Green turtle feeding on comb jellies. Photo: Jenita Enevoldsen

In a further blow to the Kimberley’s heritage values, Woodside Petroleum is proposing to drill up to 90 gas wells in and around the sensitive Scott Reef area off the Kimberley coast. The public has until late January to make comments on this proposal.

Scott Reef is an untouched jewel of the Kimberley coast. Its pristine waters are inhabited by an extraordinary profusion of marine life including the illusive whale shark, the pigmy blue whale and are the breeding grounds for green turtles.

The green turtles that inhabit the waters around Scott Reef are considered to be a genetically distinct population of the globally endangered species. If allowed to grow to maturity, green turtles can grow to 1.5 metres in length, weigh an impressive 300 kg and live up to 80 years old.

Multiple threats

Amongst the many threats facing sea turtles includes marine pollution, and no industry is more polluting than the oil and gas industry.

Scott Reef and the surrounding area is currently being assessed for a possible Commonwealth Marine Protected Area after the Federal Government identified the area as requiring protection due to its ecological importance, species aggregations and its biodiversity values.

However, Woodside is trying to rush through an approval for the environmental destruction of Scott Reef before the area can be properly protected. This is totally unacceptable.

Destruction on land and sea

After drilling its gas wells into Scott Reef, Woodside wants to pump the gas to its proposed gas hub at James Price Point - potentially dealing a double blow to the environment on both land and sea in this extraordinary part of the Kimberley.

Woodside has recently released its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Scott Reef drilling plan. Unfortunately, Woodside have already shown a failure to undertake even a basic level of scientific rigour in its previous Environmental Impact Statements for the proposed development at James Price Point.

Which means that any scientific claims Woodside will be making for the Scott Reef plans will need to be properly scrutinised.

You have until 25 January 2012 to comment on Woodside’s latest plans so send in your comments today.

Take Action

You can download  the EIS here and the stakeholder handbook here.

Next:

1. Download our easy submission guide.

2. Email your submissions to 'BrowseEIS@woodside.com.au'

3. To ensure that your concerns reach the decision makers and not just Woodside, we also suggest that you send your concerns to the Environmental Protection Authority at 'submissions@epa.gov.au' and also to the federal department of Environment at 'epbc.referrals@environment.gov.au'

4. Feel free to contact our Kimberley Project Officer to discuss your submission or to let us know if you have noticed an important issue in the EIS which you think other community members need to know about.

Peter Owen, the Campaign Manager of the Wilderness Society in South Australia, recently won the State's top two Environment Awards.

He was named South Australian of the Year in the Environment Category for a list of remarkable achievements including the protection of the Nullarbor Plain, South Australia’s Offshore Islands, the Arkaroola Mountains, the Mawson Plateau and the declaration of the State’s 19 Marine Parks.

He also won the Conservation Council’s annual Jill Hudson Award for Environmental Protection in recognition of his role in the protection of vast areas of land and seascape across South Australia, often under extremely difficult circumstances.

This is the first time both the State and Community Environment Awards have gone to the same person.

How did you first come to get involved with the environment movement?

I was lucky enough to spend time in my formative years on the edge of the Coorong National Park at the Murray River mouth in South Australia. It’s an amazing place - big surf beach and dune system, pelicans, dolphins and sea lions - we would often swim with Eagle Rays.

In the early 1980s the Murray Mouth closed over with a rapidly expanding irrigation industry extracting more water than the river could sustain. This had a devastating impact on the area and made me realise from an early age the damaging relationship we have with our environment. Advocating for change has been part of my life ever since.

What Wilderness Society achievement are you most proud of?

Having almost half of South Australia’s waters proclaimed within the outer boundaries of 19 Marine Parks was a significant achievement. I am also proud of our South Australia campaign to protect the iconic Nullarbor Plain, which resulted in the declaration of a Wilderness Protection Area similar in size to the famous Yellowstone National Park in the USA (900 000Ha). It was fantastic to see the Arkaroola Mountains and Mawson Plateau recently protected from mining.

What do you like best about working for the Wilderness Society?

Passionate and inspiring people brave enough to dream and believe in the future.

What are your top priorities as Campaign Manager in South Australia?

Seeing Marine Sanctuaries declared within the State’s 19 Marine Parks, a Wilderness Protection Area proclaimed in the Simpson Desert and an environmental flow guarantee for the estuary of the Murray Darling Basin – the RAMSAR listed Lower Murray Lakes and Coorong.

Who or what inspires you?

All of the arts – particularly music, beautiful places and people.

What’s your favourite wilderness area in Australia?

