Coordinated targeted environmental, social and economic action producing better results.
2B – biosecurity
Buffel grass (aka mamu tjanpi – ‘devil grass’ in Pitjantjatjara) poses a dire threat to entire arid ecosystems. Piecemeal approaches have failed to address the problem. It is one of the biggest environmental crises in the country, but due to the remoteness of the issue it has not achieved a high profile … yet. It is spreading along road and rail corridors, threatening critical infrastructure, and will soon encroach on more heavily populated areas, bringing drastically elevated fire risk.
The Alinytjara Wiluṟara Landscape Board has led the fight for more than a decade, building a coalition of stakeholders and advocating for a national buffel grass strategy. A coordinated national approach is required with funding appropriate to the threat. Coordinated targeted action now produces better results – environmental, social and economic – at less cost than allowing it to get worse.
