Yakka Munga Clearing Ordered for Rehabilitation

• The Western Australian Pastoral Lands Board issues default notice to Zenith Australia to complete remediation work by the end of November.
• Traditional Owners and Environmental Community welcome the decision.
• Important for WA Minister for the Environment to now penalise the company to strongest level under the Environmental Protection Act.

The Wilderness Society Western Australia today welcomes the ruling from the Western Australian Pastoral Lands Board to order Zenith Australia to remediate the land cleared without permit earlier this year.

Acting State Director for The Wilderness Society in Western Australia, Kit Sainsbury, commented: “We applaud the WA Pastoral Lands Board for taking this step to ensure the correcting of the 120 hectares cleared back to its original state.

“The lease holder, Shanghai Zenith, now has a responsibility to ensure all remediation work is completed as quickly as possible.

“It is very important that the Minister for the Environment, Stephen Dawson, now actions the strongest penalties against the lease holder under his power through the Environmental Protection Act. This could result in a fine of $500,000. Such a penalty would send a clear signal that illegal land clearing in the Kimberley is completely unacceptable.

“It is essential now, more so than ever, that the community tell our elected officials that this is expected. The remediation order is the most important measure from an ecological angle, however, the financial penalty will act as an effective deterrent to any future illegal actions which should help protect this area of wilderness from clear environmental vandalism.

“The WA Government’s actions on this matter will resonate across the community to show how they view land clearing in our state. To not provide a strong, punitive ruling at the end of this process will leave them open to scrutiny and potentially open up the back door to future environmental destruction.”

MEDIA ALERT: 

The petition being run by The Wilderness Society can be located here:

Email the Minister for the Environment, Stephen Dawson, and tell him to take action to protect the Kimberley from deforestation.

For further comment contact Kit Sainsbury, The Wilderness Society Western Australia State Director, on 0894207255.