Protect the Northern Jarrah Forests

Take Action

Write to WA Premier Roger Cook and call on him to take urgent action to stop mining in the most sensitive and high conservation value areas, reject expansion proposals and create a network of protected areas across the Northern Jarrah Forest.

More than a century of logging and clearing have had major impacts on the Northern Jarrah Forests, their wildlife and waterways, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently (March 2022) found that they are one of a handful of Australian ecosystems at particular risk of collapse due to the drying and warming climate.

We recently achieved a major policy change that will see native forest logging end by January 2024, which is massive progress for this area and the rest of the South West’s forests, but another major threat to these forests that must be addressed is mining.

Right now, both major bauxite mining companies, Alcoa and South32 (Worsley) are seeking huge expansions which would result in the clearing of a further 13,672 hectares of the Northern Jarrah Forests over the next fifteen years.

After a powerful community campaign, Rio Tinto has announced it is withdrawing its applications to explore for minerals in 107,000ha of forests. However, Telupac remains a major threat, with applications for exploration licenses over 133,406ha of forest ecosystems. WAFA and others are formally objecting to Telupac’s applications and we are determined to prevent them getting a foothold in the forests. Please send a quick email to WA Premier Roger Cook: Stop Telupac mining the Northern Jarrah Forests.

The Northern Jarrah Forests are under unprecedented threat, from a potentially fatal combination of climate change and extensive new mining applications. There is a proliferation of new mining threats shown in the map of proposed mining and exploration licenses below.

The map shows proposed mining and exploration areas as of June 2023, intersecting the Northern Jarrah Forest and greater 15,000 hectares total by proponent. This data is drawn from the State Government ‘Data WA’ portal, datasets DMIRS-003 and DWER-088 licensed under Creative Commons.

The State Government must act to create a network of new National Parks to protect these forests. The draft Forest Management Plan for 2024-2033 failed to recommend a network of new National Parks and other protected areas for the Northern Jarrah Forests covered by mining leases. This is just not good enough.

The Beyond 2024 mapping by Daniel Jan Martin, alongside The Beeliar Group and The Leeuwin Group, sets out a comprehensive proposal for new protected areas that we strongly support.

The Beyond 2024 mapping is published on The Beeliar Group and The Leeuwin Group websites.

Bauxite mining in the Northern Jarrah Forests

At the latest UN Climate Change Conference COP 26, more than 100 countries agreed to end deforestation by 2030 in recognition of the key role native forests play in drawing carbon out of the atmosphere.

For Australia to honour this declaration, it must reject Alcoa and South32’s proposed expansions which would clear a further 13,672ha from 2025 – 2035 and beyond.

Native forests are our best allies in mitigating and building local resilience to the escalating impacts of climate change and biodiversity decline. The IPCC’s 2022 finding that the Northern Jarrah Forests are one of a handful of Australian ecosystems particularly threatened by climate change must act as an alarm call.

We must stop the clearing of these ancient forests so that they can be as resilient as possible, so that they can continue to draw carbon down out of the atmosphere and continue to thrive and evolve into the future.