from some native species.
"It's been out-competed by other wetland plants," Mr Inkson said.
The team also mapped the extent of the infestation with a drone.
Mr Inkson said while he was confident council would be able to eradicate the infestation, what he was most concerned about was the way the weed got into the waterway.
He believed it had been dumped there as part of the contents of someone's home aquarium.
"It's the only way," he said.
"I'm 90 per cent certain that's how it got there."
Mr Inkson said while amazon frogbit was considered prohibited matter in NSW and was no longer being sold by reputable aquarium stores, it was still being traded on sites such as eBay and Gumtree as a decorative plant for ponds and home aquariums.
As a result, council intends to raise community awareness about the weed.
"We're going to be doing a media campaign," Mr Inkson said.
"We're going to be doing an education program, door-knocking."
Council has also declared an amnesty until the end of June for people who knowingly have the plant to surrender it without being fined.
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Like most invasive species, amazon frogbit competes with native species for light and nutrients and diminishes the biodiversity of the environment.
It rapidly invades and smothers waterways and can spread quickly and easily.
The plant floats on the surface of the water and has smooth, rounded, fleshy green leaves around four centimetres in diameter, with sponge-like sections on their undersides.
Mr Inkson said the infestation at the Pioneer Wetland could've proved particularly damaging, as it had the potential to spread in flood waters and get into the Wallis Lake system.
Anyone who thinks they may have seen the plant is urged to call Terry Inkson on 7955 7777.
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