Terri Irwin fights bauxite firm over wildlife reserveArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment By Glenis Green
May 12, 2008 12:00am

A KEY crocodile research area dedicated to the memory of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin is under threat from strip-mining.

The 135,000ha Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula was one of the last places visited by Irwin for his annual crocodile tagging expedition just weeks before he was fatally wounded by a stingray barb in September 2006.

It was bought for $6.3 million last year by the Federal Government to be owned and managed by the Irwin family trust. However, mining company Cape Alumina has lodged mining lease applications targeting more than 50 million tonnes of bauxite within 12,300ha of the reserve.

Terri Irwin, Australia Zoo principal and widow of the wildlife icon, said the reserve's ecological value was irreplaceable and needed to be preserved in order to protect Australian habitat.

Ms Irwin said it was home to three important spring-fed wetlands that provided a critical water source to threatened habitat, provided a permanent flow of water to the Wenlock River, and was home to rare and vulnerable plants and wildlife.

The proposed area for mining on the reserve contains the headwaters of irreplaceable waterways and unique biodiversity which will not recover after mining is finished, she said.

The Wenlock River also supported a critical population of endangered spear-tooth sharks, sawfish and the now-vulnerable estuarine crocodile.

"I am a realist and I understand that mining is an important industry. However, we have learned over the last 50 years of bauxite mining that it is critical to set aside the most environmentally sensitive areas such as the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve and not consider mining them," she said.

"Responsible mining companies are already doing this as part of developing carbon credit programs."

Cape Alumina's company documents indicated an intention to mine 50-plus million tonnes over 10 years beginning in 2010 with a great part of the mine in the reserve.

Cape Alumina chief executive officer Paul Messenger said yesterday that he agreed areas of sensitivity needed to be preserved and there were no plans to mine any wetlands, only dry bauxite plateaus covered by common vegetation, which would be constantly rehabilitated.

He said his company had started a full environmental impact study of the area last year, which would not be completed until next year, taking in half of the former Bertiehaugh Pastoral Station within the reserve area, plus an adjoining section of Aboriginal land.

Mr Messenger said the company would be conducting extensive consultation and held the view that the project could benefit all stakeholders, especially the Aboriginal community.