Nature Conservation Margaret River Region’s community-powered Arum Lily Blitz is set to be showcased on the international stage this year, as the innovative WA program continues to grow in scale, impact and ambition.
The Arum Lily Blitz model will be presented at the 2026 Australasian Weeds Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand, highlighting how local people, land managers and conservation groups are working together to tackle one of the South West’s most damaging invasive weeds.
The major cross-Tasman conference brings together weed researchers, biosecurity experts, land managers and policymakers from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands to share innovations and strengthen collaboration in weed management.
Nature Conservation’s Arum Lily Blitz coordinator Obelia Walker said the opportunity to present the Blitz internationally was recognition of the program’s success and the strength of community action. “The Arum Lily Blitz started as a grassroots response to a huge environmental problem here in the Margaret River Region, and it’s exciting to now be sharing that model and our learnings on an international stage,” she said.
“It shows what’s possible when communities are empowered with the right knowledge, support and resources to take action for nature.”
What healthy bush can look like when it is free from arum lily infestations
But she said there was still much work to be done to control arum lily locally. Now entering its eighth year, the Arum Lily Blitz has grown into the largest coordinated, landscape-scale weed control program of its kind in WA, with more than 2600 landholders now registered across over 30,000 hectares.
The Arum Lily Blitz partners with government agencies, community groups, volunteers and landholders to reduce and contain arum lily infestations. Landholders can register to access free herbicide, subsidised control on high-priority properties as well as free advice and technical support. This year the program continues to expand its targeted cost-share control program, helping landholders tackle large infestations in areas of high biodiversity value and close crucial gaps in the landscape where weeds are still spreading.
Nature Conservation is also continuing to advocate for stronger State Government support and increased resourcing for arum lily management in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, where significant infestations remain.
An arum lily infestation
Following a major community survey last year which attracted more than 500 responses, the Arum Lily Blitz has also developed a new behaviour change strategy to guide the next phase of the campaign, with input from Emeritus Professor Carmen Lawrence.
“The focus now is on embedding arum lily control as a social norm across the region — everyone doing their bit each year to care for this amazing place,” Obelia said. “We know the program works when neighbours come together and when people feel supported rather than overwhelmed”.
The Blitz continues to provide free herbicide kits to registered landholders, with collection points available across the region through participating local businesses and the Nature Conservation office. Community members are also encouraged to report infestations using the Fieldbook weed mapping app, helping improve mapping, prioritisation and strategic planning with public land managers.
Nature Conservation’s Obelia Walker with Nathan Hammer and Eddy Rodda join a team of community supporters to launch the 2026 Arum Lily Blitz
Arum lilies are a serious environmental threat because they outcompete native plants, smother orchids and wildflowers, reduce habitat and food sources for wildlife, and create dense toxic monocultures. The plants emerge from underground tubers during winter, produce distinctive white flowers in spring, and require persistent ongoing management using targeted herbicide treatment.
“The success of the Arum Lily Blitz proves that community-led conservation can create real landscape-scale change,” Obelia said. “Many of us choose to live here in the southwest because of our shared love for the natural environment. Protecting it is something we all have a role in.”
For larger properties where infestations are too extensive to manage alone, Nature Conservation’s Bush Regeneration Team is available for hire to assist with arum lily control.
For landholders registered with the Blitz, free herbicide can now be collected from the Nature Conservation office as well as from supporting businesses Busselton Agricultural Services, Dunsborough Rural, Vasse General Store, Cowaramup Agencies, Karridale Agencies and True Value Hardware in Augusta.
The Arum Lily Blitz is funded by the WA Government’s State Natural Resources Management Program. CLICK HERE to find out more, register, and receive free herbicide, information and resources.
Obelia thanked the Weeds Society of Western Australia for supporting the New Zealand conference presentation through a travel grant, helping ensure Western Australian conservation initiatives are represented internationally.