Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(NHT) grant, and it was pure coincidence that the timelines of this scheme
suited the tight timelines of the aerial baiting operation.
GPS and GIS technology.
4)
Hand-held GPS units and GIS software
(Christmas Island Geographic Information System) were both critical.
Without GPS, sites could not have been located with accuracy and speed
to conduct the IWS, to delimit supercolonies, and to transfer coordinates to
the pilot for aerial operations. Without the CIGIS, data management, pres-
entation, and interpretation would have been impossible.
Public awareness
5)
. Increased public awareness of impacts on the island
through local, national, and international media helped focus the attention
of the management authority on the emerging crisis. Furthermore, public
awareness of the ongoing control effort increased both nationally and inter-
nationally the profi le of the YCA in particular, and invasive ants and invasion
on islands more generally. For example, the inclusion of the YCA in the list
of 100 of the world's worst invaders (Lowe
et al
. 2000) was a direct result of
its known and quantifi ed impacts on Christmas Island.
Clear demarcation of responsibility
6)
. The aerial operational succeeded
because there was a single authority responsible for management and fund-
ing. Invasion of the YCA into built environments, agricultural lands, and
natural areas on mainland Australia has generated jurisdictional disputes
on just who is the responsible agency for management (Commonwealth of
Australia 2006). These disputes can cause signifi cant delays in response and
fuel a public perception of confusion and inaction.
Bridging the science-management interface.
7)
A cooperative programme
of research and management of the YCA on Christmas Island through
the Australian Research Council's Linkage programme brought scientifi c
expertise to the operational programme. Essentially, university scientists
were 'embedded' with natural resource managers to achieve the objectives
of the programme. Once the magnitude of the challenge became apparent,
traditional suspicions and demarcation of roles between scientist and man-
ager blurred: scientists, who focused initially on impact analysis crossed over
to support the planning and implementation of the operational programme,
while managers rallied behind the scientifi c approach to achieve their goals.
However, bridging the science-management interface can cause confl icts of
interest within individuals. As scientists, we wanted to research and under-
stand the nature of the YCA invasion and its cascading impacts. At the same
time, we recognized the absolute need to destroy that which we wished to
study.
Competing resource demands
8)
. Research and management of the YCA
invasion was all consuming. This almost certainly had unintended con-
sequences for other important management activities on the island. First,
the YCA campaign diverted resources from other important programmes
for invasive species (e.g. weeds, feral cats, and the introduced wolfsnake).
