The Exmouth sub-basin is one of the highest producing oil regions in Australia, at times producing more oil and any other area in the country. The oil is predominately produced in the waters off the northern end of Ningaloo Reef and there are a number of fields run by various petroleum companies.

When the Ningaloo Coast was listed as a World Heritage site, the IUCN identified oil spill as one of the greatest threats to it. For this reason CCG has been a longterm advocate for best practice in industry in the hope of reducing this risk. Since the Gulf of Mexico spill and our own massive, local Kimberley oil spills, industry standards have been scrutinised by government. But there is no room for complacency when the consequences could be so catastrophic. Potential sources for an oil spill include the underground wells, the below surface pipes, from the FPSO when transferring oil to an oil tanker or even a ship collision.

The petroleum industry inherently has a number of other environmental consequences and CCG will continue to advocate for protection of the environment from the resource sector.

What are we doing?

CCG continues to advocate for the environments of the North West Cape including Ningaloo and Exmouth Gulf; speaking out about inappropriate and incompatible developments adjacent to the World Heritage Area. Our concerns are presented to various levels of government and addressed in submissions to the Environmental Protection Authority.

However, because Exmouth Gulf is outside of the World Heritage area it has less protection and we need to be constantly on our guard to protect it. The Gulf is a rare, inverse arid-zone estuary that supports an intact mangrove forest system. Mangrove systems are seriously vulnerable to the impacts from an oil spill and increased industrial developments. Exmouth Gulf also contains the southern hemisphere’s greatest concentration of resting Humpback Whales, sensitive to shipping and noise. Constant vigilance about the developments on the North West Cape is essential.

With the advent of Subsea 7’s Pipeline Fabrication Facility proposal in 2017, CCG formed an alliance with the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) which is Australia’s peak marine conservation body, and with the Conservation Council of WA, the State’s peak conservation group, to form Protect Ningaloo. The defeat of the Subsea 7 proposal in 2020 was greeted with the proposal by Gascoyne Gateway for a deepwater port, highlighting the vulnerability of this precious waterway. Having this important conservation alliance enables us all to be stronger advocates for this important environment and brings thousands of Australians together on these important issues. 

What can you do?

Write to info@ccg.org.au and let us know about anything of concern that you see in the area. Join CCG and Protect Ningaloo and help us defend this national treasure.

CCG are pleased to support the work of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) monitoring the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby (Petrogale lateralis lateralis). It is an elusive and agile marsupial that is threatened with extinction and the gorges and rock-shelters of the Cape Range are one of six remaining locations in Western Australia where the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby finds refuge.  Since 2005, CCG members have been helping to record the historical and current distribution and abundance of rock wallabies, the threats that they face and the impact of conservation strategies by undertaking regular monitoring and surveys.  This involves exploring the gorges, rocky outcrops and gullies of the Cape Range, looking for signs of rock-wallaby scats (fresh and old faeces) and the animals themselves.  Once rock wallabies are located, monitoring of numbers and behaviour continue across subsequent years.

So far, approximately 12 groups of rock wallabies have been located in the Cape Range.  The major threats faced by Cape Range rock wallabies appear to be predation by foxes and displacement by feral goats, which compete with rock-wallabies for food and habitat.  Survey work and the ongoing monitoring of known groups assists with the conservation and management of this threatened species.

REDUCE

CCG has been involved in managing waste over a number of years, running local rubbish cleanups, educating people about refusing to use plastic, reducing, reusing and recycling waste. 

Our group sell products that assist locals and visitors to actively participate in reducing what goes to landfill. Calico shopping bags are also distributed to the community on numerous occasions.  CCG also donate and participate in the production of  reusable school book bags at the beginning of each year. 

Increasing education about the impacts of plastics and other waste is important, and to do this CCG joined the Plastic Free July event in 2017.  Together with discussions and education through our market stalls, films and guest presenters speaking about the impact of plastic pollution on the marine environment, it was encouraging to see and hear the community’s positive response to these initiatives.

REUSE

Education about the impacts of plastics and other waste is important. To assist with education on reusing items CCG participates in  Plastic Free July each year, promoting discussions and sharing ideas. We also have market stalls, films and guest presenters speaking about the impact of plastic pollution on the marine environment. It has been encouraging to see and hear the community’s positive response to these initiatives. The local community Facebook pages also deserve recognition for their role in promoting reuse of home goods – making someone’s trash, someone else’s treasure!

RECYCLE

In 2020, CCG have members involved in the Community Waste Working Group (CWWG). Several areas have been identified as focal points for the CWWG including: recycling of soft plastic, hard plastic, glass, a tip shop and raising awareness about recycling. CCG has a particular interest in recycling of soft plastic to reduce what goes to landfill and also as a means of education. CCG has also produced a community brochure that makes recycling easier for everyone in Exmouth by highlighting where and what you can recycle in our town. 

What can you do?

