Report Buffel Grass observations

The most important thing to do if you think you’ve found some Buffel Grass in Victoria is to report it. Don’t be shy. I love observations that turn out to be the garden plant called Fountain Grass (Cenchrus setaceous).

I am maintaining a database of Buffel Grass observations in Victoria. It stretches back to 2015. Having a dataset like this is so important to track our progress.

There are several ways to report Buffel Grass:

iNaturalist app

If you are an iNaturalist user simply upload your observation to the platform. If you identify it as Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) or an unknown Sandbur (Cenchrus spp.) it will be automatically added to this Buffel Grass Collection Project. I’m the admin of this project and I’m checking every record that comes in.

You can also go to the project page, click on “Join this Project” in the top right hand corner, and follow the steps as prompted. Once you have joined the project, it will show up under “Projects” on the top navigation bar whenever you are logged in to iNaturalist.

Snap Send Solve app

The Send Snap Solve app was set up to report issues like rubbish dumping or weeds to local councils and other land managers like Parks Victoria. I’ve found councils are generally pretty responsive to reports from this app. However, I’d encourage you to also put the observation on iNaturalist so that I can add the observation to my database.

Victorian Biodiversity Atlas

The Victorian Biodiversity Atlas is the principal repository of plant and animal records in Victoria. It is the main dataset used for biodiversity decision-making by state government. But it is not a friendly interface and can be a bit tricky to use. Rest assured I upload verified Buffel Grass observations to the VBA so you don’t have to. (iNaturalist records are no longer being automatically uploaded to the VBA).

Email or phone

You can also send an email malleeconservation@gmail.com or even call on 0475 291 744.

The most important thing you can do about Buffel Grass is to report all observations in Victoria