Mark and Judy Fisher from Wyadup Brook Cottages in Yallingup are among a tsunami of local landholders undertaking arum lily control as part of Nature Conservation Margaret River Region’s Arum Lily Blitz – and having great success.
The Fishers’ 100-hectare property – a mix of remnant bush, cleared pasture, beef cattle and holiday accommodation – was once heavily infested with arum lilies. But several years of hard work means the numbers of the invasive weed are on the decline. And this winter, the Fisher’s teamed up with Nature Conservation’s Arum Lily Blitz program to ramp up control efforts along with work they are doing themselves over two properties.
Judy said persistence has been the key. “We’ve been doing arum lily control for 15 years now and we try to do it every year. It’s fabulous, it’s worked, and you can really see the results,” she says.
Mark, who has lived on the property for 36 years, said the weed problem has been daunting – but now major progress is being made. They are among a small army of landholders – including accommodation providers across the Margaret River Region – helping to control weeds and bring back biodiversity.
“The arum lilies were out of control. Wyadup Brook runs through the property and we have areas of natural bush, so it was important to act. We still have a problem with another weed, cape tulip, which we’re controlling alongside arum lily. Where we’ve done control, it does look good,” he said.
Mark’s message for other landholders is clear: “If nobody does anything, then the place is ruined. We must do something. If you own a property, you just have to do arum lily control, or the problem will just get worse.”
Nature Conservation Margaret River Region Arum Lily Blitz officer Ben Howell said the Fishers’ long-term commitment shows what is possible when landholders and local businesses step up.
“Local landholders are critical to the success of the Arum Lily Blitz. When people like Mark and Judy act on the properties they manage, it encourages their neighbours to do the same. Nature conservation can then support these properties by engaging with other stakeholders to protect whole areas. The Fishers’ persistence and collaboration are a great example of what can be achieved,” he said.
Nature Conservation Margaret River Region’s hugely successful Arum Lily Blitz coordinates the effort to control arum lilies, with free resources, workshops, herbicide and in some cases cost-sharing for 2200-plus landholders who are signed up, protecting an area spanning 26,000 hectares.
Arum lilies are so harmful because they outcompete native plants, reduce habitat and food for wildlife, smother orchids and wildflowers, and swamp native plants in a dense, toxic monoculture.
The wide-leafed plants start appearing from underground tubers in winter and produce a white flower in spring, and large-scale control is only possible with a targeted herbicide.
Now in its 7th year, the Blitz also partners with local and state government and agencies, plus community and volunteer groups to tackle arum lilies. It’s the first coordinated, landscape-scale weed control program of this type in WA, with an ambitious, long term 20-plus year vision to reduce and contain the weed.
For landholders on larger properties who cannot deal with arum lily infestations on their own, Nature Conservation’s Bush Regeneration Team can be hired to carry out arum control.
The Arum Lily Blitz is funded by the WA Government’s State Natural Resource Management Program.