Jenny Cottle
A trio of wonderful good news stories about the environment this week, where our voices have been heard.
People action has stopped clearing of the Leard Forest by Whitehaven Coal as part of its planned construction of Maule’s Creek Mine in New South Wales.
Flouting its development consent, Whitehaven began clearing forests even though this impacted on threatened species that hibernate in winter.
The Maules Creek Community Council then sought an interim injunction in the NSW Land and Environment Court, then just hours before the court was due to hand down its decision, Whitehaven announced they would stop clearing until the full hearing in September.
In a press release, Maules Creek Community Council spokesman stated, “This outcome today sends a strong message to coal mining companies across NSW and to the NSW Government – if they will not enforce the law, then the community is prepared to step up and do it themselves.”
Apart from the local environmental devastation that clearing of 1660 hectares of forest that Maules Creek mine would bring, there is the global environmental cost of the coal extracted.
But there is hope here also – around the world, more and more countries are rejecting coal in efforts to combat climate change. This has been a driving force in plummeting global coal prices.
Coal is becoming unprofitable – coal mines are shutting down and new projects are being shelved. Over the last two years, BHP has closed its Norwich Park and Gregory Crinum mines in Queensland, and reduced operations in the Illawarra region south of Sydney. Peabody closed Wilkie Creek, Vale shut the Integra mine in the Hunter Valley and Glencore-Xstrata has closed Newlands and Ravensworth.
Let’s hope that by September, Whitehaven no longer finds Maules Creek viable.
In more good news this week, British Oil firm Soco, is abandoning oil exploration in Virunga National Park, a 7,800-square-kilometre National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Virunga, Africa’s first national park, is a World Heritage Site and a Ramsar wetland of international importance.
The decision came as a result of mediation between SOCO and the World Wildlife Fund via UNESCO, as well as pressure from the British Government, high profile individuals including Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Howard Buffet – and people like you who signed petitions and spoke out. In a statement following SOCO’s announcement, Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International thanked the 750,000 individuals that joined this effort.
The third piece of wonderful news came from South America. The Chilean government cancelled a plan for five dams on two of Patagonia’s most environmentally diverse rivers, after an eight-year battle between environmentalists and developers.
Chile’s Committee of Ministers overturned the environmental permits for the HidroAysén project, which would have put dams on the Baker and Pascua Rivers, flooding 5,900 hectares of rugged and varied wilderness for hydroelectric power.
We can keep this good news going by continuing to speak out and supporting the efforts of these amazing organisations. Below is a link for the Maules Creek Community Council:
Or you can support the founding of a new National Park – the Great Forest National Park, just 60km east of Melbourne that would protect and maintain important ecosystems and biodiversity, including the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, Mountain Ash (the world’s tallest flowering plants), this area is one of the most carbon dense forests in the world; and supplies a large proportion of the drinking water for the city of Melbourne.
www.greatforestnationalpark.com.au
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