Brenz Saunders, Chair, on behalf of the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board Organisation. Contact email: aw.landscapeboard@sa.gov.au
The Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board (AWLB) strongly supports the nomination of buffel grass as a Weed of National Significance (WoNS), recognising it is a crucial step in addressing its growing negative impacts across various sectors and communities in Australia. While buffel grass brings benefits to pastoralists, it also poses serious risks to the environment, cultural heritage, tourism, public health, and more. AWLB has invested heavily in managing buffel grass for over 15 years and calls for national coordination, long-term funding, and culturally informed, science-based decision-making. This nomination will provide the recognition needed for effective, coordinated action, ensuring that all sectors and land tenures work together for a resilient rangeland system.
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As Chair of the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board (AWLB), I write on behalf of the Board to express our strong support for the nomination of buffel grass as a Weed of National Significance (WoNS). This nomination is a critical and timely step toward acknowledging the growing and widespread impacts of buffel grass across Australia’s diverse landscapes.
Buffel grass poses a significant and escalating threat to both pastoral and non-pastoral lands across arid South Australia. The AWLB advocates for a science-based, nationally coordinated approach that integrates cultural knowledge, ecological science, and strong community engagement. Such a strategy is essential to safeguard biodiversity, cultural heritage, and the productivity of our rangelands.
As an all-Anangu board, we prioritise the participation and leadership of Anangu communities, ensuring that traditional knowledge and priorities remain central to our land management approach. Over the past decade, the AW region has worked closely with landholders and communities to develop Healthy Country and Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) plans, identifying key threats—including buffel grass—to both culture and Country. These community-led strategies underpin our regional Landscape Plan (2021–2026), which seeks to ensure a healthy, valued region, managed responsibly for future generations.
In line with the South Australian Buffel Grass Strategic Plan 2019-2024, buffel grass is targeted for eradication in the Maralinga Tjarutja (MT) Lands and management for the protection of sites of cultural and environmental significance in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. The AW Buffel Grass Operational Strategy (2018-2023) and Best Practice Management Guide (2018) have guided these activities, however the need for national coordination is clear to manage the threat to culture, the environment, safety, and priority assets such as the Great Victoria Desert situated across the South Australian and Western Australian borders.
Our region has been actively managing buffel grass for over 15 years, predating its formal declaration as a weed in South Australia in 2015. In the past five years alone, the AWLB and its partners have monitored over 124,000 hectares and treated more than 860 hectares of buffel grass. Efforts have focused on high-risk pathways—roads, rail lines, remote communities, and culturally significant sites— supported by substantial investment in skilled staff, Anangu ranger groups, contractors, specialised vehicles and trailers, drone technology, weather stations, remote surveillance systems, and digital field tools.
Between 2021–2023, the Board allocated more than $925,000—equating to 8–17% of our total budget—towards buffel grass operations. This financial year, we have committed a further $300,000 from retained earnings to continue this critical work.
While we acknowledge that buffel grass has value for many in the pastoral sector, the negative impacts it creates across other land tenures and sectors—including for Indigenous communities, conservation managers, tourism operators, public health, and cultural practitioners—are extensive and growing. Increased fire risk and ecological degradation are among the most urgent concerns.
Listing buffel grass as a WoNS would elevate its management to the national level it warrants, allowing for coordinated, inclusive, and well-informed dialogue among diverse stakeholders. It affirms that the goal is not regulatory eradication, but rather collaborative and targeted impact management.
AWLB supports a respectful and balanced approach to buffel grass management, one that values input from all affected groups—including pastoralists, Traditional Owners, scientists, and community members. Our shared aim is to build a more resilient, sustainable future for Australia’s rangelands.
AWLB acknowledges and consents to the inclusion of this letter and associated knowledge in the nomination process. We strongly urge the Federal Government to support the addition of buffel grass to the Weeds of National Significance list and recognise the urgent need for a coordinated national response.
Submitted: 20 May 2025