TWO activists wearing bat costumes have scaled a coal loader at Idemitsu’s Boggabri Coal Mine in a protest against habitat destruction.
Idemitsu Australia Resources today confirmed protestors gained unauthorised entry to the Boggabri Coal Mine site.
Idemitsu Australia Resources Chief Operating Officer, Rod Bridges, said police were called to the site this morning.
“Ongoing instances of civil disobedience are both illegal and dangerous, and are a deliberate waste of local police resources,” he said.
“We are working with police to ensure the community and staff at Boggabri Coal Mine remain safe, and normal mining operations can continue.”
As a condition of State and Federal Government approval for the continuation of mining, Boggabri Coal has acquired more than 10,000 hectares for biodiversity offsets, which are protected in perpetuity.
A recent independent audit for the Federal Government confirmed Boggabri Coal Mine has exceeded the habit area required under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act conditions for the Greater Long-eared Bat, the Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot by more than 450 per cent.
“A separate independent study identified a population of locally-occurring threated species, including the Barking Owl and Turquoise Parrot, living in the Boggabri Coal biodiversity offset area,” Mr Bridges said.
“Our biodiversity offset areas are strategically identified and create a significant wildlife corridor, linking vegetation between the Leard State Forest, the Nandewar Range and the Namoi River to preserve the region’s biodiversity.”
The Biodiversity Offset Strategy was developed in consultation with relevant NSW Government departments and the Federal Department of Environment.
TWO activists wearing bat costumes have scaled a coal loader at Idemitsu’s Boggabri Coal Mine in a protest against habitat destruction.
Work has stopped at the mine today as protestors continue their ongoing campaign to protect vulnerable species of the Leard State Forest.
The activists unfurled a banner from the coal loader reading “Save the Leard.”
Leard Forest Alliance spokesperson Helen War said Idemitsu’s expansion will destroy 1385 hectares of forest.
“The forest is home to 31 endangered and vulnerable species, including the Greater Long-eared bat, the Barking Owl and the Turquoise Parrot,” Ms War said.
“These endangered ecological communities are irreplaceable and cannot simply be offset by the purchase of a patchwork of disused farmland and substandard rehabilitation areas.
“While Idemitsu boasts of offsets six times the size of themine, it will take over 100 years before they crucially equipvalent habitat.
“This is a classic example of how environmental offsets lack any scientific credibility.”
Twenty-nine protestors involved with the campaign have been arrested over the past two months.
