Australia's largest woodlands 'will not be protected if it prevents mining'

‘Any sort of recognition which would put constraints on mining would be absolutely devastating,’ Western Australia mining minister Bill Marmion says

Environmental recognition of the Great Western Woodlands, the largest remaining temperate woodlands in the world, will not be supported if it impinges on mining, the Western Australia mining minister, Bill Marmion, has said.

The woodlands cover 16m hectares (39m acres) from Kalgoorlie, 600km east of Perth, to Esperance and the Nullarbor Plain.

They’re home to 3,000 species of flowering plants – about 20% of all those identified in Australia – and 25% of all known eucalypt species.

But despite its ecological significance only about 12% is protected, with most falling on unallocated crown land.
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