{"id":12028,"date":"2025-01-03T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mtgambiertimes\/?p=12028"},"modified":"2024-12-20T16:05:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T05:05:38","slug":"community-rallies-to-protect-farmland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mtgambiertimes\/news\/community-rallies-to-protect-farmland\/","title":{"rendered":"Community rallies to protect farmland"},"content":{"rendered":"

An SOS has been raised to #SaveOurSoils with Limestone Coast residents rallying, urging the State Government to halt all mineral mining proposals in the region to undertake an independent scientific evaluation to prove there is no detrimental risk.<\/p>\n

Led by the recently formed Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association (LCSF), the grassroots campaign is raising awareness of the significant threat that controversial mining practices pose to the future productivity of local agricultural industries due to lost soil profiles, risk to underground water resources, loss of biodiversity and ultimate impact to community wellbeing.<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s highly productive agricultural land delivers one third of the state\u2019s farming GDP, with the group campaigning for the region to be protected from controversial strip-mining activities.<\/p>\n

To support long-term regulatory reform, the association is demanding the State Government undertake an independent vulnerability assessment to comprehensively evaluate the risks and ultimate impacts of proposed strip-mining operations on the local environment and long-term consequences on economic and social well-being.<\/p>\n

LCSF chair and local farmer Todd Woodard said this detailed evidence-based research was critical to ensure strip mining activities would not compromise agricultural production and impact local jobs, or indeed jeopardise environmental or cultural value.<\/p>\n

Exploration licences currently cover more than 30 per cent of the Limestone Coast region, stretching from Keith in the north to Mount Gambier and Kingston in the south, with immediate concerns of a mining lease being granted 35km south east of Naracoorte as part of the Koppamurra Project.<\/p>\n

The Federal Government last week announced that its project proponents AR3 had been awarded $5 million to support project planning and to build investor interest (see page ?? for AR3 funding announcement story).<\/p>\n

Mr Woodard said urgency was building for the State Government to prove mining would not impact the long-term productivity or water security in the region, with the need for tighter regulatory controls on mining proponents to deliver greater transparency on their project plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur soils are our lifeblood – we are rallying as a community, fighting to protect the long-term sustainability of our food and fibre industries and its extensive value chain which would be devastated by the projected short-term gains of these opportunistic mining companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed style of mining is one of the most aggressive forms of mineral extraction. The process takes everything in its path from the surface trees, vegetation and infrastructure, digging down to extract from the clay base, devastating the soil structure, macro minerals and biology of the earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst existing frameworks are in place under the Mining Act to manage mining activities, rural Australia is littered with examples of malpractice and irreparable damage leading to disturbing environmental and economic outcomes.<\/p>\n

There is no compensation adequate to restore the land back to its original state and the government must provide a higher level of protection, committing to pause mining activities in the Limestone Coast until a thorough independent risk assessment is made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana Davies, a local business leader and farmer, said it was feared rare earth mining activities would permanently alter the topography of the land, removing dips and swales, which provide transient water courses for birdlife and riparian species, and unique runaway holes that recharge the aquifer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur finite water resources are precious. Mining activities pose a major threat to water security due to risk of contamination from heap leaching and destruction of the topography of the land which naturally hydrates the aquifer,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce broken this cannot be restored, forever impacting our environment and the rich food and fibre sector it sustains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government must commit to investing in comprehensive independent research to prove our community will not be negatively impacted by any such activity, protecting our high value agricultural land and key environmental assets from destruction. This is about safeguarding the wellbeing of our community for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

To support the campaign or purchase an #SaveOurSoils corflute visit www.limestonecoastsustainablefutures.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

OUR REQUEST OF GOVERNMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association seek an exemption from rare earth mining activities in the Limestone Coast. It is urging the State Government commit to a vulnerability assessment undertaking a comprehensive, science-based, independent investigation exploring the potential impacts of strip-mining activities to support informed decision making. The study would investigate rare earth mining impact on:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Water resources of the Lower Limestone Coast including Prescribed Wells Area (confined and unconfined aquifer)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Investigate the process and effectiveness of rehabilitation techniques in the local landscape.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Understand the long-term impact to the topography and unique geology of the landscape, such as ability to drain water, sustain wetlands and ground water dependent ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Impacts to unique flora and fauna and key cultural assets, including redgum eucalypt trees.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Public health risks of exposure to radioactivity involved with extraction of rare earths, including water, terrestrial and airborne exposure.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Measure the long-term economic and social impact of mining activities versus the existing food and fibre economy, both state and local.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Explore options for rare-earth element recycling to reduce reliance on strip mining activities to support the state\u2019s renewable transition.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S AT RISK?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Failure to act will compromise the Limestone Coast\u2019s globally recognised agricultural outputs which include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Generating a third of the value of South Australia’s agricultural produce (GDP) from only 2% of its land mass<\/p>\n

