Community surveillance and reporting plays a key role in maintaining our State’s enviable biosecurity status and clean environment.
Home gardeners, growers and biosecurity groups now have a chance to join the biosecurity surveillance community with the launch of a free mobile device app, MyWeedWatcher.
Designed and developed by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, the app improves identification, mapping and management of declared weeds that impact agriculture and our biosecurity status.
The app is a perfect companion for home gardeners and industry stakeholders; it allows for quick and easy identification of common weeds and provides an easy way to report unusual or declared weeds.
The app joins a suite of pest surveillance apps developed by the department to enhance surveillance and protect agriculture from biosecurity threats.
MyWeedWatcher’s in-built guide helps users identify weeds according to the plant’s characteristics, including the type of plant, flower colour and leaf shape, and a reporting feature allows users to map the location of the weeds, add photos and include information such as the density of weeds, and any weed control undertaken.
Reports are sent directly from smart devices to the department for identification or verification, and the response and outcomes are mapped online.
The MyWeedWatcher app can be downloaded free from iTunes App Store or from Google play.
Alternatively, people without a mobile device can report declared weeds using the online tool available on the department website at agric.wa.gov.au by searching for ‘weed surveillance’.
The MyWeedWatcher app was developed as part of the Department of Agriculture and Food’s $20 million Boosting Biosecurity Defences project, made possible by the Royalties for Regions program.