Jarrahdale Forest Protectors Inc

23/06/2026

Forests are a public asset, belonging to the people of the state, yet the public has little or no say when governments and large corporations decide to clear or destroy vast areas of them. Many of these landscapes have already been degraded by previous industrial activities, with scant consideration given to the countless species that depend on them, both above and below the soil.

The contradiction is striking: access to water catchments is restricted to prevent contamination, and people are prohibited from picking wildflowers to protect natural regeneration, yet the large-scale destruction of entire ecosystems through activities such as strip mining is permitted. Vulnerable species are pushed ever closer to extinction, while the very environmental principles used to justify small-scale restrictions are ignored when major commercial interests are involved.

Hugh Jones MLA Matt Swinbourn MLC David Pocock Four Corners Bob Brown Foundation Australian Conservation Foundation National Geographic The Australia Institute

21/06/2026

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆."
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔."

𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞! Three members of the Jarrahdale Forest Protectors committee participated in a bus tour run by Alcoa, which took us through their mining operations, rehabilitation, and refinery.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫:
▫️ The tour guide didn't know the difference between jarrah and marri trees.
▫️ They said that the multi-stemmed jarrahs that are characteristic of the 'rehabilitation' areas would drop their excess limbs over time - ask anyone with even a small understanding of forest ecology - this does not happen!
▫️ We were not allowed to take photos on the tour - they said we could request they take photos and would send them to us - this has not happened.
▫️ The area of rehabilitation they took us to is land-locked by the mine-site - members of the public cannot visit it unless taken there by Alcoa.
▫️ The 3-4 yo 'rehabilitation' showed the re-growth from seed in the topsoil, germinations from direct seeding, and planted tubestock - survival rates are okay at this stage and would be considered 'good' if it was a revegetation program.
▫️ The guide said that the high profile of the contour rip-lines would 'settle down' over time - and yet, we still see them in the 25yo rehab around Jarrahdale.
▫️ The 15yo 'rehabilitation' was extremely dense in terms of understorey species - you could not move through it as you can the true Jarrah forest. The Jarrahs were all the same age, multi-stemmed, and also dense. (This is the point at which species numbers plateau and then reduce severely in number, which is what you can see in the 25yo rehab near Jarrahdale - and we are not talking about a small area - it is a vast landscapes of 'rehabilitation', all with a similar poor reflection of a true Jarrah forest.)
▫️ We were staggered by the red dust coating everything including vehicles, buildings, and roadside vegetation. Any petrochemicals or other compounds bound to the dust would be inhaled by humans or native fauna with a respiratory system. Also, the pores on native vegetation would quickly become clogged, interrupting the vital transpiration process.

A number of people on our bus tours have also said they have been, or are intending to go on an Alcoa bus tour.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 '𝐲𝐚 - 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝑊𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 - 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠.

21/06/2026

Good morning from the world's only jarrah forest.
Check out our highly informative upcoming bus tours.
Hugh Jones MLA Matt Swinbourn MLC you need to come on one, we have invited you previously!

20/06/2026

𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌?

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧. By area, Phytophthora dieback is present in 1/5 to 1/3 of the Jarrah Forest as a whole (including the Northern Jarrah Forest).

𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫:
☣️Phytophthora dieback is a water mould.
💀Colloquially called 'jarrah dieback', it in fact effects more than 3000 of our local native species here in the south-west (SW).
🌧️It is present in the higher rainfall areas of the SW and spreads via water, infected soil, and root-to-root contact.
🗡️It has a devastating effect on the forest, altering the suite of species present in plant communities by killing off the host plants.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 (𝐍𝐉𝐅) 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. The forest is under immense pressure for a bunch of reasons, 'dieback' being just one of them. Clearing for bauxite mining is top on the list of threats to the NJF and the #1 lever to pull to alleviate that pressure.

𝐁𝐚𝐮𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐛-𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐉𝐅. No amount of hygiene practices would prevent movement of infested soil or water moving into uninfested areas.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐀 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 and create a management plan for the NJF, which will not only allow it to be protected but also properly managed.

𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘? The NJF ticks all the criteria to become a World Heritage Site except for one thing - a management plan (which relies on the WA Government to develop a plan). A whole other story that we will talk about in a future post!

💚🌳✊

19/06/2026

𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝑰𝑴𝑩𝒀𝒔!
𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔?
𝑽𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.

ᎪᏀᎡᎬᎬᎠ. Our remnant native vegetation is 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 in south-west WA that there is actually no excuse for any further clearing, especially in the name of renewable energy solutions. There are a bunch of wind farm applications happening in the wheatbelt where 𝟖𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, and there are many communities, organisations and local groups opposing this. Instead of banging out proposals for a quick $$, the industry needs to go to the effort of: 1) finding already cleared land; and 2) creating mutually beneficial projects for property owners and neighbours to host wind farms.

Again - ᎪᏀᎡᎬᎬᎠ! The Swan Coastal Plain, which sits between the Darling Scarp and the coast is where the majority of WA's residential development has occurred. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝟗𝟎% 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧! So again - there is no excuse for more clearing. We need to take precedence from European countries and increase the density of the urban footprint, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒.

