Rainforest people vs wind turbines
The sacred home of the Jarrbal people could be destroyed in the cause of clean energy
Last week in my column for The Australian I drew attention to the ecological battle in the Chalumbin Forest in the tropical highlands of Far North Queensland.
Ark Energy, a Korean-owned company, has been granted approval by the Queensland Government to build an 86-turbine wind generation plant in the heart of old-growth, wet eucalypt forest. It requires the destruction of more than 1000 hectare of native vegetation in one of the most important havens of biodiversity on earth.
I visited Chalumbin earlier this month to talk to the Jirrbal People, also known as the People of the Rainforest, who have lived in this region for thousands of years.
Chalumbin Forest is sacred to them. They are distraught at the prospect of its destruction in the name of clean energy.
My column in last Monday’s Australian prompted Ark Energy to place full-page advertisements in The Weekend Australian, Cairns Post and Brisbane’s The Sunday Mail to denounce the “disinformation” in media reports.
I stand by my story. The process by which Ark Energy was able gain approval by the Prescribed Body Corporate which supposedly representing the Jarrbal People is deeply flawed.
You can judge for yourself the sincerity of the people I spoke to in this video.
The Jirrbal opponents of the Chalumbin project want to travel to Canberra to press their case. They need funds. You can assist by donating to Rainforest Reserves, one of the few environmental bodies prepared to take up the cause on behalf of the Jirrbal People and the native wildlife, including the Greater Glider, whose habitats are threatened by the project.
Here’s the link:
https://www.rainforestreserves.org.au
All donations are tax deductible.