The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) today released a wide-ranging report into the iconic natural values of the Caley Valley wetlands that will be at risk if dredge spoil from expansion of the world’s largest coal port at Abbot Point is dumped there.
Dr Lissa Schindler, AMCS Great Barrier Reef campaigner , said that while it is welcome that the dredge spoil isn’t being dumped into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef, concerns remain that the spoil will be dumped on top of the internationally important wetlands at Abbot Point.
“ Wetlands are the natural filters of the Reef. They trap sediment from the land before it runs into the Reef’s waters. Up to 90% of wetlands have already been lost along the Reef’s coast.”
“ The Caley Valley wetlands at Abbot Point are both nationally and internationally important as they provide breeding and roosting habitats for over 40,000 waterbirds, including 10 threatened species of waterbirds and migratory shorebirds.”
The report finds that:
“ Australia has an international obligation to protect the Caley Valley wetlands, not to turn it into a dumpsite for the mining industry. We’ve seen some of the problems associated with land reclamation in Gladstone when the bund wall leaked toxic sediments into the harbor and the local fishing industry collapsed.”
“These wetlands are part of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. They are what make it great -providing a feeding and breeding ground for many of its species. We welcome the government’s plan not to dump dredge spoil from Abbott Point into the waters of the Reef, but land-based dumping must avoid critically important wetlands like Caley Valley, ” said Dr Schindler.
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Press Release, September 13, 2014