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. The Forest provides an island of vegetation in a highly cleared landscape. This 'island' is very close to the majority of WA's population and provides all of the ecosystem services that we take for granted including oxygen production, local rainfall, temperature moderation, recharge of the water table, erosion control, and so much more. If the forest health continues to suffer, then these services will be compromised and so will the people of WA.

Stay warm, friends 🔥 and mind how you go 😊🌳💚





📸 Colleen Rankin & WA Forest Alliance

19/06/2026

Our drinking water is at great risk! This is a must watch!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Fe99MS7GF/



Baldivis Times

Matt Swinbourn MLC
Hugh Jones MLA

Four Corners

19/06/2026

Good morning from the world's only jarrah forest.

The public are excluded by a two-kilometre-wide Reservoir Protection exclusion zone at the Serpentine dam. Yet Alcoa have mined much less than the reservoir's edge! Now Alcoa even want to take the drinking water directly from the reservoir, in order to suppress the dust generated by their mining!

How utterly absurd that the public are prohibited from walking through the beautiful forest near the reservoir, yet the Cook State Government thinks it is perfectly okay to waltz into here with bulldozers, explosives, excavators and haul trucks, instead of just a pair of walking boots.


Matt Swinbourn MLC
Hugh Jones MLA

1st pic 2020
4th pic 2025, same are in the background

"And some have sailed from a distant shore
And the company takes what the company wants
And nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground"

19/06/2026

Good news for the North but sadly, this does nothing to change the reality of ongoing mining operations or the proposed 11,000-hectare expansion currently before the EPA. It feels like a token gesture aimed at building social licence while the destruction of the Northern Jarrah Forest continues.

🎉❤️ALCOA TO PERMANENTLY EXIT PERTH HILLS ❤️🎉

We are so relieved to hear that Alcoa has agreed to permanently exit the Perth Hills and Mundaring Weir drinking water catchment!!

A huge thank you to EVERYONE who stood strong to protect our community and Country, and most importantly, our drinking water.

Now more than ever, we need to stand together to protect ALL forest drinking water catchments, including Serpentine and North and South Dandalup.

These dams are CRITICAL water capture, storage and distribution infrastructure. They not only capture 30% of our drinking water through streamflow, but they also store enormous quantities of our desalinated water and enable its distribution all over Perth, Kalgoorlie and the southwest. We NEED these dams to be protected FOREVER.

Here's some key facts:

• Alcoa are mining in reservoir protection zones – areas so sensitive to contamination that public access is completely prohibited. No camping, walking or riding for us, but ongoing large-scale land clearing and excavation by Alcoa. It does not make sense.

• Alcoa want to build a pipeline to take our precious drinking water straight out of Serpentine dam for use in their mining operations.

• The state’s water provider, Water Corporation, has stated that if Alcoa’s high-risk mining continues, contamination of a drinking water dam is “certain”. Yet this advice was not incorporated into Alcoa’s operating conditions.

• The risks presented by strip mining in drinking water catchments are enormous and potentially irreversible, including contamination from PFAS and hydrocarbons, rising salinity, reduced streamflow, increased erosion and sedimentation, and disrupted groundwater recharge.

• While Alcoa has provided a $100 million financial assurance for emergency contamination response, Water Corporation is so concerned, that is has also raised replacing Serpentine Dam with a $1 billion desalination plant, underscoring both the scale of the risk and the potential cost to the public.

Our drinking water and forests are critical public assets. Decisions made now will have long-term consequences for environmental, cultural and community wellbeing.

At the same time, Alcoa’s social licence is rapidly collapsing - driven by unlawful forest clearing and licence breaches, disputed claims about rehabilitation, and rising community anger over destruction of the jarrah forest and risk to our drinking water catchments.

We are calling on the WA Government to ban mining within ALL forested drinking water catchments, including no further expansion and a phased withdrawal from existing areas, starting NOW.

If you want to add your voice, take two mins to send a few emails:

To the Premier:
[email protected]
To the Minister for Water:
[email protected]
To the Minister for Environment:
[email protected]

Your voice matters and together, we WILL make change that benefits us all 🌳💧❤️

BIG SHOUT OUT TO:

Shire of Mundaring, City of Kalamunda, City of Armadale, Paige McNeil President Shire of Mundaring, Mayor Margaret Thomas - City of Kalamunda, Mayor Ruth Butterfield - City of Armadale, Adam Hort MLA, Jess Beckerling, Echo Newspaper, Jarrahdale Forest Protectors Inc, Peel Environmental Protection Alliance, Dwellingup Discovery Forest, Locals for Environmental Action & Protection (LEAP), Noongar Kaartdijin Aboriginal Corporation, Winjan Aboriginal Corporation, Conservation Council of WA, The Wilderness Society WA, WA Forest Alliance, Doctors for the Environment Australia Julimar Conservation and Forest Alliance, Save the Black Cockatoos, Northam Environmental Hub, Susannah Wooroloo Catchment Group Inc., Dudjabup Nature & Wildlife, Lower Helena Association, Nannas for Native Forests, Urban Bushland Council WA Inc, Australian Conservation Foundation, BirdLife Western Australia
..and so many others who stood with us, including 59,000 Western Australians who made a public submission ❤️

👀👀 read the official letter in the comments!