Scott Reef is one of the most precious and untouched marine ecosystems in Australia — a key feeding ground for migrating whales, and home to protected species like the green sea turtle and the dusky sea snake. 

But Scott Reef is under threat. Woodside plans to drill more than 50 gas wells at Scott Reef as part of its Browse gas export project, a plan that would irreversibly damage this precious ecosystem and add 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon pollution into the atmosphere. 

Alongside our Save Scott Reef alliance partners and Australia’s climate and environment movement, we’re working to Save Scott Reef and protect the climate from Woodside’s gas exports. 

The facts 

• Scott Reef is Australia’s largest oceanic reef system, sitting approximately 425 kilometres north of Broome and 290 kilometres off the Kimberley coast. 
• Scott Reef is known to support an incredible diversity of marine life, including coral, fish, sharks, rays, and at least 29 species of marine mammals, including endangered pygmy blue whales. 
• The endangered and elusive dusky sea snake calls Scott Reef home — and hasn’t been seen elsewhere since 2002. 
• Scott Reef is a key feeding ground for the entire ocean food web — where fish, plankton, seabirds and migrating whales come for sustenance.
• Green sea turtles nest at Sandy Islet, a small sandy island at Scott Reef that is at risk of sinking if gas is extracted from underneath.
• In 2024, Western Australia’s EPA said that an earlier version of the Browse proposal would have “unacceptable environmental impacts” for Scott Reef. While Woodside has since submitted a revised proposal, the company’s plans are fundamentally the same. 

Watch Corals’ Last Stand 

CCWA is proud to support Corals’ Last Stand, a social impact documentary by filmmaker Jane Hammond. Corals' Last Stand follows the voyage of a team of prominent Australians — including author Tim Winton, musician John Butler, and marine biologist Brinkley Davies — as they travel to Scott Reef to bring worldwide attention to the impact that Woodside's drilling plans would have on this special place. You can find a screening or watch at home.

Get Involved

Together, we can protect one of the most ecologically significant reef systems in Western Australia. Sign up to volunteer, donate, or get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!