By Anne Pavy
The Rudall River National Park has been described as a "three-act nightmare" for the mining giant CRA: uranium, in a national park, and on Aboriginal land.
The state Liberal government has authorised CRA to go ahead with mining in the park.
Rudall River (Karlamilyi as the indigenous people call it) is approximately 500 km south-east of Port Hedland in the eastern Pilbara region. The 15,694 sq km national park encompasses the Rudall River and a system of salt lakes, including Lake Dora. It is the only national park that encompasses an entire seasonal river system in the arid zone. The area is of immense conservation value, and the fragile nature of the ecosystem means that the land has to be carefully looked after.
Since 1985 nine companies have obtained mining exploration leases in and around the park, from the previous Labor government.
CRA has the biggest area under lease, about 15,000 kilometres. According to Rjurik Davidson, an activist in the Environmental Youth Alliance, "CRA is no stranger to disregarding indigenous people, human rights and self-determination across the globe".
Indications are that the area is rich in uranium, copper, zinc and lead. Telfer, 80 km to the north of Kintyre, is Australia's second largest gold mine. The companies are hoping for the discovery of a new mineral province which would stretch from Telfer in the north through Rudall River National Park and beyond into the south.
Aborigines have inhabited the region for thousands of years. Rudall River has always been an area of relatively abundant water, which made it a focal point for activity.
The two communities there are Punmu (to the east of
Lake Dora) and Pangurr (on the southern boundary near Cotton Creek). At least 300 people live in these communities.
Many of these people see increased mining activity as a threat to the way of life they have chosen. To a great extent they are reliant on surrounding plant and animals to provide fresh food. People from these communities regularly visit and camp on the Rudall River.
Recently mining activity has escalated without significant consultation between mining companies and Aboriginals.
Jon Rowdon, WA campaign coordinator for the Wilderness Society, told Green Left Weekly that open cut mining at Mount Cotton would mean the area would be totally stripped. The waterholes used by the local communities would be contaminated with uranium dust from the mining.
"The environment and consequently the people living there would be totally destroyed by mining", said Rowdon. The whole river system could be contaminated by the waste products, making the land uninhabitable and forcing the people off their land.
Ningaloo Marine Park, near Exmouth, is another area being opened up for exploration by the Court government, this time for oil. The coral reef there is equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef in terms of diversity of habitats and species.
Environmental groups have been campaigning to stop mining going ahead in both these national parks. The Environmental Youth Alliance is organising a rally at Forrest Place on June 5, World Environment Day, to demand "an end to mining in national parks".
This is one of the few areas in WA's arid zone region to be declared a park in response to the recommendations of the Conservation Through Reserves Committee (CTRC) established by the Environmental Protection Authority in 1974.
The CTRC cited the need for unique habitats in the Little Sandy, Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts to be
represented in a system of reserves. Of the six areas proposed, only Rudall River has become a park.