The spread of invasive buffel grass through mining and renewable energy sites is raising fears for sacred waterholes and protected native ecosystems in South Australia’s Gawler Ranges National Park.
Conservationists say seeds could be carried into previously unaffected areas on mining trucks and other vehicles, threatening native flora, fauna and culturally significant sites. They are renewing calls for a coordinated national response to the weed.
Buffel grass was first introduced to Australia in the 1870s and has since spread across central and northern parts of the country. It is now breaking containment lines in South Australia’s mid north, where authorities fear it could intensify destructive fires.
The grass can burn at temperatures of up to 300C, potentially killing native trees and desert vegetation. Animals that rely on native plants have also been affected.
John Binda Reid, from Adelaide University and the Gawler Ranges Aboriginal Cooperation, has worked with South Australia’s Department of Environment and Water to manage buffel grass across the upper Eyre Peninsula after witnessing its impact around Alice Springs.
He said mining activity and planned renewable energy developments were increasing the risk of the seed being transported into the Gawler Ranges. Several copper and gold mines are under way, while tenders for renewable energy projects in the Gawler Ranges East release area are due to be revealed this year.
Protocols have been established requiring trucks and other vehicles travelling in and out of the sites to be washed and cleaned.
“It will spread like wildfire,” Mr Reid said.
He warned that damage to the environment and waterholes would affect cultural identity and the ability of Aboriginal people to care for Country.
“When the environment is damaged and when the waterholes are damaged, that impacts on cultural identity, and people’s ability to care take country. That’s their main responsibility in life is to care take their country,” he said.
Calls for a national response to buffel grass
South Australia declared buffel grass a weed in 2015, while the Northern Territory followed in 2024 and committed $750,000 a year to its management.
However, the federal government has not declared buffel grass a weed of national significance. The farming sector has opposed stronger action in part because the grass is used as stock feed.
In a submission to a South Australian parliamentary inquiry, the sector said buffel grass contributed more than $5 billion directly to the economy and was one of its most important plants.
A Northern Territory government report found that the costs of allowing the weed to spread were 60 times greater than the benefit. An assessment by Charles Darwin University put the annual cost of biodiversity loss, cultural site damage, severe fire and management at $6,216 per hectare.
James Johnston, senior advocate at the Invasive Species Council, appeared before the Natural Resources Committee on Thursday and called for a federal inquiry into managing the weed.
He said buffel grass was among the hardest environmental issues to attract attention to, citing the remoteness of the problem and influence from the pastoral industry.
A South Australian buffel grass strategy was drafted in late 2024 to bring together government agencies and emergency services, but it has not been ratified or funded for the current financial year.
