Part 4: Challanges: Key insights from the Cross-Tenure Weed Management Project

In May 2025, RM Consulting Group delivered a final report to the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party (VSTWP), alongside the Victorian Gorse Taskforce and the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce, examining opportunities and barriers to cross-tenure weed data collection and sharing across Victoria. The project aimed to understand better how invasive plant data is recorded, stored and shared, and how improved collaboration could strengthen landscape-scale weed management outcomes. We will now explore the results, findings, limitations, and conclusions of this project through a series of four blogs, social posts, and communication products. 

Part 4: Challenges and Conclusions

Managing invasive weeds across Victoria is no simple task—particularly when those weeds don’t recognise property boundaries. The recent cross-tenure project led by the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party highlights a range of persistent challenges that continue to limit effective, coordinated weed control across the landscape.

While many land managers are actively working to control species like serrated tussock, the project makes it clear that barriers to collaboration—rather than a lack of effort—are often the biggest obstacle to success.

One of the most significant challenges is the complexity of working across different land tenures. Public land managers, private landholders, councils and community groups all operate under different frameworks, priorities and timelines. This can make it difficult to align control programs, even when infestations span multiple properties. Without coordinated timing and shared objectives, weed control efforts risk being less effective or even undone by reinfestation from neighbouring land.

Resourcing is another major constraint. The project found that a lack of funding, time and capacity continues to limit both on-ground weed control and the ability to collect and manage data. For many landholders, particularly in rural settings, there is a willingness to do more—but limited resources make it difficult to prioritise data collection or invest in new tools.

Data-related challenges also play a significant role. With no standardised approach to data collection, land managers use a wide range of methods—from mobile apps and GPS tools through to spreadsheets and handwritten notes. While each approach works at an individual level, the lack of consistency makes it difficult to share and combine data across organisations.

This is further complicated by concerns around data ownership and privacy. Some landholders are hesitant to share information due to uncertainty about how it will be used, while others are restricted by organisational policies. In some cases, data is simply never shared because there is no clear process or request in place.

Coordination challenges also extend beyond data. Differences in organisational systems, staff turnover and limited opportunities for communication can all make it harder for stakeholders to connect and collaborate effectively. Many participants in the project noted that they often work in isolation, despite facing similar challenges to others in their region.

Conclusions and Recommendations: 

• Recommendation 1: Promote best practice in weed data collection, collaboration, and sharing
• Recommendation 2: Host networking events for land managers and volunteers to exchange knowledge and
  share updates on pest management projects.
• Recommendation 3: Promote participation in collaborative initiatives by facilitating CPMG involvement in a state-level multiagency working group on data standardisation to help develop a consistent data dictionary for pest plant and animal management.
• Recommendation 4: Develop an invasive species mapping decision-support tool for land managers to guide them in identifying the types of data fields they should collect.

The VSTWP will consider these conclusions and recommendations and how we can best advocate and empower for better data collection and sharing.

Despite these barriers, the project also points to clear opportunities for improvement. Strengthening networks, increasing awareness of available tools, and creating more consistent approaches to data collection and sharing can all help bridge the gaps.

Ultimately, improving cross-tenure weed management isn’t just about better tools—it’s about better connections. By addressing these challenges head-on, Victoria can move closer to a more coordinated and effective approach to managing invasive species across the landscape.

The full report is available upon request.

This project was funded through the Victorian State Government through a Pest and Partnerships Grant and delivered by the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Group, the Victorian Gorse Taskforce, and the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce.