Mining giant monitors how one of Australia’s most mysterious native carnivores manage a post-mining landscape

A mining giant is monitoring how one of Australia’s most mysterious native carnivores manage a post-mining landscape.

Alcoa Australia’s Forest Research Centre has more than 20 projects under way aiming to better understand how native animals use and traverse rehabilitated or unmined forests, active mining areas, roads and tracks, from the chuditch to mainland quokkas.

Officially launched in 2024, the centre is using motion-activated cameras to capture shy, nocturnal animals across native and degraded landscapes, with several new groups of quokkas identified in stream zones within the post-mining landscape.

Alcoa research manager Dr Lucy Commander said building greater understanding of the ways in which fauna use and move through various forest habitats will help inform protection measures, land use and rehabilitation practices.

“While these various research projects provide a lot of valuable data on their own, that value increases as we collate data from different projects and can cross reference it,” she said.

“As an example, we have various studies into feral predators like foxes, pigs and cats that has concluded, is under way or planned to commence, and information gathered from these studies will help inform and improve protection measures for native species that use the same habitats.”

Research scientist and fauna specialist Dr Justine Barker said advances in technology were enabling research opportunities to broaden.

“We have a range of monitoring technologies available to us that didn’t exist a few years ago and that means we can expand monitoring across broader geographical areas, gather more fine scale data and design research projects that once may have been logistically or financially unfeasible,” Dr Barker said.

“Through the Forest Research Centre, we also have a platform that allows for more collaboration with other research institutions so there are some exciting opportunities for joint projects that will really further our understanding of native fauna.”