The year 11 student’s views were reinforced following a school project at Puckey’s reserve in Wollongong.

The 16-year-old and her fellow earth and environmental science classmates compared natural and introduced plant species.

Science teacher Blake Thomas wanted the students to compare a land-cared site with one that had been neglected, and see what the introduced plant species did there.

April was shocked with the findings.

“There was a huge difference,” she said.

“The land-restored site, where all the volunteers had done a lot of work, was great. There was a lot less introduced species and you could see the Australian native plants were really growing and thriving.

“It was a  different story on the other side. Plants were being suppressed, especially the juvenile plants.

“You can tell in the future the native species would die off if the area was left unmanaged.”

A Illawarra Environmental Education Centre member also helped the students with their project.

Mr Thomas said the task also involved the students writing a newspaper article on their findings.

“April’s article was the best,” he said.

In it, the teenager revealed that it was mainly up to volunteers to physically remove introduced species from the environment to prevent them from spreading further into the environment.

“Asparagus Fern is one of the main threats in the Australian environment as it’s extremely hard to remove and it spreads easily, covering and suffocating natives,” April said.

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“The physical removal of Asparagus fern is the most effective way to manage the spread however it is not easy.

“More funding from the government is needed for future management.

“This study has really opened my eyes to the severity of these thriving introduced species. We can’t expect volunteers to do it all.”