Select species

This page is skipped if you have selected the New or uncommon weeds alert type (which automatically includes all species that have zero or limited records within your selected location).

Depending on the type of alert you have selected, this page will show either of the following options:

Select weed categories

For the Category of weed alert type, you can choose from predefined categories:

• Environmental weeds list includes 386 species that are fully naturalised and have more than minor impacts on natural ecosystems. See the List of environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024.
• National Interest Pest Responses (NIPR) includes pest plants that could cause serious harm to New Zealand's environment and economy if they are allowed to spread. See National Interest Pest Responses programme.
• National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) helps the government and plant producers prevent the sale, distribution, and propagation of highly damaging pest plants. See National Pest Plant Accord for preventing the sale of invasive weeds in NZ.
• Notifiable Organisms lists pest plants that must be reported to MPI, if spotted in New Zealand. See registers and lists.
• Unwanted Organisms lists pest plants that could harm New Zealand if they arrived. See registers and lists.
• Regional Pest Management Plans shows the plans that regional councils follow to control and manage pests in their region. See Pest management plans.

Note that if you select Regional Pest Management Plans you must then select the region(s) (e.g. Waikato) to include and then select the management programmes (e.g. Eradication, Exclusion, Sustained Control) you are interested in. 

You can add as many categories of weed as you like. 

Note that categories are independent of the location(s) that you set later. For example, you may want to track species listed in a neighbouring region’s pest management plan but only receive alerts when they are recorded in your own region.

Select species

For the particular weed species alert type, you'll see a search box where you can enter either the common name or scientific name of the species you're interested in. You can keep your search as broad or specific as you like—for example, selecting an entire family such as Rosaceae (which includes hawthorn and sweet briar), or narrowing down to a particular genus, species, or subspecies.

Selecting a species will automatically include any subspecies, varieties, or forms of that species. Likewise, selecting a genus or higher‑level taxon will include all taxa beneath that selection.