Greening Port Pirie Rail Yards

We are leading the Greening Port Pirie Railway Yards works to restore degraded land in the Port Pirie Railyard.

This project is funded by the Government of South Australia as part of a four-year, $5.7 million partnership for greening Port Pirie.

The project will establish native vegetation across the railyards, to reduce dust from the site and in turn reduce and prevent exposure to lead for the Port Pirie community. Greening of the railyard precinct is anticipated to offer the community significant long-term benefits. The project is one of a range of measures aimed at reducing and preventing exposure to lead in Port Pirie.

The railyard has extensive areas of compacted rubble and a scattered coverage of weedy plants making the site prone to wind erosion in what is considered a high dust risk area.

Works will include the removal of site rubbish and management of a Nationally declared weed called Buffell grass with ongoing weed management and watering to support the native vegetation establishment until mid-2026.

Where are we carrying out the works:

What are we planting?

We are propagating over 16,500 seedlings of trees, shrubs, grasses and groundcovers from 33 species. Some of the native plants in our selection are: Australian Pig Face (carprobrotus rossii), Blue Mallee Flower (Halgania cyanea), Spiny Saltbush (Rhagodia spinescens) and Dropping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillate).

Over 370 kg of native seed and cutting material has been collected from the region to enable propagation of climate-adapted seedlings and for direct seeding of understorey. Collecting seeds locally means better chances for the plants to establish and thrive in the environment.

When it’s happening

Site preparation, seeding and planting will take place in June and July 2024, and be finished by the end of September, with maintenance activities during the establishment period through to mid-2026.