As part of their involvement in the Walkways Restoration Project CBRRA Committee members Julie Mitchell and Fiona Rankin attended The Introduction to Plant Pests (Weeds) Workshop-East led by Auckland Council’s Anna Baine, Community Programmes Ranger and Tabitha Becroft a consultant on the ecology of weed plants and their planned removal.  The workshop was held in Macleans Park in Eastern Beach.  This park showcases coastal, wetland and forest ecosystems close to one another.  A range of topics was covered during the two-hour workshop:  1.Pest weed recognition. The group was shown a wide range of pest weeds including: climbing asparagus, nasturtium, pampas (easily confused with native toetoe), arum lily, banana passionfruit vine, gorse, Japanese honeysuckle, nut grass which can be mistaken for native umbrella sedge (the seed heads of the weed are green compared to the black seed heads of the native), Tradescantia and  willow (crack). Time was also spent looking at two different privets; tree and ‘Chinese’ privet and an explanation given on how easy it is to confuse these two plants with native Coprosma.   2.Correct techniques for the practical control of different kinds of pest weeds including ‘rolling’ groundcover, the use of composting weed bags, digging up roots and snipping creeping vines at ground level without necessarily removing the remaining vine from higher in the native plant (as this may cause damage to the native).  3.The correct technique to cut and paint when applying glyphosphate herbicide such as Bamboo Buster gel including the consideration of weather conditions when doing so.  4.That thought be given to the order in which pest weeds be removed from an area for example this differs between wetland and forest environments. In the forest environment the emphasis should be on the removal of creeping vines, then trees and then ground cover. Whereas in a wetland environment removal would probably begin with the groundcover.    5.Acceptance that in any area removal of all pest weeds may not be practicable. It may be that  control of a particular weed is limited to removing flower heads, seeds or keeping plant size to a minimum.  6.Awareness that you may not necessarily recognise a native plant and instead confuse it with a pest weed removing it by mistake! We were shown the native toatoa ( Haloragis erecta or fireweed) as an example of just such a plant. The iNaturalist app was recommended to everyone as a way to quickly get help to identify plants (pest or otherwise).  7.The use of Auckland Council (AC) GEO Maps to improve understanding of how AC categorises areas and plan your project work accordingly. It was noted that a Restoration Planning and Geo Mapping/GIS workshop is being held on December 7th to support this. Anna and Tabitha both emphasised the importance of volunteer groups working alongside AC staff including contractors.  8.A range of practical tools and support such as a Restoration Planning Template were described which are available to volunteer groups via AC local park rangers.  9.Health and safety when working in Council Parks.  Making sure that all volunteer group members have been taken through the Health and Safety Plan. Remembering that if there is any doubt about safety then stop work and refer the activity on to AC staff.  Many thanks to Anna and Tabitha for taking the Introduction to Plant Pests (Weeds) Workshop-East!