Australia's electricity market is in transition to cleaner, renewable sources of energy as a necessary strategy to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Avoiding and minimising impacts to flora and fauna that might utilise the project area is a priority. Increasing renewable energy capacity and biodiversity conservation are both critically important and compatible objectives, it just requires careful planning and management, and the right approach.

The proposal will be subject to rigorous and comprehensive environmental assessment by both the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments.

Queensland’s State code 23: Wind farm development requires assessment of potential impacts on vegetation, habitat for threatened species, biodiversity corridors and avifauna (birds and bats). Requirements include field surveys, species-specific studies, strategies to minimise and mitigate impacts, and preparation of technical reports and preliminary management plans. The code aims to ensure wind farms avoid, minimise and mitigate adverse impacts on the natural environment (fauna and flora) and associated ecological processes.

The Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will also assess the proposal through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), a multi-step process that provides for community participation.

The environmental assessment will involve years of work by specialist ecologists and survey teams, and include field studies, multi-seasonal surveys and targeted investigations for key species. It will incorporate input from scientists, experts, local resource managers and knowledge holders.

As this work is done the project design will be refined and modified accordingly in consultation with ecological experts and key stakeholders, to avoid sensitive ecological areas or key habitat.

The project team is committed to collaborating with environment stakeholders, ecology specialists, local knowledge holders and host landowners to avoid and minimise environmental impacts, and implement strategies to mitigate unavoidable impacts of the development.

An aim of the project will be to achieve net gains for biodiversity and key species in the project area over the longer term. Measures to achieve this might include rehabilitation of the initial construction disturbance, improved management regimes for feral pests, weed control and fire, and offset areas to increase and improve habitat for key species.