Invasive species management is a serious undertaking and a risky business, with the high potential to destroy what we are morally, legislatively, strategically and operationally obliged to protect, with great cost burdens that can be unfairly placed on future generations.
GKEPS maintains a high level of knowledge, skills and competency in the safe and efficient use of the equipment popularly used in pest plant and animal treatment programs. This involves the use of high-volume spray units, 4WDs, water pumps, all-terrain vehicles, river rafts, kayaks, abseiling and climbing equipment, back-pack sprayers, cut-and-paste / stem-injection techniques, flame weeding, firearms and trapping.
Why is Ethical Invasive Species Control Essential?
Ecosystems require all of their various facets and elements to be balanced if they are to sustainably thrive. So, naturally, when outside forces begin to impact and alter parts of that sensitive balance, it’s easy for issues to arise. Whilst we may not see the impact of said force right away, over time, environmental damage can be seen, and it becomes steadily more difficult to correct as more time passes.
Although at GKEPS, we feel it is of the utmost importance to protect animals and the ecosystems they reside in from harm whenever and wherever possible, there will come times in which an invasive species begins to have widespread negative impacts on an area. Because of this, Australian feral animal control and management services will be required to return an ecosystem to stability and health.
What is Considered An Invasive Species?
Despite their being a lot of distinctions and definitions regarding what is and is not considered an invasive species as opposed to an introduced species, the line isn’t always as firm as we may like. This is, in part, because being an invasive species doesn’t require a species of plant or animal to be entirely detrimental in every context. Certain plants may cause environmental damage in one context whilst being a celebrated source of herbal remedies or healthy ingredients in another. What we’re trying to say is that there is a lot of context that goes into whether something is a dangerous or detrimental invasive species, and more importantly, whether that species requires removal.
With that said, an invasive species is generally defined as any introduced organism that overpopulates and harms the environment it has been introduced into. This is the distinction between them and introduced species, which share in the introduction to a new environment or ecosystem, but don’t have the same harmful impact and/or overpopulation issues.
What We Do
At GKEPS, we take feral animal control and controlling introduced species’ very seriously. This involves balancing our obligations to assist in the protection of ecosystems with our care for plants and animals that are causing damage to their surroundings through no intentional fault of their own. After all, invasive species are most often the intended or unintended result of human interference in an area, and it’s our duty to make sure that we work with the most humane options available when tackling such sensitive issues.
This is why we tend to push towards solutions such as rabbit fencing and fox proof fencing before more intensive solutions, as when utilised successfully, systems like this allow the ecosystem to repair without necessitating greater interference. However, there will be times in which other methods are required to remove invasive species at the source. Said methods will be based on the specific circumstances of the job and will work to ensure the smallest level of disturbance to the surrounding ecosystem.
