Turning the Tide Newsletter – Spring 2023
Ningaloo Threatened
Giant saltworks proposal threatens Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo.
Exmouth Gulf is a renowned sanctuary for threatened species such as sawfish, dugongs and turtles, as well as mangroves, seagrasses, corals and sponges.
German industrial company K+S has lodged its plans to build a giant saltworks on the shores of the magnificent Exmouth Gulf, a crucial part of World Heritage-listed Ningaloo ecosystem.
The salt project is proposed to be constructed over a nationally listed wetland, one of the last undisturbed arid-zone wetland ecosystems along the coast. This critical habitat underpins biological productivity in the Gulf, supporting many threatened species. Exmouth Gulf is internationally important, it has previously been formally recommended for World Heritage listing.
The giant salt project’s impacts are potentially so serious and far-reaching for threatened species and important habitats – already under pressure from climate change – that it will be assessed by both the WA Environmental Protection Authority and the Australian government at the highest level possible.