The need for biosecurity is growing in importance day by day with more threats waiting on the horizon. The recent detection of tilapia on K’gari is a new threat stacked on the 200-plus harmful species already on the island.

In response, the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation has received an Australian Heritage grant to address priority invasive threats. K’gari already benefits from a range of strategies from different stakeholders but there is currently no coordinated approach to the island’s biosecurity.

The K’gari Biosecurity Strategy and Engagement Plan targets this, as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The strategy strives to adapt to the continuous threats of pests, weeds and diseases. This tenure-blind strategy is due to launch in November 2025.

Overseeing and supporting the Biosecurity Strategy, are the K’gari Biosecurity Advisory Group (KBAG) a transdisciplinary group of key stakeholder representatives. They will help collaborate, advise and refine the strategy through its development. This shared vision includes a risk analysis and business model. The advisory group will be able to build their capacity around biosecurity matters and shape the strategy to the people and the environment’s needs.

Surprisingly, there is not a whole lot of literature covering the biosecurity commitment of islands and World Heritage sites, but the first step is gathering the literature that does exist and connecting this to K’gari. This information will feed into the K’gari Biosecurity Strategy, and inform potential strategies for the risk analysis component.

Whilst the Island has seen large efforts with promising eradication like with Bitou bush (Behrendorff et al., 2019), it’s important to prevent the entry of new species. Thus, avoiding the need for eradication in the first place. Increasingly, strategies around the world have been focusing on developing and implementing strategies that prevent introductions. For example, a study found that the most cost-effective method to prevent impacts of black rats (Rattus rattus) not yet on Barrow Island, is with prevention or surveillance (Rout et al., 2011).

Addressing the entry pathways of pests, weeds, and diseases is recognised as the most practical and cost-effective approach to managing invasive exotic species, effectively preventing incursions before they reach the shores. The risk analysis component of the strategy employs tools developed in 2021 for K’gari by the University of Melbourne’s Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA), supported by the Australian Government’s Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer (CEBO).

Expert judgement will be compiled and used in combination with these tools to quantify the incursion risk of different pests and pathways identified in the 2021 workshops and provide strategies for mitigation. The early stages of this sub-project involve a literature review and the identification of experts for the list of threats (invasive species). The initiative is led by Honours student Ella-Jane Raymond and Professor Jennifer Firn from Queensland University of Technology.

Article contributed by Ella-Jane Raymond, Queensland University of Technology and Seth Henaway, Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation