Offsets are a myth.

Offsets don’t work. It’s impossible to offset habitat loss and wildlife corridor destruction. It takes years to replace rainforest and sclerophyll forest. For example, revegetation projects in the 1980s have now formed a canopy and are nearly a functioning forest but still have a long way to go. Intact Chalumbin forests are hundreds if not thousands of years old and should be left alone.

Landscape will be blasted and cleared by heavy industrial machinery for development.

Explosives and heavy industrial machinery will be used to construct the development. Wildlife will be relocated either actively or passively. Small reptiles will be likely crushed under machinery. Oil, petrol and other fuels may seep into waterways.

Chalumbin’s Vulnerable residents the Magnificent Broodfrog, the Northern Greater Glider and Red Goshawk will be at risk.

Chalumbin’s population of Magnificent Broodfrogs, a species that primarily resides around Ravenshoe with a small population also discovered in Paluma, will be jeopardised if development goes ahead.[ii]  These amphibians will be significantly impacted with over 66 acres of critical habitat being cleared. The Northern Greater Glider will be impacted by the removal of approximately 139.84 acres of critical habitat destroyed. A nest of a suspected Red Goshawk was found in Chalumbin. Considered Australia’s rarest raptor, this cryptic species might fly within range.

The creation of new roads will introduce more feral species into the area.

Haulage roads will grant easy-access to feral species such as pigs, dogs and cats to enter previously untouched terrain of Chalumbin.

Land disturbance will destroy the intact vegetation and introduce invasive weeds.

For years our team have been fighting problem weeds in the Ravenshoe area and surrounds. Siam weed and Stevia have been introduced into the area through the powerlines. This is an ongoing problem. Disturbing terrain is proving financially costly as removing exotic weeds comes at considerable expense and effort. Our team has been at the coalface and has first hand experience of this risk.

Sedimentary run off is a threat to the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon.

The Chalumbin site is in a very high rainfall area (up to 4 metres a year in nearby rain gauges). No measures can stop sediment runoff in steep high rainfall areas. Increased sediment may impact the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. It’s not technically possible to create this development without significant erosion and runoff.

Increased traffic in the area can lead to roadkills.

With new roads and previously under-utilised roads suddenly being heavily used as development gets underway, wildlife can be killed.

New roads fragment habitat and destroy ground cover.

Frogs, reptiles, marsupials and mammals are exposed to predators when traversing 70 metre wide haulage roads. Habitat becomes fragmented and degraded when roads are made. Wildlife is killed.

No consideration of cumulative impacts of wind farms in the area.

If all wind farm proposals are approved in this region, five industrial scale wind developments will be crowded into a small highly biodiverse pocket of the Southern end of the Atherton Tablelands: Chalumbin, Kaban Green Power Hub, Windy Hill, High Road and Mt Emerald wind farms.

Should all projects become operational, this will result in many wind turbines within a close range of each other on the Southern end of the Atherton Tablelands. This will likely be catastrophic for birds and bats.

Sarus Crane and Brolga roosting sites within 5km buffer zone.

Small populations of Brolgas and Sarus Cranes reside around Ravenshoe. Sarus Cranes, listed as Vulnerable globally, are the world’s tallest flying bird. These graceful birds possess a complex emotional life and choose only one mate to bond with. When courting, they participate in an enigmatic dance together: leaping and bowing, trilling and trumpeting to each other in unison, a ritual reflected in images and folklore all over the world. Globally endangered by depleting wetlands, these remarkable birds are now facing a threat right under our noses from the above-mentioned progression of industrial wind farms on the Tablelands.

Australia has one of the highest rates of animal and plant extinction in the world.

Queensland is being deforested at an alarming rate. A warming climate calls for us to preserve every last pocket of untouched wilderness left – it is now a matter of life and death for the animals, trees and unique ecosystems of our country.

People aren’t aware of the proposed Chalumbin wind farm.

Very few people are aware of the plans to develop the Chalumbin wind farm. If Australians knew, they would be angry. We question why government has been allowed to canvas such a decision behind closed doors. Why has there been no genuine community consultation?

Renewable energy jobs and economic growth should not be at the expense of our ecosystems.

Queensland government has a track record of prioritising “jobs and growth” at the expense of the environment. With few full time jobs promised with this development (and going mainly to specialist technicians) the long term alleged economic benefits are dubious. The real burden is borne by the vulnerable flora and fauna of Chalumbin that will be perhaps catastrophically impacted.

It’s not too late to protect Chalumbin.

We are calling on the media to investigate the decision making processes behind this wind farm and ask why it should be built in such an untouched area of wilderness.