Gamba grass
In 2008 the Invasive Species Council celebrated a successful campaign to have gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus) declared a weed by both the Queensland and Northern Territory governments.
At the time ISC project officer Tim Low called gamba grass the “triffid of the plant world”, warning it could still devastate much of northern Australia’s savannahs.
Gamba grass grows up to 4 metres tall and fuels very intense fires that kill trees and promote its domination over the natural environment.
A pest risk assessment published by the Queensland Government in 2008 warned that much of Australia’s northern savannahs could turn into treeless monocultures of gamba grass and other flammable pasture grasses.
Because it took so many years for governments to ban gamba grass it is now an enormous problem, and should be eradicated wherever possible.
The Invasive Species Council has called on the Federal Government to declare flammable grasses a key threatening process and fund a strategy with state governments to limit the use of flammable grasses and manage their impacts.
Read more
Queensland bans gamba – Feral Herald, July 2008
Download The Gamba Declaration, an open letter from scientists calling for a ban on gamba grass across northern Australia
ISC media release: Thumbs up for NT gamba grass weed declaration