Western Green Energy Hub plan sees scientist renew calls for Nullarbor World Heritage listing
From ABC News (14/11/24)…
Western Green Energy Hub plan sees scientist renew calls for Nullarbor World Heritage listing
Stefan Eberhard gives a surprising answer when asked to describe the Nullarbor.
There’s no mention of treeless plains, endless saltbush, or relentless sun.
The ecologist speaks instead of electric-blue water in underground pools.
He describes giant sinkholes and enormous caverns.
Mostly, Dr Eberhard talks about caves.
“There are thousands of caves of staggering beauty and dimension,” he said.
The Nullarbor, which stretches hundreds of kilometres across outback Western Australia and South Australia, is home to one of the world’s largest karst cave systems.
They form a sprawling underground network with some up to 35 kilometres long.
It is among the reasons experts have long urged the federal government to nominate the area for UNESCO World Heritage listing.
But while South Australia now has the Nullarbor National Park, Wilderness Protection Area and Reserve, and some are again pushing for World Heritage List nomination on that side of the border, there is little protection over Western Australia’s Nullarbor.
Dr Eberhard, who has a PhD in ecology and spent his career studying caves, karst and subterranean ecosystems, said for a long time that hardly mattered as there was very little pressure on the region.
But he said the situation had now changed dramatically, with a massive new wind and solar project proposed in the area.
The Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) would sit north of Eucla, near the South Australian border, and span more than 2 million hectares over unallocated crown land (UCL) and pastoral leases.
Project proponents InterContinental Energy (with a 46 per cent stake), CWP Global (44 per cent) and Mirning Green Energy (10 per cent) said the WGEH would produce green ammonia for export.
The lake in Weebubbie Cave under the Nullarbor Plain. (Supplied: Stefan Eberhard)
