16Australia's vast tropical savannas contain outstanding biodiversity and cultural values. The 17 region supports many industries, with broad-scale pastoralism being the most widespread.
18Hundreds of plant species were introduced into northern Australia to support the pastoral 19 industry; some species have since been termed 'contentious' or 'conflict' species due to 20 their perceived positive value for industry but negative impacts on non-pastoral values 21 when they invaded non-pastoral landscapes. Heated political and public debate ensued 22 about the appropriate policy and management response to these species based on people's 23 perceptions of values being altered by invasion by these species, and conflicting views on 24 what constituted appropriate management actions to control their use and spread. We share 25 our insights into the role of scientific evidence in progressing this debate, by quantifying 26 the impacts of species on environmental, socio-economic and cultural values. We reflect 27 on the importance of science for underpinning evidence-based risk management tools, the 28 outputs of which supported policy response by politicians and other policy decision-29 Scientific evidence underpins invasive weed policy 2.makers. We also assess the gap in translation from policy to coordinated on-ground action 30 at the national scale, and provide our insights into the contribution that science can make 31 to bridge this gap.
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