Image: #MilesTweediePhotography
An alleged agreement between Alcoa and the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority Board for the US mining giant to be a diamond sponsor of the annual Everlasting Spring Festival event at Kings Park has been described as a classic case of “greenwashing”.
The sponsorship deal for the event which runs from 12 – 29 September is believed to be $100,000 per year for the next two years, with an option to end the agreement after the first year if required.
Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) Executive Director Matt Roberts said despite attempts to confirm the sponsorship arrangement, he had received no response.
Mr Roberts labelled such a sponsorship as a “grotesque demonstration of Alcoa trying to buy social license through association with an event focused on conservation and nature”.
“Ironically, the Alcoa expansion plans before the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) would see the equivalent of 27.5 Kings Parks bulldozed to extract bauxite,” Mr Roberts said.
“It is staggering to learn that the Board has allegedly accepted sponsorship from Alcoa for an ‘everlasting’ festival – a company which has already bulldozed 28,000ha of our precious Northern Jarrah Forest over the past 60 years.
“You’ll find no disagreement from me that Alcoa owes a debt to our society, but this sponsorship deal is about Alcoa attempting to paint itself as a good corporate citizen, while in reality they are being anything but.
“Alcoa currently has a two-pronged proposal before the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to clear a further 11,500ha of threatened species habitat in Perth’s water catchment zone equivalent to 27.5 Kings Parks.
“The EPA has just closed a public comment period on the expansion plans, with almost 54,000 people signing on to a submission by the End Forest Mining alliance calling for an end to its bauxite mining operations in the Darling Range.
“This level of public objection is unprecedented and sends a clear signal that West Australians are united in their disgust at the ongoing decimation of the only jarrah forest on the planet, home to a host of endangered species including our beloved black cockatoos.
“Alcoa has a history of looking at partnerships to buy its social license, but, in light of what is happening to our Northern Jarrah Forest because of their strip mining, we have to draw a line in the sand and stop giving them any credibility – especially when it comes to nature.
“The loss of thousands of mature trees due to Alcoa’s proposed expansion of mining operations will push our critically endangered species to the brink of extinction.”
Further information:
Access images and video of Alcoa’s bauxite mine here.
Access images and video of threatened species, local community protests and drone footage of rehabilitation here.
EPA link: Bauxite mining on the Darling Range in the southwest of WA for the years 2023 to 2027