Australian wildlife threat
PLANS TO DOUBLE AUSTRALIA’S AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT COULD IMPACT ON ITS TROPICAL FISH AND REPTILES.
Plans for a vast expansion of farming and mining
Proposals for an expansion of agriculture, mining and tourism in northern Australia threaten some of the region’s unique wildlife, scientists are warning.
The Australian government wants to build 27 irrigation dams across the country – and six in the north – to double agricultural output by 2050.
A third of Australia lies north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and its wetlands, rainforests and deserts are dominated by a monsoon climate. A quarter of the world’s tropical savannah grasslands are here, and the area is home to 40 per cent of Australia’s reptiles and 50 per cent of its freshwater fish.
Dams could hit lucrative commercial and recreational riverfishing for prawns, barramundi and mud crabs. “We don’t know exactly how much water you can take out before you get to a tipping point. But the more water there is, the more seafood,” said Prof. Michael Douglas.
Douglas heads up an academic consortium called TRaCK, which has shown that taking just 20 per cent of the water out for irrigation could reduce catches by 70 per cent. Many fish, such as barramundi, must swim up rivers to breed. Government rhetoric has revived an old vision of turning the north into a ‘food bowl’ to feed South-East Asia, in spite of past failures such as the Humpty Doo project of the 1950s.
Ironically, Fogg Dam – which was built for this initiative – is now a wildlife reserve that’s home to 230 bird species, such as white-bellied sea eagles, and reptiles such as saltwater crocodiles and water pythons.
Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce has since backtracked on the food bowl idea, but is still keen to pursue a massive damconstruction programme.
Douglas said the message is simple: “Don’t make decisions that are likely to leave us with an irreversible legacy.”