Leonardo Di Caprio has criticised native forest logging in Western Australia, claiming the government will "prioritise mining development over environmental protection".
The US actor told his 60 million Instagram followers that mining and metals company South32 will destroy "critical habitat", as it expands its bauxite mine near the small town of Boddington in WA.
"The mining company South32 is set to clear 9,600 acres of this old growth forest, which is home to threatened species like the Critically Endangered Woylie," he wrote.
"This operation will destroy critical habitat for over 8,000 species, 80 per cent of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
"While native forest logging was banned in Western Australia in 2024, clearance of native forests for mining is still allowed due to separate government policies that prioritise mining development over environmental protection."
Di Caprio has been critical of the Australian government's environmental track record in the past, having taken a shot at land clearing practices in Queensland in 2024.
His newest target, South32's Worsley Alumina project, has been operating in the WA's South West for over 40 years.
The Shire of Boddington had an estimated population of 1,786 as of June 2023, with another 2,000 workers commuting each week according to the region's development commission website.
The project is one of the largest employers in the region, the company says, spending millions of dollars locally around Boddington.
'Strict approvals'
While Di Caprio's post highlights the issue of deforestation in WA, South32 said the actor's statement isn’t completely accurate and leaves out "strict" conditions the company must follow.
Under approvals from the WA government, South 32 cannot disturb old growth forests and is required to undertake several conservation projects.
"The Worsley Mine Development project will be undertaken in accordance with strict approval conditions that seek to avoid or minimise impacts to habitats of species, including the Black Cockatoo, to support their ongoing viability," South32 said in a statement to SBS News.
"Within the areas that we have received approval to mine, protected areas and buffer zones will be implemented around known habitats of certain protected species and we will undertake (or have already undertaken) targeted flora and fauna surveys and monitoring as required by our approvals."
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A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water defended approval of the mine expansion, outlining South32's obligations to the area.
They include progressively rehabilitating mined areas, protecting black cockatoo nests and 12,345 hectares of land to compensate for the approved land clearance, and ensuring the viability of local woylie and numbat populations.
South32 must also "establish artificial nest hollows for three threatened species of black cockatoos," the department's spokesperson said.
Conservationists 'thrilled' by Di Caprio
The Save the Black Cockatoos group endorsed Di Caprio's post.
"Thrilled that Leonardo Di Caprio has instagrammed footage of Karaks (Forest Red-tail Black Cockatoos) to his 60 million followers to highlight the problem of bauxite mining in the Jarrah Forest," it wrote on Instagram.
Along with the Conservation Council of WA, the group wants stricter laws in place around land clearances.
Actor Leonardo Di Caprio spoke at the signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 at United Nations headquarters. Source: AP / Mark Lennihan
"Fund ecological restoration programs to increase native vegetation cover to 30 per cent by 2040, focusing on local government areas and bioregions with less than 10 per cent cover."
