More … Fears for The Tarkine

Pic:Nicole Anderson

CONCERN OVER MINE PROPOSALS IN WORLD HERITAGE VALUE TARKINE WILDERNESS

Environment groups are deeply concerned about the potential environmental impacts of two new mines that have today been proposed for the Tarkine wilderness, an area recommended for protection by government-auspiced, independent experts as of World Heritage value. The two mine proposal applications were lodged today by Venture Minerals, a W.A-based company. One of the proposed mines is a 150m deep open cut mine in sensitive button-grass heathland adjacent to rainforest in the Meredith Range Regional Reserve, the other proposal is a strip mine in myrtle rainforest recommended for protection under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Forests.

“The Tarkine is Tasmania’s Kakadu, an iconic wilderness that contains the Southern Hemisphere’s largest tract of cool temperate rainforest. ” said Dr Phill Pullinger, Director of Environment Tasmania. “Mining is an important industry for Tasmania – and there are places and ways where mining can be appropriate – but strip mining and big open cut mines in remote, pristine areas worthy of World heritage protection is absolutely the wrong approach.”

The Tarkine National Coalition’s Scott Jordan agrees, “The Tarkine has got so much potential for the North-West coast as a nature tourism magnet – but it won’t work if we wreck the very values that make the Tarkine so special,” he said, “The application suggests that Forestry Tasmania has agreed to log the rainforest prior to one mine going ahead, pre-empting the current considerations of the IGA process and sacrificing the benefits of carbon trading dividends outlined in the West Report.”

“Protecting the Tarkine under the IGA would represent 12% of the potential $1.6billion dollar carbon trading dividend to Tasmania over the 2013-2020 period. That’s potentially $204 million sacrificed in favour of what Venture Minerals projects to be two year grab-it-and-run mine projects.”

Both the areas where these mines are proposed were identified in the 2012 West Report as having confirmed National and World Heritage values.

The Wilderness Society believes that the Tarkine should be given the same recognition as Tasmania’s South West wilderness, the Daintree Rainforest and Uluru, “Many Australians see the Tarkine as one of Australia’s most important and significant unprotected wilderness areas,” said Vica Bayley, Tasmanian Campaign Manager for The Wilderness Society. “It is critical that both State and Commonwealth governments fully recognise, respect and protect this globally significant part of our country’s natural heritage,” he concluded.

First published: 2012-04-13 07:30 AM

• Monday, April 16: World Heritabe value Tarkine wilderness to be lost for two-year mines?

The ancient Tarkine wilderness, which over 600 million years has survived the break up of the Gondwanan supercontinent and numerous ice ages, now stands to be impacted by short term grab-it-and-run mine proposals with project production lives of as little as two years.

Environment groups are deeply concerned about the potential long-term environmental impacts of two new mines that proposed for the Tarkine wilderness, an area recommended as having World Heritage values for protection by government-auspiced, independent experts as of World Heritage value. The two mine proposal applications were lodged last week by Venture Minerals, a W.A-based exploration company. One of the proposed mines is a 150m deep open cut mine in sensitive button-grass heathland adjacent to rainforest in the Meredith Range Regional Reserve, the other proposal is a strip mine in myrtle rainforest recommended for protection under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Forests.

“The Tarkine is Tasmania’s Kakadu, an iconic wilderness that contains the Southern Hemisphere’s largest tract of cool temperate rainforest,” said Dr Phill Pullinger, Director of Environment Tasmania. “Mining is an important industry for Tasmania – and there are places and ways where mining can be appropriate – but strip mining and big open cut mines in remote, pristine areas worthy of World Heritage protection is absolutely the wrong approach,”

The Tarkine National Coalition’s Scott Jordan agrees, he said, “Protecting the Tarkine under the IGA would represent 12% of the potential $1.6billion dollar carbon trading dividend to Tasmania over the 2013-2020 period. That’s potentially $204 million sacrificed in favour of what Venture Minerals projects to be two year grab-it-and-run mine projects.” He also said, “The Tarkine has got so much potential for the North-West coast as a long term nature tourism magnet – but it won’t work if we wreck the very values that make the Tarkine so special for short term follies,”

The Wilderness Society believes that the Tarkine should be given the same recognition as Tasmania’s South West wilderness, the Daintree Rainforest and Uluru, “Many Australians see the Tarkine as one of Australia’s most important and significant unprotected wilderness areas,” said Vica Bayley, Tasmanian Campaign Manager for The Wilderness Society. “It is critical that both State and Commonwealth governments fully recognise, respect and protect this globally significant part of our country’s natural heritage,” he concluded.

The groups also expressed concern that the IGA is being undermined by deals between miners and Forestry Tasmania. “The application suggests that Forestry Tasmania has agreed to log the rainforest prior to one mine going ahead, pre-empting the current considerations of the IGA process and sacrificing the benefits of carbon trading dividends outlined in the West Report,” said TNC’s Scott Jordan.

Scott Jordan, Tarkine National Coalition
Phill Pullinger, Environment Tasmania
Vica Bayley, The Wilderness Society