A large area of native vegetation has been bulldozed on a Kimberley pastoral station. The Traditional Owners, who discovered the destruction, took action blockading the station's entrance to urge the WA Government to intervene.
Once alerted, the government issued a stop-work order to the Chinese owned company Shanghai Zenith. By that time the unexpected operation had destroyed 120 hectares of native vegetation, including sacred boabs, burial sites and medicine trees.
And incredibly, the company had not first consulted with the Nyikina-Mangala Traditional Owners or gained authorisation from the WA Government.
We need to send a loud message that destroying our precious Kimberley savannah—the most intact tropical savannah in the world—is simply not acceptable.
In the past, perpetrators of illegal clearance like this have only been given a slap on the wrist - minimal fines or a letter of warning. Now is the time to make sure that acts of blatant disregard for the Kimberley’s environment and culture faces the full force of the law - call on the WA Government to properly prosecute illegal land clearing.
