45 local jobs created with announcement of Australia’s first Gamba Army

AUSTRALIA’s first Gamba Army will soon have boots on the ground working to combat a highly flammable and invasive weed currently infesting up to 1.5 million hectares of the NT — equivalent to the size of Brisbane

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AUSTRALIA’s first Gamba Army will soon have boots on the ground working to combat a highly flammable and invasive weed currently infesting up to 1.5 million hectares of the NT — equivalent to the size of Brisbane.

Environment Minister Eva Lawler said the creation of the new Gamba Army would open up 45 local jobs.

She said the army would start by providing targeted support to fight gamba grass in prioritised areas like Litchfield National Park, Charles Darwin National Park and the Greater Darwin region.

“They’ll be on the ground working from November to April,” she said.

Weed Management Branch Program Manager Chris Collins. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

The government’s NT Weeds Branch will be working in partnership with independent not for profit organisation Territory Natural Resource Management to deliver the Gamba Army.

Minister Lawler said the government has committed a $500,000 to the program over 12 months at this stage.

“We’ve also engaged Charles Darwin University to do mapping work so we’ll have some really clear evidence about the impact of the program and where we then need to target next,” she said.

Charles Darwin University’s intelligence unit that will map the Gamba will be funded through a $100,000 Mapping, Planning and Tracing Project.

Territory Natural Resource Management chief executive Karen May said their mapping to date shows up to 1.5 million hectares of the NT is currently infested with gamba grass.

However, she said the potential invasion range of the weed is estimated to be significantly larger — at least 38 million hectares.

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Ms May said a key part of this new program would build on work that has already been done.

“The Gamba Army partnership will co-ordinate and boost efforts to tackle the spread of Gamba grass; it will extend and complement the work undertaken annually by contractors, rangers, community groups, government and private landholders,” she said.

“This provides a transparent multi-pronged approach across a range of sites which will be prioritised for values such as biodiversity, amenity use and asset protection.”

The Gunner Government has previously invested up to $6 million a year on weeds management, including Gamba grass in the NT.

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