There are so many, from the towering Bunda Cliffs of the Nullarbor, to Arkaroola and the Mawson Plateau. The wetlands of the Coorong and the mountains of Tasmania are very special places for me.

What do you think is the most urgent environmental challenge facing us at the moment?

This is a hard question to answer because everything is connected, but there is little doubt a sustainable relationship between people and the rest of life on Earth needs to evolve rapidly. I wonder if it is possible to cure greed?

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

Spending quality time with my family and friends, playing music, taking photos and exploring.

What is your favourite quote or saying?

Again there are many, but these two are always in my mind:

“In wildness is the preservation of the world” - Henry David Thoreau

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” - Albert Einstein

Get Involved

Sign up as a cyberactivist and receive regular updates on our campaigns.

Volunteer at a Wilderness Society campaign centre near you.

Support our campaigns by making a tax deductible donation.

Humpback whale. Photo: Attila A Bicskos

The Commonwealth marine bioregional planning process continues to move ahead. On 11 November 2011, the draft plan for the Temperate East – the off shore waters from Fraser Island to Bermagui and as far east as Norfolk Island was released.

Click here to read our response.

We have always known that securing strong outcomes for marine protection along the east coast of Australia would be challenging, as this area is politically contentious.  Large areas offshore of the Lord Howe Rise and Norfolk Ridge are where the strongest conservation outcomes can be achieved.

Lord Howe Rise – building on our world heritage

The Lord Howe seamount chain is a world-class environmental icon. The long arms of the East Australian Current end at Lord Howe, Middleton and Elizabeth reefs and related seamounts – supporting the world’s southernmost coral reefs.

These habitats support the only Australian populations of Galapagos sharks, as well as populations of black cod, doubleheader wrasse, and McCulloch's anemone fish. The waters along the Lord Howe Rise also provide feeding areas for protected Australian seabirds such as the wandering albatross.

Galapagos sharks are generally found on the fringes of continental shelves, but they exist in isolated populations around seamounts on the Lord Howe Rise. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened, as it has a slow reproductive rate and it is under heavy fishing pressure across its range. Conservation around Lord Howe would thus contribute to international efforts to ensure the protection of this species.

Norfolk Ridge - mountain chains and blue whale playgrounds

The Norfolk Ridge seamount chain links the land masses of New Caledonia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. It is part of ‘Zealandia’, a nearly submerged continent that sank after breaking away from Australia 60–85 million years ago.

Green Turtle. Photo: J Lochmman

The rich seamount ecosystems of the Norfolk Ridge attract threatened species such as endangered southern right and blue whales, green and leatherback turtles, albatross, and petrels.

Over 60 protected species under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act can also be found on the Norfolk Ridge.

Many species here are newly-discovered, and many more likely await discovery. The seafloors and slopes of the Ridge are a wonderland of never-before-seen marine life. A 2003 survey of seafloor fauna on the Norfolk Ridge identified 516 fish and macroinvertebrate species, 36% of which were new to science. Without a high level of protection, we face losing species before they have a chance to even be documented.

The high level of species that are unique to particular seamounts, as well as their vulnerability to the physical impacts of bottom fishing, have made fish havens such as these a high priority for conservation internationally.

As soon as draft plans are released for this region we will be in touch to ask you to submit your views to the Minister for increased marine sanctuaries in the big blue backyard of the Temperate East.

Take Action

Send a submission calling for greater protection of our amazing marine environment in the Temperate East.

Support our campaigns by making a tax deductible donation.

Email the Party Leaders

The best thing you can do right now, which will only take a minute, is to email Premier Anna Bligh and Liberal-National Party Leader Campbell Newman, letting them know that they must protect the best of Queensland's environment.

QLD's Top 5 Environment Priorities

Don't forget to mention Queensland's top 5 environmental priorities in your email:

1. Safeguard our forests and control landclearing

2. Preserve our unique wild rivers

3. Apply strong environmental controls on mining development

4. World Heritage protection for Cape York Peninsula

5. Save our marine life from overfishing

We'll be providing more actions and contacts here to keep the pressure on the politicians as the campaign progresses.

Free Action Pack

We've also put together "Action Packs" for people wanting to step up their activism a notch and blitz the politicians with environmental messages.

Action Pack intro to campaign kit

3 simple things you can do for Queensland

Why these top 5 environmental priorities are important

Meeting in person with your local candidates

Sample letter to Campbell Newman

Contact brisbane@wilderness.org.au or call us (07) 3846 1420 and we'd be happy to post you out an Action Pack.

Want to get more involved?

There is lots to do in the lead up to the Queensland election. You can join the Brisbane Wilderness Action Group (WAG) or contact the Brisbane Campaign Centre for more information on how you can help.