WA’s leading environment organisations and the Leeuwin Group of independent scientists are calling on the Cook Government to stop Alcoa’s clearing of the Northern Jarrah Forests in light of new scientific findings that rehabilitation efforts are failing.
A major recent study published in the journal Restoration Ecology has found that Alcoa’s rehabilitation efforts are substandard and are on a poor and declining trajectory. It found that most plant species are effectively absent and some key animal species are struggling to return. The study reinforces the findings of a 2023 independent review of Alcoa’s rehabilitation.
Alcoa has cleared 28,000 hectares of the Northern Jarrah Forest since the 1960s and not one hectare of its rehabilitation has met the State Government’s completion criteria.
In 2023, the EPA decided to assess Alcoa’s Mining Management Plans for the first time ever following a third party referral by the WA Forest Alliance. This was a major breakthrough in regulation, but was followed by a decision by the Cook Government to grant Alcoa a special exemption to keep clearing even while the assessment is underway.
The Northern Jarrah Forests have been identified as one of Australia’s most climate vulnerable ecosystems and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that the ecosystem is at risk of collapse and recommended we stop clearing to improve resilience.
Emeritus Professor John Bailey, Convenor of The Leeuwin Group, said:
“The evidence is in and abundantly clear. Especially under a warming climate it is not possible to replace Jarrah Forest with anything close to what was present originally.”
Jess Beckerling, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of WA, said:
“This is one of the biggest mining operations in the world and it is happening right here in one of the most biodiverse and climate vulnerable forests on the planet.
“Once these forests are gone, they’re gone forever.
“Alcoa’s destruction of our forests was based on the promise of rehabilitation. This has been proven to be untrue and impossible, and it’s time for the company to pack up and leave our remaining forests standing.
“Alcoa now has a massive expansion proposal before the EPA and Federal environment department. Governments cannot, in any good conscience, allow the permanent loss of any more of WA’s globally unique and incredibly diverse forests knowing it is impossible to rehabilitate them.
“This is one of the key examples of the failure of our nature laws in WA. We need our State Government to restore faith in our environmental regulation processes by stepping in to stop Alcoa’s clearing in light of these alarming findings that rehabilitation is simply not working.”
Jenita Enevoldsen, Senior Campaigner at The Wilderness Society, said:
“We are calling on Alcoa to end deforestation of the irreplaceable jarrah forests. Alcoa's rehabilitation has clearly failed WA government and international standards.
“The Wilderness Society has been waiting over a year for a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to be issued by the WA Mines Department on the mining rehabilitation standard of Alcoa's rehabilitation record over the last decade. We are still waiting for this information.
“The WA government has failed to ensure the community’s right to information, regarding Alcoa and their secret, outdated State Agreement Act.
“We can no longer afford to put the profits of mining companies before the health, stability and future of the communities in heart of the ancient jarrah forests - like Dwellingup and Jarrahdale.”
Jess Boyce, Acting Director of the WA Forest Alliance, said:
“This review pulls the rug out from underneath the Cook Government’s exemption that allows Alcoa to keep clearing whilst being assessed by the EPA. Just as strip mining for bauxite removes the critical substrate from underneath the Northern Jarrah Forests, the foundation on which this precious ecosystem has evolved and depends.”
“Alcoa’s COO states the company’s rehabilitation will be “indistinguishable” from the forest next to it. This research shows that is not possible for a multitude of reasons and the only way Alcoa’s rehabilitation will be indistinguishable from the forest next to it is if the adjacent forest has also been mined.”
“Clearing of the Northern Jarrah Forests for bauxite mining must be immediately halted, with the assessment making it clear that the ecosystem cannot be restored. Rehabilitation is not an acceptable mitigation strategy, only wishful thinking.”
ENDS