SEEKING A BALANCE (or was that SEEKING A BILLION?)

Considerable time, effort and taxpayer’s money has been spent developing a pretty document that claims to be about balancing conservation with resource use in the Northern Flinders Ranges. However it appears to deliver much more for mineral explorers and miners at the expense of the environment. Given the significant ecological values and iconic beauty of Arkaroola, we had anticipated a much higher level of protection than what is proposed in Seeking a Balance. While we welcome protection for Mawson Plateau, its lower mineral prospectivity,... MORE

Rehabilitation Lottery

Natural regeneration in arid landscapes is driven by rare wet years often separated by decades. Without rain it could be a long wait to get back to this sort of coverage When the Sprigg family purchased the Arkaroola property in 1968, there had been no regeneration of native pine and mulga for eight decades. A bracket of wet years in the 1970’s triggered a massive regeneration event. With stock removed and grazing pressure reduced, seedlings had a much greater chance of survival. Further regeneration events occurred in 1984 and 1989. However... MORE

Water for Wildlife

There is precious little surface water on Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. The few springs, waterholes and seeps sustain local wildlife, while deep-rooted plant species like river red gums rely on subsurface flows for their survival. Marathon Resources estimates that it will require between 2 and 2.5 gigalitres of water annually for on-site processing activities in its proposed uranium mine. Converted, the daily requirement will be about 6 million litres for the life of the mine. Process water would most likely be sourced from local aquifers,... MORE