Aerial land clearing at James price point, 2011. Image: Rod Hartvigsen

Our campaign to stop the building of the proposed gas hub at James Price Point continues at pace. While the proponents proceed slowly down the path of deciding whether to fund the hub, the project needs a road.

Without a road, construction of the gas hub cannot proceed. This is a pivotal moment in the campaign

The WA Government has appointed a construction company to deliver a purpose-built road for the site. The road will include a brand new section from Cape Leveque Road into the site (19 km) and a revamped road from the junction of Broome and Cape Leveque Roads (25 km). It will cost more than $100 million.

The road is likely to be started without the project having achieved its environmental approvals. It is certain to start without the project having achieved a final investment decision. The WA Government is risking public money on a road for a project that even the proponents have not agreed to fund.

Like everything with this controversial project, timelines for construction have slipped significantly. According to a PowerPoint presentation delivered by the WA Department of Main Roads on 21 March 2011, the "sealed access road" was supposed to have been completed by June 2010. That is now a distant memory.

We had expected construction to begin in 2011, but again that has been delayed. We have now been informed by the Department that construction is expected to start when the dry season begins in April 2012, and it will take two full dry seasons (i.e. to be completed by December 2013).

Better options available

Let’s remember that there are perfectly good options for the gas to be processed in existing industrial zones or on floating platforms out to sea. There is even an existing gas hub at Karratha that will be running out of gas before the end of the decade. The federal Resources Minister argued he had to force the project to James Price Point because the gas could be processed 2 years earlier than the Karratha option. Well, with the incredible delays in the project, the Minister needs to reconsider his position.

Because if the WA Government spends $100 milion or more on this road, then it is likely to be the ultimate Road to Nowhere. A permanent testimony to the poor political judgment of the Premier and the federal Minister for Resources - set in concrete. $100 million is a lot of hospital beds, school teachers and police officers.

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Filming a documentary for Caring for Our Country in an area of the Great Western Woodlands which has been burnt. Photo: Wayne O'Sullivan

The Ngadju people whose lands cover a significant portion of the Great Western Woodlands, are looking to reinstate traditional burning methods. Proper management will safeguard biodiversity and protect and preserve the cultural value of their homelands.

Ngadju Traditional Owners want to put in place a program which aims to develop and enrich the Indigenous fire practises of the region and provide land and fire management for the safety and benefit of the wider community.

In September 2011 a number of them met in Norseman to conduct a fire management assessment on their country, supported by a grant from Caring for Our Country.

Altered fire regimes have been identified as a major threat to the landscape and biodiversity conservation values of the Great Western Woodlands. This is reflected in the allocation of more than $2 million towards fire management from the WA state government’s $3.8 million budget for Biodiversity and Cultural Conservation of the Great Western Woodlands.

We consider some current approaches to fire management in this region are damaging and inadequate,  and more science and knowledge is required urgently. Involving Traditional Owners in management could be an important step towards smarter fire management. It is also vital for protection of cultural heritage and could provide a unique opportunity for traditional owners to be directly involved in enhanced management of the woodlands.

CSIRO are supporting the Ngadju people, and have put forward a funding proposal to the government for a project to investigate traditional Aboriginal burning regimes in the Great Western Woodlands and their application to contemporary fire management.

They propose to work with the Ngadju, surveying areas before and after trial burns, monitoring the impact of the fire, and then scaling up the results to determine what the approach might mean at a landscape scale. This proposal is currently under consideration by the state government’s Community Reference Group for funding from the current budget allocation.

More information on Ngadju fire management in the Great Western Woodlands will be available soon.

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The intentional modification of the form of the eucalypts, creating a bowl in the center to store water. It is thought to be widely used by Ngadju people in their country. Photo: Wayne O'Sullivan

The Dahl Trust is working in the Great Western Woodlands on a collaborative project with The Wilderness Society, The Goldfield Land and Sea Council and the Ngadju community.

The project will locate and map culturally significant “water trees” in the traditional lands of the Ngadju people, so they might be safeguarded from damage or destruction.

While naturally formed water trees are known in this area and elsewhere, here many of the trees have been created by direct human intervention, modifying the form of the eucalypts by creating a bowl in the centre to store water. Ngadju lands have very little fresh surface water, and limited catchment areas.

The water trees were essential resources that allowed people to move through and live in this landscape. The trees are vulnerable, especially to fire, but also to unwitting damage through infrastructure development, which is increasing in this region with a resource development boom underway.

Roading, pipelines, seismic lines, drilling programs and power line all pose threats to these trees. This project will record the location of known trees and search for others. The search will not be a random process, as traditional knowledge still exists, with the trees particularly located along travel routes. By mapping known trees, and then searching ‘best bet’ locations, it is hoped to build a map of likely areas to guide a second stage search.

Sharing knowledge

The Water Tree project grew from work where Ngadju people shared aspects of their knowledge about traditional seasons and indicators with CSIRO scientists, allowing them to document a seasonal calendar. The role of water trees was highlighted in this work as an innovative response to navigating life in a harsh environment.

The knowledge gained in this search and mapping exercise will be used to develop a strategy for protecting the water trees. The database will provide ready access to the collected data and enable the Ngadju to monitor risk to the trees from any proposed projects in the area, and allow their incorporation into heritage assessment work. Importantly, the data will become a component of a planning process for fi re ecology work, to reduce fi re risk to the trees.

This can be used both by the Ngadju themselves, and by government agencies with responsibility for fi re preparedness, mitigation and control. Awareness of the project, through opportunities such as this, help promote the existence and cultural significance of the trees, and the ongoing connectedness of the Ngadju people to their environment.

For tens of thousands of years the Aboriginal people have lived across this area implementing ecological management. Today there remains an important role for Traditional Owners in managing and conserving the natural processes of this rich area. Significant knowledge and expertise can be brought to bear against threatening processes.

Addressing issues of biodiversity loss, contraction of species, feral animals, weeds, changed fi re regimes, pollution and overgrazing, are all high priorities. In addition, protection of Aboriginal culture and heritage sites will be important criteria in developing a new management framework. This project is one small part in that picture.

For more information on this project click here (pdf 6.4 mb).

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