General News
19 July, 2024
Macquarie Marshes “under threat” from mining
Conservationists and local landholders in the fertile Macquarie Marshes region north of Warren and Nyngan are outraged by the decision to allow gold and copper mining exploration in the area.
The Resources Regulator has given approval for Australian Consolidated Gold Holdings to search for potential mine sites in the region – which is also home to the protected Macquarie Marshes wetlands. The area approved for exploration includes country owned by graziers Garry and Leanne Hall. They have questioned Australian Consolidated Gold Holdings’ claim that there would be no areas of critical habitat or outstanding biodiversity value within the proposed drilling area.
“As landholders around the Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve, we abide by strict guidelines before doing so much as constructing a fence, and yet a gold miner can start drilling without any proper assessment of the land’s cultural values and biodiversity,” said Mr. Hall, who owns ‘The Mole’ and ‘Willie Retreat’.
“This approval from a desktop study is a classic example of apathetic box ticking by a disconnected bureaucrat without any knowledge of the land. This is an area full of life and home to many endangered, threatened and vulnerable species. Brolgas, magpie geese, painted snipe and countless other endangered and vulnerable listed birds breed and nest right where they want to drill. It doesn’t make any sense.”
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC) has also expressed outrage at the decision. The Macquarie Marshes is a Ramsar-listed wetland, one of the largest remaining semi-permanent wetlands in Southern Australia, and a critically important site for water bird breeding in Australia. NCC water campaigner Mel Gray said the exploration drilling would have “unforeseeable consequences” for the whole wetland system and the myriad of life it supported.
“The Macquarie Marshes is an awe-inspiring patchwork of interconnected miniature habitats, all of them bursting with life,” she said. “The area is home to an incredible diversity of native birds and fish and it is beyond belief that the regulator would allow mining exploration here.”