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April 2012. An article on ABC Rural http://www.abc.net.au/rural/qld/content/2012/04/s3474227.htm
told the story of a cubs groups belonging to a Weed Spotters Network (Toowoomba, north Queensland, Australia) that discovered the weed Pathenium as part of their work. Should there be more involvement of the community in keeping a lookout for pests in general? Has the community a role to play here?
A member responded from Thailand and told the story of Mikania, mile-a-minute. In the mountainous north there are outbreaks of Mikania along the road and even outside govt offices! If ever there was a case for a rapid response, it is here, but farmers are not aware of the weed, and the potential problems it might cause, so it is left to grow.
[Editor, later, a response from a researcher working in Thailand on Mikania: Mikania is a big problem in Thailand and the authorities do know about it. Presently, there are discussion with researchers at one of the universities about biocontrol. However, funds are not there, and like many other problems faced today, the research pie is only so big and its not possible to target everything].
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