The Pillaga Mouse. Photo: Justin McDowell
Some of Australia’s leading ecologists have predicted that there will be local extinctions of rare and threatened species if the Pilliga Coal Seam Gas project goes ahead.
The Eastern Pygmy possum, Pilliga mouse and the South-eastern Longeared bat are all at risk from the construction of a gas field in the Pilliga Forest.
The South-eastern Longeared bat has already lost 75% of its habitat and now it’s remaining roosting sites are likely to be cleared and fragmented by the gas wells.
Eastern Star Gas, a gas company now owned by Santos, plan to drill 1100 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga forest which will result in the clearing of thousands of hectares of forest and the fragmentation of at least 85,000 hectares (ha). However, it is likely that these wells are just the beginning as over 500,000 ha are covered by exploration licences for coal seam gas, posing a serious threat to the future of the region.
Wildness Society
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