Insights · 2 May 2025 · Planted
Buffel grass holds soil and divides opinion. The debate is a useful reminder: on erosion jobs, the species you choose is a long-term decision, not a quick fix.
Buffel grass is back in the news, and the framing says it all: erosion-control hero or environmental villain? It’s drought-resistant, it holds soil, and it’s loved by parts of the beef industry - and it’s also an aggressive invader that crowds out natives and changes fire behaviour. The debate is a good prompt for anyone doing erosion work, because it lands on a decision crews make on every job: what do you actually put in the ground?
Fast cover is not the same as the right cover
It’s tempting to reach for whatever establishes quickest and binds soil hardest. Sometimes that’s the very thing that causes problems later - an aggressive species that escapes the site, fails council and WSUD conditions, or sets up a worse problem than the erosion it fixed.
On regulated NSW work - councils, WSUD, civil specs - the species mix isn’t a free choice. It’s specified for a reason, and “it holds soil” isn’t a defence if it’s the wrong plant for the place.
How we think about species selection
- Match to the site, not the catalogue. Soil, slope, aspect and the surrounding ecology decide what belongs there.
- Read the spec and the conditions. Native ground covers and slope stabilisers chosen to meet the plan and perform - no shortcuts that fail an inspection.
- Stabilise with product, establish with the right plants. Jute and coir do the fast soil-holding while the specified natives establish underneath. You don’t need a problem species to buy that time.
The takeaway
The buffel debate is really about time horizons. The quick win and the right outcome aren’t always the same plant. Get the erosion protection from biodegradable product and the long-term cover from species that belong on the site, and you don’t have to trade one problem for another.
That’s how we approach revegetation and erosion control across NSW. Working out the right mix for a site? Tell us about it.
