New Campaign to Stop 'Death by a Thousand Cuts'

GREG OGLE

To paraphrase Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

Yellabinna is big. I mean, you may think it is a long way to the corner shop and back, but that is nothing compared to Yellabinna.

Douglas Adams was of course referring to the universe, but in terms of more worldly ecosystems, Yellabinna is indeed vast — no matter how far it is to your corner shop! The Yellabinna dune field is some four million hectares of relatively intact mallee wilderness north of Ceduna in South Australia's west.

	Yellabinna Skyline

At the time of European colonisation, Yellabinna represented about 30 percent of all South Australian mallee and it remains the largest stretch of mallee wilderness in the world.

However, such descriptions of the vastness of the Yellabinna mallee, while true, do not do justice to a landscape full of subtle distinctions. There are spectacular salt lakes and clay pans, and rocky outcrops containing rockholes with their own communities of plants and animals. In this arid and semi-arid area, these rockholes provide a vital refuge area for animals. Also, the waterholes were customarily used by Aboriginal peoples of the area, who would retreat to permanent water at Ooldea during particularly dry times.

The great value of Yellabinna lies in its essentially undisturbed nature and its large size at the zone of transition between the semi-arid and arid areas of South Australia.

Remaining woodland on the margins of agricultural regions is connected through Yellabinna to the semi-arid and arid regions to the north. Acacia and eucalyptus communities in the west and east are also linked through Yellabinna. Such connections and protected spaces at the margins of natural distribution ranges are vital for long term migration, adaptation and survival of species.

While the ecological data on this vast wilderness is limited, the Yellabinna dune field region contains at least 686 plant species, 35 mammal, 121 bird and 78 reptile species. Included in this number are species such as the Grevillea treuriana, which is only found in Yellabinna; the endangered Malleefowl which is scattered across the area; and vulnerable species such as the Sandhill Dunnart, the Pink Cockatoo, Australian Bustard, and the Yellow-plumed Honeyeater.

A particularly good thing about Yellabinna is that, unless you catch a lift with a mining company or an irresponsible 4 wheel driver cutting new tracks, mostly you can't hitchhike. There are vast sections of this mallee wilderness that have no roads or tracks.

Tragically though, this may not continue to be the case.

Although much of this great wilderness area is contained within the Yellabinna Regional Reserve, and in Pureba and Yumbarra Conservation Parks, mining activity is allowed in all these parks. Track creation is emerging as a major threat to the integrity of whole area. It is a 'death by a thousand cuts' as new tracks are pushed in for mining exploration or for 'recreational' use.

In July this year, The Wilderness Society and the Conservation Council of South Australia published the Access Denied? paper, which included a case study of the impact of mining tracks in Yumbarra in the south of the Yellabinna dune field.

Mining tracks were found to be responsible for an increase in feral predators (cats and foxes) in the Park, and there was also evidence of weeds having been introduced along the main track. In a largely weed free environment which is home to a number of rare and vulnerable small mammals, these results are nothing short of disastrous. The Access Denied? paper also pointed out that these impacts could be, and were, easily anticipated: they are the inevitable result of track creation in wilderness areas. Unless this track creation and utilisation by miners and recreational 4 wheel drivers is stopped, the natural value of this whole area will be compromised.

The Wilderness Society in South Australia is now undertaking a major campaign to push for protection of a large core area of over one million hectares of Yellabinna under the Wilderness Protection Act — the highest conservation status under State law. We will also be looking to negotiate with local stakeholders for better management of the whole area, possibly including the creation of new National Parks to cater for legitimate tourist access.

	Googs Lake, Yellabinna, South Australia

The Labor Government has already promised to begin negotiations with stakeholders to progress the nomination for wilderness protection for the area, and to process all existing wilderness nominations (including Yellabinna) within its first term of government. The Government's Wilderness Advisory Committee will shortly release a report on wilderness protection for Yellabinna for public comment. An earlier report from the Committee recommended that at least 1,200,000 hectares of this area be protected under the Wilderness Protection Act.

The political opportunities to save Yellabinna are there, but there is likely to be opposition from those who have benefited from the 'access all areas' approach. There are no guarantees. It will be vital for as many people as possible to make submissions in response to the Wilderness Advisory Committee report and to continue urging the Government to ensure the protection of Yellabinna.