16 December, 2013
Documentary highlights campaign to save Leard State Forest from destructive coal mines
The battle to save Leard State Forest is one of six campaigns featured in a new documentary that highlights the devastating impact coal mines and coal seam gas projects are having on local communities and iconic landscapes across NSW.
Icons Under Threat is a short film developed by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW to raise awareness of the terrible toll the coal and gas industries are having on communities, wildlife, and stunning natural areas in the Hunter Valley and other parts of the state. Footage for the production was taken during a tour by senior NCC staff of iconic landscapes currently under threat in April this year.
The Maules Creek community is fighting a protracted battle to stop three open-cut coal mines – Maules Creek, Boggabri and Tarrawonga – carving the heart out of Leard State Forest and destroying about 3,500 hectares of woodland in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion, a nationally-listed biodiversity hotspot.
“Icons Under Threat is being launchedat a critical stage in the campaign, when the bulldozers are about to start clearing the forest, and people from across the state are rallying behind the Maules Creek community to stop the horrendous Whitehaven Coal Maules Creek mine,” Northern Inland Council for the Environment President and local ecologist Phil Spark said.
“The development of the Maules Creek mine, and extension of Boggabri and Tarrawonga mines would sound the death knell for this extraordinary area, leaving a permanent scar on the landscape, and serious long-term health consequences for the local community. We hope the Icons Under Threat video will make more people aware of what everyone stands to lose if these projects go ahead.”
NCC Campaigns Director Kate Smolski said the documentary exposes the devastation being caused by the powerful coal and gas industries.
“It is all too easy for coal and gas companies to do their destructive business out of the public gaze,” she said. “Icons Under Threat shines a light on this important issue and highlights how badly the state government is failing communities and the environment.
“It is unacceptable for the government to permit unconstrained mining development that threatens the health and well-being of local communities like Maules Creek, our precious native wildlife and iconic landscapes. Once these areas are gone, they are gone forever.
“We stand with the community and call on the government to live up to its promise to protect our water resources, farmland and special wild places from the destructive impacts of coal and coal seam gas.
“The desire to protect these places is widely shared. A recent poll by Essential Research shows an overwhelming majority (85%) of people in NSW think coal mining and coal seam gas expansion should not be allowed in sensitive environmental areas like state forests, parks and conservation areas.”
Link to the video: nccnsw.org.au/icons-film
Background: Leard State Forest includes the most extensive and intact stands of the nationally-listed and critically endangered Box-Gum Woodland remaining on the Australian continent. The thousands of hectares of Australian native forest within Leard are teeming with life - representing the most significant forest for conservation of the entire Wheat-Sheep Belt. Surveys show Leard State Forest is home to 396 native species of plants and animals, and includes habitat for 34 threatened species and several endangered ecological communities.
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Coal and gasForests and wildlife
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