The Pilliga Camp goes in to protect an amazing Noahs Ark type area.

The Pilliga Forest is the largest remaining non-fragmented block of temperate dry forest and woodland in eastern Australia.  It is often referred to as a "Million Wild Acres", which is a well known book by Eric Rolls, this publication provides extensive information about the history and environment of the Pilliga area.

 

It functions as a key flora and fauna refuge (Noah's Ark area) in a landscape largely cleared for agriculture and now an 85,000 hectacre section of the Eastern Pilliga which they term as the Project Area is now under imminent threat from the commencement of Santos with work on this major planned Coal Seam Gas field.

This area is recognised as a part of the "National Biodiversity Hotspots" and it also has a significantly important Bird Area and that is by world standards.
The Forest area supports several endangered ecological communities and core populations of many threatened flora and fauna species.

Santos have big plans to decimate this area with mining.  The SOS Call has gone out and the meetings have been called and now its time to PROTECT! 

TWO REPORTS ON THE PILLIGA FOREST WAR ZONE:

The Wilderness Society has compiled an extremely detailed report on the significance of this area and it can be viewed and read here : WILDERNESS SOCIETY REPORT - NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE  

Santos prepared their own ECO REPORT

From the SANTOS SITE:
Prepared for: Santos Limited by ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

The EPBC Act establishes a need for Australian Government environmental assessment and approval of (amongst other things), actions that are likely to have a significant impact on MINES. There are eight MINES listed under the EPBC Act which are:

•world heritage sites

•national heritage places

•wetlands of international importance (often called 'Ramsar' wetlands after the international treaty under which such wetlands are listed)

•nationally threatened species and ecological communities

•migratory species

•Commonwealth marine areas

•the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

 •nuclear actions

ALSO FROM SANTOS

 

 Narrabri Chamber of Commerce President Richard Orr and Santos Peter Mitchley cut the ribbon.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

Waking up at Leard's Forest

Right next to Boggabri Coal and this is what they want to do to Leard's Forest where Murray Dreshler has been protecting for over 14 months continuously.   I was confused with Leards Forest and Pilliga Forest but they are both under serious threat from mining.

We came to find out information on the Pilliga issue so we could go home and be effective.

Boggabri Coal

This is the  Whitehaven Coal Limited Mines in this area.

A publicly listed mining company Whitehaven Coal Limited is currently developing and operating coal projects in the Gunnedah Region of New South Wales and exploring other opportunities. The Group operates five open cut mines, Canyon (formerly Whitehaven), Tarrawonga, Werris Creek, Rocglen (formerly Belmont) and Sunnyside and is developing the Narrabri North underground mine.

The Canyon (formerly Whitehaven) open cut mine is located 15 km east of Boggabri. Annual production is up to 1 million tonnes, all of which is exported. The Tarrawonga open cut mine commenced production in 2006. The mine is located 16 km north-east of Boggabri. Mining is by truck and excavator method to produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of export coal per year.

The Werris Creek open cut mine is located 4 km south of Werris Creek on the Quirindi road. Werris Creek is mined using truck and excavator producing up to 1.5 million tonnes per annum as raw coal for the export market. The Rocglen mine (formerly Belmont Project) is located 28 km north of Gunnedah on the Wean road the Rocglen open cut mine commenced coal production in late 2008. Using truck and excavator method up to 1.5 million tonnes per annum of coal will be trucked 30 km by road to Gunnedah CHPP for washing & loading then transport by rail to the Port of Newcastle.

The Narrabri North underground mine is located between Boggabri and Narrabri within Mining Lease 1609.
Initial production using continuous miners will be 1.5 million tonnes per year. Coal production commenced on 28 June 2010 with the train to be loaded for export to Newcastle port around end July 2010. Initial production would be raw coal as Coal Washery needs to be build, which is Stage 2 of the project.

The Sunnyside open cut coal mine is located 15 km west of Gunnedah and will produce up to 1 million tonnes per year of raw coal for the export market. Coal production commenced in late 2008.

Leard's State Forest

 Images @ Eminpee Fotographye

I saw my First Koala in the wild today!

I am over fifty and I did think it was about time.   Kathy was driving and I was looking out the window and I saw the Koala quite a way off away from the edge of the road.

Nowendoc Koala

  

 I was so excited I could barely speak fast enough.  I think I yelled out I saw a Kangaroo, then I said STOP / Koala.  We stopped the car and started to walk back up the road and another car came along and they were a young couple with children and so after assuring them that we were not broken down instead we were hurrying back up the road to see this koala.

We were road tripping to Leards Forest to see Murray who is baby sitting the gates out there from mining and there is a Red Alert for the :Pilliga Forest so we are going here to find out what is the go with all of this from the man himself.  This just meant we were on the right track.   We both felt very good seeing this chap.

Nowendoc is renowned for its Koala population.

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae, and its closest living relatives are the wombats.


Scientific name: Phascolarctos cinereus

Lifespan: 13 – 18 y (In Wild)

Gestation period: 30 – 35 d

 Phascolarctos (from Ancient Greek phaskolos, referring to a pouch or bag, and arktos, meaning "bear") is a genus of marsupials containing only one extant species, the koala (P. cinereus). The genus was named by French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1816.

 
Images @ Eminpee Fotography

Standing on the edge of Rocky Creek Falls NSW

Leaving the hill where I live isn't easy.   however,  going to support people who wish to save this astounding land from Csg Mining and the fracking processes they use is. Yes, that is an easy ask.  I spent the Easter weekend with my Earth Sister Vee and Bill from Georgia, and a bunch of people that were so lovely you could bottle them.

This is the most astonishing place I have seen since Glenugie back in the New Year.  This land I saw here once again took my breath away.  There were aboriginal people here in great numbers in times past as many artifacts have been found in this area. 

There sudden disappearance may suggest someone passed away here or many passed by pushing over the edge of this seemingly bottomless rocky falls high up on the Nowendoc River.

I could feel the ancestors here,  as soon as I walked onto the huge rocky expanse before me which is part of the falls I was immediately aware of the vibration of the place.  It was truly spectacular.
Images @ Melonpopzdropz Flickr