The Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC) is eager to keep stakeholders informed during what could be the most significant step to propel action on buffel grass in the Territory's history.
We hope that progress in the Territory, in addition to ongoing action in South Australia will propel the Federal Government to engage with and respond to the buffel grass crisis.
Key threat to the arid lands
Buffel grass is an existential threat which is altering and transforming the health of Country, suppressing bush foods, bush medicines and wildflowers, displacing spinifex, burning down mulga, corkwoods and large trees, reducing biodiversity, affecting hunting practices and time spent on Country. The health of Country is central to the cultural and social determinants of health.
Buffel grass promotes larger, hotter and more frequent wildfires. In affected areas, buffel fuelled wildfires put people's lives and homes at risk.
As you may know, buffel grass is one of the world's most devastating invasive species, but in the NT (and every state except South Australia) it remains completely unmanaged at scale and its spread continues to grow. The spread of buffel grass is devastating ecological and cultural values across the arid lands. The downstream impacts of buffel invasion are significant and devastating.
Many First Nations leaders of the NPY and APY lands have long been concerned with the impacts of buffel grass. ALEC's Buffel grass weed declaration in the NT guide also includes a statement from Rene Kulitja on behalf of custodians of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Katiti-Petermann and Watarrka (2022), the Desert Indigenous Protected Areas Statement on Buffel Grass 2021 (Umuwa) and a statement from Kawaki Punch Thompson (2012).
Request
ALEC would like to invite your organisation into the conversation by extending an opportunity to be part of a wide array of stakeholders who are invested in stopping the spread of buffel grass. There are four ways you can do this:
1. Sign an open letter to the NT Government
This open letter aims to demonstrate that a wide array of stakeholders support a strong buffel grass weed declaration.
Please provide your organisations logo if you wish to be added by COB Wednesday 15 November – [email protected]
2. Write directly to the Buffel Grass Technical Working Group before their last meeting on 16 November 2023
Demonstrate how buffel impacts your organisation and provide support for a Class A/B weed declaration applying to all types of land tenure across the Territory. - Email the Chair - [email protected]
3. Write directly to Territory Environment Minister, Kate Worden, by 30 November 2023
Demonstrate how buffel impacts your organisation and provide support for a Class A/B weed declaration applying to all types of land tenure across the Territory - [email protected]
4. Creative ideas to push for weed declaration
We would love to meet with you about any key ideas that your organisation may be interested in contributing to or developing to progress action on buffel grass and ensure a strong weed declaration occurs as soon as possible.
To assist stakeholders with engaging with this process, ALEC has developed a Buffel grass weed declaration in the NT guide.