The Murray Region Forestry Hub (MRFH) is proud to announce the approval of funding from Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), with support from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), for a critical research project aimed at tackling one of Australia’s most costly and invasive weeds – Blackberry.
The project, “Novel and Targeted Biological Control of Blackberry Invasions in Forest and Tree Plantations”, will be led by Dr Rae Kwong in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and the University of the Sunshine Coast. The research will focus on blackberry genomic mapping, a vital step toward the development of an effective and targeted biological control.
NOTE: The recent Blackberry Funding article “Funding for critical research to tackle blackberry invasion”, Timberbiz was distributed with incorrect information regarding the source of funding and the recipient of the funding. The Murray Region Forestry Hub (MRFH) was not the recipient of the funding for this work. FWPA provided funding to the research project which is headed up by Dr Rae Kwong (AgVic). The Hubs, who are funded by DAFF are often instrumental in providing the preliminary work to support such research applications. The media release from the MRFH was intended to demonstrate the strong ongoing collaboration between these groups.