Buffel a weed? Yet another committee.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR The Government has determined the next step to reduce the impact of buffel grass in Central Australia. The Buffel Grass Technical Working Group (TWG) was formed in 2023 to address environmental concerns around buffel grass, which makes wildfires more intense and impacts biodiversity. The TWG provided its findings, which recommend a Weed Advisory Committee be formed to build on the findings and develop a management plan, with the view of declaring buffel grass a weed. The committee will include members with expertise in land management and stakeholders from the pastoral industry with diverse backgrounds, to ensure we better understand the economic and environmental perspectives as well as the practicalities of managing buffel grass in Central Australia. The committee will develop a strategy that prioritises areas and methods where direct management of buffel grass will be most valuable and effective. The strategy will take three months to complete and build on the work already completed by the TWG. The strategy will be used to determine how declaring buffel grass as a weed can balance the protection of priority areas with the role buffel plays as fodder for the pastoral industry and as a soil stabiliser. Kate Worden, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security.