Dear Federal Minister for the Environmnet, Murray Watt,
Scott Reef requires your urgent protection.
Located 270 km off the Kimberley coastline, Scott Reef is Australia's largest oceanic reef system. Its extraordinary biodiversity is threatened by Woodside's Browse oil and gas extraction proposal. We need you to make the right decision and reject Woodside's proposal and permanently protect Scott Reef as a marine park.
Scott Reef is home to an amazing variety of reef habitats and marine species, including:
- Corals down to 70 metres depth in the unique Deep Lagoon on South Reef;
- A population of 1,000 genetically unique Green turtles that nest only on Sandy Islet and Browse Island;
- Up to 29 species of whales and dolphins are known to utilise the deep waters surrounding Scott Reef, including the endangered Pygmy blue whale, known to forage around Scott Reef;
- Scott Reef is the last stronghold for the endangered Dusky sea snake - it hasn't been sighted anywhere else since 2002.
Scott Reef is a 15 million-year-old marine biodiversity hotspot which is already under pressure from global warming, rising sea temperatures, and coral bleaching caused by fossil fuel burning.
Image: Scott Reef and Sandy Islet By: Nush Freedman
Woodside's current proposal consists of drilling up to 50 oil and gas wells around the reef, with the closest well being a mere 3 km from the reef. Oil and gas extraction consists of seismic blasting, drilling, construction and operational underwater noise, vessel movement, artificial light pollution and the risk of oil spills.
In 2009, the Montara oil spill disaster spewed oil and condensate into the Timor Sea for 74 days straight, with the Kimberley narrowly missing the catastrophe. Marine wildlife in its path was devastated, as well as seaweed farms in Indonesian Timor.
Woodside has identified that if an oil spill were to occur, it would be catastrophic to Scott Reef and that oil and condensate could reach as far as the Kimberley coast. Allowing Browse to proceed risks the well-established multi-million-dollar marine tourism industry that currently operates along the Kimberley coast.
As the Federal Minister for the Environment, we call on you to use your Ministerial powers to reject Woodside’s Browse project and protect Scott Reef with a marine park to ensure the reef and the abundance of species some (threatened and endangered) that rely on it have the chance to thrive for another 15 million years.
Yours Sincerely,
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