Environment Case Studies
Environment – Biodiversity
- Case Study Contributor:
- Olympic Dam, Australia
- BHP Billiton Interest:
- 100%
- Location:
- South Australia
- Customer Sector Group:
- Base Metals
- Commodity:
- Copper Cathodes, Uranium Oxide, Gold and Silver Bullion
- Case Study Status:
- New for 2006
Protecting Australia’s Threatened Animals and Ecosystems Through Collaboration, Innovation and Persistence
- An Arid Recovery team installs fencing to keep feral animals from the reserve
The combined impacts of feral species and unsustainable farming have devastated Australian ecosystems since European settlement. Over 60 per cent of desert mammals have been driven to total or regional extinction, and many other animals and plants remain threatened. However, a unique partnership in which we are involved – Arid Recovery – has started reversing these trends.
Located near our Olympic Dam mine in South Australia, Arid Recovery is the largest fenced reserve in Australia from which all feral cats, foxes and rabbits have been removed. The reserve straddles the mine lease and sections of four other pastoral properties, two of which are leased by the Company. Native animals and plants are now thriving within the 86-square-kilometre enclave, which has become both a centre for ecological research and the site of a nationally significant conservation program.
Arid Recovery was initiated in 1987 by a partnership comprising the Olympic Dam mine, the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage, the University of Adelaide and a community group, Friends of Arid Recovery. The partnership's mission is to 'facilitate restoration of arid zone ecosystems through on-ground works, applied research and industry, community and government partnerships'.
Following our acquisition of the Olympic Dam operation in 2005, we have confirmed our support of these goals by increasing the resourcing of this award-winning initiative. Together with other Arid Recovery partners and collaborators, we are committed to ensuring maintenance of the existing reserve and the sustainability of research and public education programs. A key future objective is to leverage broad-scale benefits to the environment and to the perception of resource industries by re-establishing threatened species outside the reserve, on both the Olympic Dam mine lease and surrounding pastoral properties.
Eradicating feral animals and restoring flora and fauna
Thousands of feral animals have been removed from the Arid Recovery reserve, which is surrounded by an innovative fence design that was developed and trialled on site. Arid Recovery now provides opportunities for staff, university students, visiting scientists and volunteer teams to study the responses of plants and animals to the removal of feral animals and reintroduction of native species.
Hugh McGregor, an environmental graduate who has been employed at Arid Recovery during his vacation, says, 'It has been a fantastic opportunity to work on such an exciting project. Every day offers a different experience, from hosting tours to tracking bilbies. The projects I've been involved in, the skills I've learned and the friends I've made have been incredible'.
Within the reserve, five threatened mammal species have been reintroduced; the most successful being the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) and the burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur), with each group now numbering in excess of 600. Other native mammals, such as the spinifex hopping mouse (Notomys alexis), are ten times as abundant in the reserve as outside, where they continue to be preyed upon by cats and foxes.
Arid Recovery’s aim of improving awareness of the plight of Australian arid lands and increasing capacity for their sustainable management is also being fulfilled, as reflected in the growing number of visits to the reserve by people from all walks of life and the popularity of the project's.
Arid Recovery's co-founder and research coordinator, Katherine Moseby, says, 'BHP Billiton's long-term partnership with other stakeholders, coupled with the dedication and passion of staff and volunteers, has enabled Arid Recovery to achieve unparalleled environmental restoration and research'. Such rewarding outcomes show that resources companies, particularly in collaboration with relevant partners, can make valuable contributions to significant conservation initiatives.
Read more: Arid Recovery
The burrowing bettong is one of the threatened mammal species reintroduced within the reserve
