This BHP Beenup project is a post-mining ecological restoration project
Location: Augusta, Western Australia
Client: BHP Billiton
Time frame: 2000 – 2016
Services provided by Syrinx
Botany and Ecology; Constructed Wetlands and Biofilters; Ecological Restoration; Restoration Ecology; Specialist Construction; Wetland Science
Project Phases Delivered
Project Phases Details
This BHP Beenup project is a post-mining ecological restoration project
The project is concerned with the restoration and creation of habitats for flora and fauna in 350 hectares of former mineral sands mine.
In addition to achieving numerous restoration ‘firsts’, the approach developed by Syrinx is an international benchmark for post-mining restoration. A detailed and prescriptive set of restoration and completion criteria were developed to allow more certainty of outcomes and provide quantitative measurements of restoration success. This is the first instance globally where sustainability and biodiversity were used as the key success categories.
In total, 15 different ecosystem units over 350 hectares were designed and constructed and have been monitored against the baseline data annually since 2002. The project has successfully met all completion criteria and was endorsed by government in 2016, a first of a kind outcome in Western Australia.
Key outcomes
- Successful reintroduction of over 160 species (including rare and priority species) in a post-mined, former agricultural setting with a history of pasture weed domination. This represents a significant species richness achievement, and demonstrates an understanding of both native plant ecology and weed ecology is paramount to re-establishing resilient ecosystems
- Combined wetland and dryland revegetation works constitute over 100 million plants and 150 million seeds
- The project is now visited by a variety of stakeholders (government, mining, community) as an example of the level of restoration that can be achieved with sound science and a prescriptive restoration planning approach
- Generation of new data on the propagation and recruitment probability of around 40 rush and sedge species not used in restoration or commercial applications previously
- The site is considered one of the best post-mining restoration projects world-wide. It is the first to create a functional range of wetland types similar to the surrounding natural wetlands in Australia.