If you’d like to be involved in this initiative please contact us info@ccg.org.au

We live in one of the most precious places in the world.  Ningaloo and the Cape Range – in fact the whole North West Cape is a national treasure.  More than that, it’s a global treasure, which is why our home is on the World Heritage List.

This is why we’ve made it clear what we think about fracking (or unconventional onshore gas mining). It has a sorry record in Australia and a worse record overseas.  It’s shown that it takes much more than it contributes.  It wastes precious water and it pollutes drinking water.  It doesn’t build communities, it ruins them.  And as we’ve seen from experiences in Queensland and NSW, and many, many experiences in the US, it decimates and industrializes landscapes.

This is why Exmouth has said no.  This is why we’ve joined hundreds of other Australian towns and shires in locking the gate against fracking.

A few of us spent 12 months going door-to-door, meeting every resident and ratepayer we could. So locals could have their say. In that time we surveyed over 1000 residents, which is most of the adult population of Exmouth.  Of those surveyed, 98.3% said they didn’t want fracking activity in this area.  There couldn’t be a clearer indication of how the community feels about this.  A process like this is hundreds of times more reliable than a phone poll that merely takes a small sample.  This survey gives an ironclad view of where we stand as a community. And we’re thrilled to announce it. Late in 2017, Coral Bay Conservation Group completed surveying Coral Bay, and more than 99% of its residents have said no to fracking.

The North West Cape was declared a frack free zone in 2017. The declaration has no power under the law, but what it does, for local government, for the state and federal governments, and above all to the unconventional gas miners looking to drill here, is to make it very plain that the fracking industry has no social licence here, it’s not welcome.

This is part of the speech given by CCG President, Denise Fitch, at Federation Park, Exmouth, 2017. 

Plastic bag litter is unsightly and threatens wildlife, notably marine turtles, which can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. 

The No Plastic Fantastic campaign was initiated in 2003 to remove plastic bags from our shops and in turn reduce the use of plastic bags around the North West Cape.  Through working with Exmouth and Coral Bay retailers, local government and the general public we were able to make this a reality. Exmouth’s stores removed plastic bags from use at the checkout in 2008, and the town became the second in WA to do this. And that was a decade before it became State policy!

Since then hundreds of Exmouth locals and visitors have been surveyed and informed about the project. The majority agree that we should get rid of plastic altogether.

Over the years, the project has included public education, news articles, posters and the production of calico bags, designed by CCG with financial assistance from the Gascoyne Development Commission. 

The WA State Government and the Federal Government prepared a nomination in which parts of the North West Cape would be listed on the World Heritage List.  Such changes would maximise protection protection of the region’s unique natural environment and contribute to ensuring that the outstanding universal values of the North West Cape area are preserved in perpetuity. The expectation was that the region would benefit economically from such listing and from the additional resources and tourism it would attract.

In 2005 The World Heritage Consultative Committee (WHCC) presented a report that recommended a Ningaloo-North West Cape boundary that identified World Heritage values while minimising conflict with stakeholders.

However, the boundary that was proposed by the State Government was inconsistent with the WHCC’s recommendations and excluded areas that had been identified as containing significant values, such as the northern end of Ningaloo Reef at the Muiron Islands, parts of the Cape Range karst system, and Exmouth Gulf. The recommendations also did not provide adequate protection for the region’s environmental values and related ecosystems, and were also likely to compromise the integrity of the nomination. There was also a possibility that the World Heritage Committee might not accept the recommendation.

At that time, CCG engaged with politicians, State and Federal Governments and the general public to raise awareness of the natural values of the area and encourage support for a nomination that would incorporate the WHCC’s optimal boundary.  In 2011, Ningaloo was listed as a World Heritage Area, but Exmouth Gulf was excluded from this protection. The exclusion of Exmouth Gulf from this listing was not a decision based on scientific evidence, but a political decision, and the Gulf remains unprotected and vulnerable.

Bat surveys were conducted by volunteers in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

Mist nets and acoustic recordings were used to collect data on the diversity and ecology of bats in the Cape Range.  Three species were found to be reproducing in the area: the Inland Cave Bat, the Common Sheath-tailed Bat, and the Black Flying-fox.  Ecolocation calls of Gould’s Wattled Bat and Little Broad-nosed Bat were recorded with a high level of identification confidence. During the surveys there were several encounters with large bats suspected to be Ghost Bats, and there were echolocation calls that also suggested the presence of this species. The Pilbara Leaf-nosed Bat was also observed during the study, and acoustic detections supported this. It is endemic to Australia and only inhabits the Pilbara region. It is considered Rare or likely to become extinct by the WA Wildlife Conservation Act 1950, and is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act (1999).

Sarell, M. and J. Burgar (2011). Summer Bat Surveys at Cape Range, Western Australia. Prepared by Ophiuchus Consulting in co-operation with the Cape Conservation Group and the Department of Environment and Conservation, Exmouth, Western Australia.