\u2022 83 per cent of Australia\u2019s Lucerne seed<\/p>\n

\u2022 77 per cent of South Australia\u2019s plantation forestry output<\/p>\n

\u2022 54 per cent of South Australia\u2019s Beef and Cattle market<\/p>\n

\u2022 49 per cent of South Australia\u2019s milk production<\/p>\n

\u2022 44 per cent of South Australia\u2019s potatoes<\/p>\n

\u2022 34 per cent of South Australia\u2019s finest wool flock<\/p>\n

\u2022 One third of South Australia\u2019s wine production, including the regions of Wrattonbully, Padthaway and Coonawarra.<\/p>\n

LIMESTONE COAST SUSTAINABLE FUTURES ASSOCIATION \u2013 HOW IT ALL STARTED<\/strong><\/p>\n

A coalition of regional agricultural and business leaders recently launched a new advocacy group focussed on protecting the Limestone Coast\u2019s high value agricultural resource, finite water assets and cultural heritage from the imminent threat of mining activities.<\/p>\n

The Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association has launched an awareness campaign to inform the community about the invasive nature of rare earth strip mining which it believes will threaten the economic viability of the food and fibre sector and jeopardise biodiverse value including underground water resources.<\/p>\n

The grassroots collective was formed following a series of community meetings attended by hundreds of landholders and others increasingly concerned about a multi-generational rare earth mining proposal called the Koppamurra Project by Australian Rare Earths (AR3), which is in the scoping stage exploring sites in the South East of South Australia and western Victoria.<\/p>\n

AR3\u2019s exploration licences for rare earth minerals now cover more than a third of the entire Limestone Coast, stretching from Keith to Mount Gambier. Immediate concern relates to AR3\u2019s plan to apply for its first mining lease in 2025 for a tenement 35 kilometres south-east of Naracoorte.<\/p>\n

LCSF chair and local farmer Todd Woodard said the group\u2019s formation was prompted by concerns over a lack of scientific evidence about the long-term impacts of the type of strip mining proposed had fuelled the creation of the not-for-profit group and their belief it was urgent and critical to send a united message to all levels of government highlighting their concerns and why the region\u2019s highly productive land must be protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not an anti-mining campaign,\u201d Mr Woodard said. \u201cWe recognise the need to source rare earth resources for our clean energy transition. But it should not come at the expense of our food and fibre security and the hundreds of businesses and the value chain that this sector supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur prized agricultural landscape is one of South Australia\u2019s greatest assets \u2013 an economic powerhouse generating more value per hectare than anywhere in the State.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, recent history is littered with examples of malpractice and irreparable damage from strip mining activities leading to devastating environmental and social outcomes for Australian regional communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot risk irreparable damage to occur in our state\u2019s food bowl – our high value agricultural land and key environmental assets must be protected for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naracoorte business leader and association vice-chairperson Alana Davies said the group took inspiration from the Lock the Gate movement, which had successfully protected communities from coal and gas exploration.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur group will be loud and passionate, sharing the wider community\u2019s concerns direct to government, urging it to protect the high value agricultural land and key environmental assets from threatening mining activity, and to safeguard our state economy, protect its biodiverse value and ultimately ensure the health and well-being of our Limestone Coast communities,\u201d Ms Davies said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An SOS has been raised to #SaveOurSoils with Limestone Coast residents rallying, urging the State Government to halt all mineral mining proposals in the region to undertake an independent scientific evaluation to prove there is no detrimental risk. Led by the recently formed Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association (LCSF), the grassroots campaign is raising awareness […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":12031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-12028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommunity rallies to protect farmland - Mt Gambier Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Limestone Coast residents rally to protect farmland from destructive mining practices. 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