Effects of Coal Mining on Black Throated Finch Bird

Natural Resources Management
Effects of Coal Mining on Black Throated
Finch Bird
Abstract: A law of nature states that whenever economic activities and
development threatens the very existence of flora and fauna, one policy takes
precedence: there should be no net loss and one way of doing that is by biodiversity
offsetting. This, however, can practically be achieved in theory. This is because
exploitation of economic resources and other developments are usually ascertained
by an ad hoc method which in many times fails to sufficiently take into account
exact cumulative effects of the activities on the biodiversity. In this study, the
distribution of the Black-Throated Finch bird (Poephila cincta cincta) in the
Queensland’s regional ecosystem and how the mining of coal by Adani Company in
the region is affecting their ecology adversely is analysed. The effect of coal mining
in the Queensland region to the general environment is examined and analysed.
The Adani Company presented its proposal on the protection of biodiversity in the
areas where coal mining was to be undertaken and in addition, gave proposal on
measures to be undertaken to protect the existence endangered bird species-
Black-Throated Finch- which is found in the Queensland area. The government gave
the company a go-ahead to start mining process after reviewing the proposed
measures by the Adani company. This was done despite widespread protests and
worldwide condemnation to the commencement of the mining by the company. This
paper discusses the impacts of the coal mining to the BTF and general environment,
Adani’s management and Action proposals, existing laws and regulation by the
Queensland and Australian governments and commitment plan by Adani to mitigate
the side effects of coal mining in the area.
Key Words: Black-Throated Finch. Coal. Biodiversity. Flora. Fauna
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Natural Resources Management
Table of Contents
Figure
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Figure
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Figure
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Figure
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Table
1...........................................................................................................................
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Introduction............................................................................................................
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Effects of Coal Mining on Black Finch Bird and
Environment..................................................4
Government Policies to Address the
Issue.................................................................................6
Relevant Environmental Laws and
regulations..........................................................................7
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Natural Resources Management
Legislative and Regulatory
Framework.......................................................................................7
Commitment and Action of
Adani...............................................................................................8
Summary of key management
issues.........................................................................................8
Conclusion...............................................................................................................
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Reference...............................................................................................................
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1. Introduction
There are alarming rates of decline of our diversity in this world. This has been
attributed to increased pressure on natural resources especially minerals (Hundloe,
2018). This is demanding a lot of efforts to be put forward with the aim of
conserving the environment. This will also lead to conservation of endangered
species which face extinction. One of them is the Black-Throated Finch which faces
total extinction from the ecological system due to coal mining (Josh, 2016).
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Natural Resources Management
Numerous other species are facing extinction due to various human activities such
as changes in land uses including deforestation and bush clearing, urban
development, unfavourable grazing methods, and changing climatic conditions. The
figure 1 below shows the Carmichael area in the BTF habitat.
Figure 1. Carmichael area (Jean P. Palutikof, 2014)
When extracting natural resources, more often potential effects to the ecological
system are overlooked, for instance effects of coal mining to the fauna and flora are
paramount. Therefore, it is only sensible that precautionary procedures are taken
into account before the extraction process begins. This approach is very critical
because when biodiversity offsetting is undertaken, effects to the biodiversity are
certain. There are some strategic assessments put in place by the Australian
government to check and safeguard the biodiversity in areas where natural
resource extraction is taking place (Ladle, 2009).
The BTF live in forests and bushes containing seeding grasses and water. The bird
species take their food which is majorly grass seeds. The BTF’s breeding and social
interactions are not known in depth but their nests can be found in trees, bushes
and even shrubs. As it is well known, coal mining needs extensive land, thus large
tracts of grasslands and bushes are cleared ready for coal extraction. This deprives
the birds from their main source of food which is grass seeds. It is worth noting that
geographically the Black-Throated Finch’s habitat overlaps with the Galilee Basin in
the Queensland state. This basin is where large coal deposits are found and is over
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