A planned solar farm near Wuruma Dam in the North Burnett has the potential to wipe out a unique population of koalas found to have genetic markers not seen in any other part of Queensland, a researcher and conservationist has warned.
Spanish renewables developer X-ELIO has submitted plans for the 2,200-hectare North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub to the Federal Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act portal on 14 January.
The proposal included the removal of over 1,200 hectares of koala and greater glider habitat, found by X-ELIO to be crucial to the local survival of both species but deemed ‘acceptable’ in the company’s pursuit to bring renewable energy to Australia.
However, a report commissioned by the Federal Government and released late last year has the potential to scupper the development, proving that the koalas living in the North Burnett possess special genetic material making them crucial for the species’ diversity.
STUDY FINDINGS
The Inland Burnett 2024 Koala population study by Olivia Woosnam and Fiona Hogan, released in December last year, observed 41 koalas across the South and North Burnett regions, finding that animals in the latter region belonged to an entirely new genetic cluster, SEQ-11.
“At a regional scale, the Koalas from Inland Burnett exhibit significant genetic differentiation from
those in the coastal parts of Southeast Queensland, as well as from populations in the Darling
Downs and Scenic Rim regions to the south and southeast, respectively,” a report on the study reads.
Via an analysis of their genetic material – done by testing their scat – SEQ-11 koalas were found to have two unique ‘private alleles’: genes found at the same place on the chromosome only in that population cluster.
The SEQ-11 population scored second-highest in South East Queensland in one aspect of genetic diversity testing – a fact the report said “underpinn[ed] its irreplaceability and its particularly high importance for the species’ long-term survival.”
Study co-author Olivia Woosnam said the discovery proved the North Burnett’s koalas make a “unique genetic contribution to the species” – meaning they must be conserved if the already-endangered marsupial is to survive.
“[Private alleles] give you uniqueness, so if you lose that population, you lose those alleles for the entirety of the species, which affects its diversity,” she explained.
X-ELIO’s proposal to log over 1,200 hectares of established koala habitat, therefore, forms a direct threat to the North Burnett’s koalas, Ms Woosnam said.
“It’s actually quite frustrating that any company is even allowed to put development applications in for renewables that remove native habitat – it’s insane,” she said.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Renewables developments threatening native animal- and plant populations have become the new norm, Ms Woosnam claimed.
“These days, Australia faces massive pressure under the Paris Agreement to build renewables,” the koala study’s co-author explained.
“One of the three main goals of the Agreement that all signatories are bound by is to fast-track renewables.
“What’s happening in Australia as a result is that the government is pushing renewables at all costs.
“To put these windmills and solar panels in, the environmental costs to our biodiversity are unprecedented.
“Here [in the North Burnett] you see one of the completely irrational and illogical outcomes of this situation.
“These koalas are already at risk as-is. There is insufficient habitat remaining, it is already way too fragmented.
“If the koalas are to have any chance of surviving into the future – and we’re just talking surviving, not recovering their numbers – we’ve got to reconnect their remaining habitat.
“And now there’s a proposal to remove what little remains? It’s insane.”
The Inland Burnett koala study claimed habitat fragmentation, such as that caused by land clearing, was one of the chief reasons for the marsupial’s genetic split.
“[L]ack of habitat connectivity within the Inland Burnett is causing Koalas to fragment into small, isolated clusters,” the report read.
“Such fragmentation increases their vulnerability to numerous threats, including vehicle collisions, disease, dog attacks, and stochastic events like droughts and bushfires.
“Without the influx of new individuals to maintain genetic diversity and replenish populations, these isolated clusters are at high risk of local extinction.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation found that the koala topped the list of animals affected by land clearing last year, with over 3,000 hectares of habitat falling to the axe. X-ELIO’s proposal would remove nearly half the total amount of koala habitat cleared nationwide in 2024.
‘NO EXCUSE’ FOR LACK OF TESTING
Ms Woosnam doubted X-ELIO and NGH Consulting, a firm engaged to write the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub’s ecological assessment report now before the government, did their ‘homework’ when surveying the site that is to become the Burnett’s latest solar park.
“If they collected scat from even one single koala on that site, and had it tested, they would have had a direct answer whether the koalas on that site belong to the now-identified population SEQ-11,” Ms Woosnam said.
“Perhaps they might have belonged to another, as-yet unidentified population.
“Why the hell did they not get them [the koala scats] tested?
“If they say ‘we don’t know how to’ – I’m sorry, but consultants have run out of that excuse.
“The public, people with zero prior background or experience in any kind of genetic sampling, are completely capable of doing it. I had seven-year-old kids do it!” Ms Woosnam said, pointing to the citizen-scientists that helped her in the Inland Burnett koala study.
“Meanwhile, so-called ecology consultants charging professional rates, which don’t come cheap, claim they don’t know testing exists or how to do it.
“Fifteen years ago, sure – the methods weren’t fully published or reliable, so they might not have been able to do it in a commercial setting. But that’s no longer the case; we are well, well past that.
“It’s been used dozens of times in numerous applied studies including development applications, including multiple prior Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act referrals,” Ms Woosnam explained.
The koala researcher admitted that, due to the lack of testing on X-ELIO’s behalf, she could not state with certainty if the koalas living at the project site and around Wuruma Dam indeed belonged to the unique SEQ-11 cluster.
However, given the koala’s home range of up to 135 kilometres, Ms Woosnam said it was highly likely that the koalas at risk of losing their habitat due to the planned North Burnett solar park will have the private alleles making them part of the special group.
FIGHTING BACK
The koala researcher and keen conservationist will make a public submission opposing the North Burnett development.
“This is a classic example of ‘greenwashing’,” Ms Woosnam said.
“They’re saying solar is great for the environment – but at all cost? Even if it means you’re literally removing habitat for some species that are known to be pushed to extinction at a record rate?
“No, you can’t have it both ways.
“The overwhelming majority of that land throughout the Burnett has already been cleared in the couple hundred years since European settlement. There is ample room to put a tonne of solar panels without touching a single tree or native habitat.
“There is absolutely no rationale whatsoever to remove any native vegetation – let alone habitat for known, federally-listed endangered species – to put any of these renewables in,” she said.
In her submission, Ms Woosnam will appeal to Federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, whose office commissioned the 2024 Inland Burnett koala study.
“[Minister] Plibersek has full power to say no to anything that lands on her desk via the EPBC referral system,” Ms Woosnam explained.
After public outcry in 2024, the environment minister recently used her powers in that regard, blocking a real estate development push at Toondah Harbour in the Moreton Bay region where land clearing would have impacted koala habitat.
“The only way we got the Minister to say ‘no’ to it was through maximum amounts of submissions from the public making a lot of noise,” Ms Woosnam, who also campaigned against the Toondah Harbour project, said.
“However, Minister Plibersek in particular has a horrific track record of being unable to say ‘no’ to anything,” the koala researcher added.
“I’ve been working with community groups a lot more over the years, and I’ve sensed a growing trend that the people have had enough.
“They’re starting to really see that the government is not doing the right thing on their behalf. Local communities are always the best custodians of their local land and the values in it,” Ms Woosnam said.
A North Burnett Facebook group has since sprung up to oppose the solar farm development, with over 50 members of the Eidsvold Community Action Group planning to make their own submissions to the government.
GOVERNMENT, DEVELOPER COMMENTS
Minister Plibersek herself did not answer Burnett Today’s questions about the planned development, instead directing the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to release a statement.
“In considering whether the proposed North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub requires assessment and approval under national environment law, the Department will consider likely impacts on matters of national environmental significance, such as the koala,” the Department’s response read.
“The Department will consider the [Inland Burnett koala study] report when making its recommendations on the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub, to the extent relevant.”
Burnett Today also contacted X-ELIO for comment, asking if the company was aware of the koala study and the resulting potential impact of a renewables development in the area.
The company did not respond to requests for a statement.
The public have just one more day to lodge their submissions for or against the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub.
Submissions can be made until 5pm AEDT on 29 January at epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/open-for-comments/project-decision/?id=62143674-28d2-ef11-8eea-000d3a6a1778.
To read more about the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub, visit
Planned North Burnett solar farm to clear koala, glider habitat
