Victorian Blackberry Taskforce

A Resource for Victorian Agriculture

Blackberry the weed

Blackberry the weed (Rubus fruticosus aggregate) is a serious issue across much of Victoria, and a serious concern for farmers, peri-urban land holders and public land managers.


Blackberry can severely decrease the productive capacity of land, alter water flow, lead to erosion problems and provide harbour for pest animals. In addition it can out-compete and displace native plant species and lead to a loss of biodiversity.


The Victorian Blackberry Taskforce was established in 2001 to work with Victorian communities and government agencies to provide a collaborative effort to control blackberry.

Together, the Taskforce’s community partnership program covers over 280,000 hectares of public and private land infested by blackberry.


Our website hosts a source of information on blackberry, control measures and case studies, and how your community can work with the Taskforce to establish a community-led program. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us or visit our blog ‘blackberrytheweed’ for up-to-date information.   

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Blackberry: the problem

In 1851, the Government Botanist in Victoria, Baron von Mueller, and the first Curator of the Gardens at Melbourne University, Alexander Elliot, recommended that blackberry be planted to control soil erosion along creek banks. The subsequent preference of early settlers to use blackberry for erosion control combined with its invasive potential saw it quickly recognised as a serious weed.


Blackberry infestation reduce the productivity of primary industries (particularly grazing and forestry), degrades natural environments which hinders the provision of eco-system services, provides a harbour for vermin and detracts from the recreational and aesthetic value of regions.


Blackberry is considered a significant threat to our biodiversity and affects almost 9 million hectares of grazing land. In 2006 it was estimated that blackberry cost Victoria approximately $100 million each year in control activities and lost production. This was an increase of $60 million compared with survey results in the 1980s.



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The taskforce has 3 main roles

The Victorian Blackberry Taskforce was formed in 2001 as a result of community concern for blackberry. It wasn’t until 2006 that the Taskforce driven by renewed interest from community, embarked on developing and expanding a community-led approach.


The Taskforce has three main roles:

It represents and advocates community interests to government on blackberry across the various catchments. This representation is generally through the community representatives on the board from across the various catchments in Victoria.


It is operational through the delivery of the Community Partnership Program. We work with communities to assist them to develop their own response to controlling blackberry in their area. The operational focus also assists the group in representing the various community concerns across our program.


It is strategic in nature. We have a 5 year strategy which outlines our goals, objectives and accompanying strategic actions. This ensures that we remain relevant and our investment and decisions support a wider strategic plan for the management of blackberry across the State.


VBT Strategy Structure

VBT - Who we are

In promoting collaborative arrangements, the Taskforce has representation from major government agencies involved in blackberry management, policy and research and development. In addition to the agency representation, Taskforce members have been selected to represent the blackberry issues across the various catchment management authorities across the State.


Lyn Coulston,    Alex Arbuthnot,    Dr. Robin Adair, Shane O’Loughlin, Tony Jarvis, Terry Hubbard, Nigel Ainsworth, Ben Fahey, Stefan Kaiser, David Smith


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Our values and direction

A key guiding principle of the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce is the concept that blackberry control is more than science. That is, we recognise there are various established control methods to manage blackberry, however, blackberry remains an issue across parts of the landscape. Therefore, blackberry management is just as much a socio-economic issue as it is an issue of scientific management.


That said, we do continue to support innovation in terms of biological control and promote innovative approaches to blackberry management and wider land-use change.


We believe that through meaningful engagement with communities, together progress can be made in managing blackberry and also to begin to address other land management issues. At a state-wide level, we take pride in transparency and accountability in decision making, and accurately reflecting the on-ground reality that communities face in terms of pest management.


For further information about our values, directions please refer to Victorian Blackberry Strategy 2014-2019 or our Annual Reports.


Casestudy Download

Managing Blackberry

Blackberries.

Let's take action together.

Managing blackberry is long-term and generally cannot be achieved by one-off strategies, particularly for larger infestations. The three main management options available for blackberry include physical control, biological control and herbicides.

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VBT Case Studies

Blackberries.
A community issue.

The Victorian Blackberry Taskforce is committed to working with communities and partner agencies to reduce the growth and spread of blackberry in Victoria. The Case Studies featured here demonstrate the determination of communities and individual landholders, in a range of circumstances, to find ways of tackling blackberry to reclaim and restore land.

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VBT Achievements

VBT Progress Report.

The main objective of the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce (VBT) is to oversee implementation of the Victorian Blackberry Strategy (VBS), with the key goal to reduce the growth and spread of blackberry across Victoria. The emphasis is on education, advocacy and providing accessible information and support for public and private land managers to control blackberry. 


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