The Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management (GMVFFAWM) Project region is 16,354 sq km and encompasses the five local government areas of Greater Shepparton City Council, Campaspe, Moira, Strathbogie and Berrigan Shires servicing a population of 150,067 people. The gross value of Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF) host horticultural crops in the GMV is approximately $415,000,000 annually (ABS 2015-2016).

The Goulburn Valley is the largest pear producer in the Southern Hemisphere and the Murray Valley is Australia’s largest stone fruit producer. Unless QFF is effectively controlled in the GMV, the impact on Victorian exports, industry, jobs, tourism and our lifestyle could be devastating.

The project is overseen by a Governance Group, has a full-time Project Coordinator and is auspiced by Greater Shepparton City Council.

The funding provided by the Victorian Government’s Fruit Fly Grants Program has enabled the support and coordination of the Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management (GMVFFAWM) Project.

The aim of the Project is to create awareness, education and engagement amongst the community, industry and government through an innovative Fruit Fly Area Wide Management (FFAWM) strategy. This engagement relies on us instilling a sense of ownership across the wider community, so that the control is QFF is driven by all of us – the community, industry and local government agencies.

Since 2017, the program’s media and communications platform has helped educate more than 40 million readers, listeners and viewers about fruit fly. Through extensive urban and rural trapping surveillance grids, the Program identified over 5,000 Queensland fruit fly ‘hot spots’ and facilitated the removal of more than 150,000 unmanaged fruit trees from both private and public land. More than 30,000 people attended fruit fly workshops, and over 3,500 volunteers from Lions International, Rotary International, Landcare and local community groups contributed their time to reducing fruit fly impacts. With community, industry and local government taking responsibility for managing fruit fly on the land they own, Qfly populations fell by 60% across the GMV—and by 83% in Cobram, where the program supported the release of sterile male Qflies into wild populations.

Recognition and Awards

The Regional Fruit Fly project has been recognised as a leader in the area wide management of Queensland fruit fly.

The program was independently assessed by experts and won the Victorian Achiever Award and the Victorian Agricultural Innovation Award in 2019. In 2021 it won the Australian Biosecurity Award and in 2022 it won the International Hort Connect Award for Industry Impact. Recognised as the most successful Area Wide Management (AWM) program in Australia, it was invited to present at the 11^th International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic Importance which is held in a different country every four years.

The awards recognise the project’s achievements in working to reduce the spread of fruit fly. The GMV program generates ‘ownership’ in the community, industry and government and exceptional return on investment. It is an exemplary AWM model that can be used to manage established and exotic biosecurity pests throughout regions, states or nationally across Australia.

The Governance Group is comprised of the following formal stakeholders: