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.

Increasing renewable energy capacity and protecting local wildlife are both critically important and compatible objectives, it just requires careful planning and management, and the right approach.

This part of northern Queensland is blessed with national parks and wilderness, and avoiding and minimising impacts to local flora and fauna is a priority. The site is in a long held cattle grazing property with existing disturbed areas, access tracks and a powerline that the project can utilise.

The project has been designed to avoid all direct impacts to the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area and rainforest to the east of the project area, and to avoid and minimise the impacts to known or potential habitat for key species including the magnificent brood frog, northern greater glider, masked owl and spectacled flying-fox.

The proposal is subject to a rigorous and comprehensive environmental assessment process under both the state and federal governments.

Ecological assessment requirements for the Queensland Government's State Assessment and Referral Agency are prescribed in State code 23: Wind farm development .

The Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will assess the proposal through a Public Environment Report.

Over more than two years and 4,000 hours of ecology work has been done by ecologists, scientists and specialist survey teams, including ecosystem mapping, field studies, multi-seasonal surveys and targeted investigations for key species. As we have learned more about the site, the project has been refined and modified accordingly.

• Rehabilitation of at least 70% of the temporary construction disturbance.
• Establishment of three magnificent brood frog nature reserves totalling 1,255 hectares and $250,000 for scientific research.
• Salvage and relocation of denning hollows, with nest boxes and net bridges.
• First Nations led Bushfire Management Plan and Integrated Pest Management Plan to control widespread feral pests (pigs, dogs, cats) and invasive weeds (Candy leaf, Lantana camara, Siam weed), to significantly reduce known key threats to the values of the WTQWHA and improve the host property’s habitat for key species.
• Significant, strategically located offset areas to provide managed and protected habitat for key species and improve habitat connectivity.

The benefits of the project to the natural environment far outweigh its impacts and include a significant improvement in potential habitat for protected species on private land adjacent to protected forests.

After rehabilitation of the temporary construction disturbance the wind farm would have an operational footprint of approximately 57.6 hectares.