Could this little bird halt one of the world's biggest mining projects?

Could this little bird halt one of the world's biggest mining projects?: Eric Vanderduys and April Reside have been studying a rare bird whose fate
could soon be sealed by mega-mining projects.  Here they tell us an
alarming story about how human avarice can drive extinction right before
our very eyes. 

The Black-throated Finch is an attractive little bird that survives in just
a tiny geographic area.  Unfortunately, much of its known geographic range
is about to be destroyed or greatly degraded as a result of rampant mining
and other land uses -- including one of the world's biggest mining
projects.

Given the great perils they pose for this rare bird, is there any chance
that these projects might not go ahead?

Sadly, not much.

Death of a thousand cuts

The Black-throated Finch lives in just a small pocket of habitat in central
Queensland, Australia. 

We all know Australia has a bad record of losing species.  Many have
already vanished, and roughly 1,700 more animal and plant species are
listed by the Australian Government as being seriously threatened.

Where threatened biodiversity is adversely affected by development,
so-called 'biodiversity offsetting' is a common tool applied to reduce the
threat. 

For instance, if a mining company was going to destroy a thousand hectares
of key habitat for a species, it might pay to protect a thousand hectares
of suitable habitat elsewhere.

But there's theory and then there is reality.  The extinction of a species
usually results from a fatal snowballing of interacting threats.  First a
few populations vanish.  Then more populations and perhaps entire
subspecies disappear.

Finally, only a handful of individuals remain.  If they collapse entirely,
it's often not for a single reason but for a number of reasons -- death by
a thousand cuts.

In a recent paper, we modeled the distribution of the Black-throated Finch
(Poephila cincta cincta) using bioclimatic data and Queensland's Regional
Ecosystem classification.

We overlaid existing and exploratory mining leases on the known and modeled
ranges of the bird.  Shockingly, around 60 percent of the bird's range
falls within active or exploratory leases.

Last stronghold under threat

The main stronghold for Black-throated Finches is the Galilee Basin, which
contains extensive coal reserves.

The Basin is a hotspot of proposed and existing coal mines, including the
massive Carmichael (Adani) mine, which would involve an investment of over
$16 billion.  This is in addition to a number of other mines (Alpha,
Kevin's Corner, China First, China Stone, and South Galilee) that already
exist in the region.

Collectively, these mines will span nearly 1,700 square kilometers, most of
which are open-cut mines where the land is essentially nuked for coal
extraction. 

And tragically, our analyses suggest that the massive Carmichael mine sits
right on top of the 'best of the best' habitat for Black-throated Finches.

Downhill slide

The Black-throated Finch is in serious trouble.  Its historical range is
collapsing as agriculture, grazing, and mining expand apace. 

Altogether, 80% of its original range is gone. 

Proposed offsets are unlikely to save the finch.  To be 'true' offsets, one
would need to take an area that is presently unsuitable for the finches and
somehow make it suitable.  That's highly unlikely to happen.

The most reliable way to avoid further declines of Black-throated Finches
would be to protect the precious areas of its prime habitat that still
survive.

Sadly, given the voracious push in Queensland for mega-mining projects like
Carmichael, this doesn't look very likely to happen. 

Not only would the Carmichael Mine be one of the world's biggest sources of
greenhouse gas emissions because of the massive carbon emissions its coal
would produce. 

But it could well be one of the final nails in the coffin for a charming
little bird -- whose chirpy calls once rang out across much of eastern
Australia.