We provided $500,000 through the National Landcare Program phase one to address the impact of cane toads as they spread into the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Kimberley Cane Toad Clean Up Program funded:
- the development of effective tools for the community to use to effectively reduce the impact of cane toads
- community education activities to improve public awareness in Kimberley towns and remote communities.
Cane toads were already common across the Northern Territory, Queensland and northern New South Wales, having been introduced to Australia in 1935.
Further migration into the Kimberley area of Western Australia was seen as a new threat and posed a significant danger to biodiversity, particularly to populations of threatened species such as the northern quoll, and the Purnululu World Heritage Site.
We continue to fund strategic and long-term activities to monitor and reduce the threat of cane toads in the Kimberley, with support through the Environment Restoration Fund.