Moonlight Range in Central Queensland is mountainous, remote, rugged, untouched, and inadvertently, a sanctuary for wildlife.
Above the high elevation ridgelines, a wide array of raptors soar on thermals and bats feast on insects at night. When night falls, owls silently move between trees hunting, occasionally calling out to attract a mate. Months and years pass by, but Moonlight range is peaceful, devoid of human presence, only the serene sounds of breezes and bats and birdcalls fill the air.
But all this will change if Moonlight Range wind complex is approved.
Then, the earth movers will come. Explosives will destroy the earth and terrify wildlife. Teams of wind farm construction workers will move in, using heavy vehicles, raising dust, shattering peace. Big trucks will come and go in a steady stream, likely hitting wildlife.Then, chaos and death as vast tracts of trees are razed to the ground.
88 wind turbines and a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will be installed.
Once operational, wind turbines will annihilate aerial life, and the infrasound sound may impact mammals below, masking koala mating calls, or just generally repelling life from the area. The BESS will expose the landscape to a new fire risk. These lithium fires are impossible to put out and can cause catastrophic bush fires.
The scale of clearing is expected to be 1,263 ha, including extensive regulated and high value regrowth vegetation. Don't forget to factor in edge effects, the introduction of weeds from clearing, the fragmentation of high quality habitat, loss of moisture from the soil and loss of carbon uptake.
Threatened species that may inhabit or move through the site include Powerful Owls, Koalas, Greater Gliders and Yellow-Bellied Gliders, Red Goshawks, Black Faced Monarchs, Fork-tailed Swifts.Koalas and Greater Gliders will be badly impacted by loss of foraging and habitat trees. Rare tree hollows will be destroyed.
Squatter Pigeons were confirmed to live here and will be likely badly impacted by the wind complex, losing up to over 1000 hectares of habitat.
Concerningly, there doesn't appear to be any provisions made for injured wildlife that may need care beyond the presence of a fauna spotter-catcher.
The guideline requirements for survey time for Northern Quolls were not met by surveyors, so the surveys were inadequate to determine if this species lives onsite. The survey guidelines were also not met for Dunmall's Snake, Ghost Bats, Corben's Long-eared bats and Yakka Skinks. Thermal Drones were not used to aid in the detection of Koalas, Greater Gliders or other arboreal mammals.
We really have no clear idea of which rare and threatened species inhabit these mountainous climbs as the project footprint is very large and difficult to access. Few have gone here before, little is known.
The Moonlight Range wind farm is a rotten proposal that will destroy important, unique habitat that harbors important species, both flora and fauna. This should be now be rejected.