The Albanian government approved the expansion Queensland Conservationists say the coalmine threat could clear habitat for koalas and greater gliders and further fuel the climate crisis.
The Middlemount mine extension in Queensland’s Bowen Basin – jointly owned by US company Peabody and China-owned Yancoal – will export 85 million tonnes of coal over 24 years.
Conservationists estimate that burning coal overseas to make steel or electricity would release about 236m tonnes of CO2 over the life of the project – roughly half of Australia’s current annual footprint.
About 81 hectares (200 acres) of greater glider habitat and 183 hectares of koala habitat have been approved for clearing. Company documents show the 1,557 hectare site has been identified as a safe area to “offset” the clearing.
Among the list Conditions imposed by Govt Designed to limit harm to threatened species, Middlemount is asked to identify and replace any tree hollows used by gliders.
But ecologists say the gliders – Australia’s largest gliding marsupial – will die from the clearing and have dismissed plans to relocate them.
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Professor Euan Ritchie, an ecologist at Deakin University, said: “The equivalent of 40 MCGs of glider habitat is being destroyed and then trying to replace it. All Claiming that it somehow compensates for the harm done to holos and claim greater gliders is truly delusional and contemptuous.
Even if it is possible to safely remove tree hollows, changing them can change their thermal characteristics and microclimates, “meaning that gliders may no longer find them suitable and may find a hollow in a tree or part of a tree that they don’t like,” he said.
“Make no mistake, a lot more gliders will die as a result of this action and the ridiculous offset measure.
“We can’t continue to destroy the homes of threatened native wildlife and say we’re saving them by using even more absurd and pointless mitigation measures.”
Professor David Lindenmayer, a forest ecologist at the Australian National University, echoed Ritchie’s concerns and said approval of the mine “condemns these animals from dying”.
Habitat clearing and global warming are among the key threats facing the species Endangered by 2022 Six years after first appearing on the National Endangered Species List.
Middlemount is the second coal mine extension approved by the federal government this year, following last month’s green light for Queensland’s Meindu mine, which supplies fuel to Tarong power stations.
Dr Claire Grono, central Queensland co-ordinator for environmental group Lock the Gate, said: “With every new or expanded coal mine they approve, the Albany government is burning our future and their own credibility. Now is the time to implement an orderly transition away from coal, not approve massive expansions.”
Charlie Cox, campaigner at the Queensland Conservation Council, said: “The science is unequivocal – mining and burning coal is fundamentally changing our climate, causing frequent rains and floods.
“Allowing Ancoal to extract and export another 236 million tonnes of climate pollution tells Queenslanders the Albany government doesn’t care about our safety, our health or our cost of living.”
The Guardian contacted Watt’s office, Yancoal and Peabody for Wyatt.
