https://newsletter.mw.creamermedia.com

Alcoa forced to pay A$55m after illegally clearing Australian native forest

18th February 2026

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

US aluminium company Alcoa will pay A$55-million to remediate native forest it illegally cleared in Western Australia in order to mine bauxite, Australia’s environment ministry said on Wednesday.

The payment, secured through legally enforceable undertakings, relates to land clearing between 2019 and 2025 of habitat in the Northern Jarrah Forest, south of Perth.

The money will go towards conservation-focused initiatives including ecological offsets, programmes to preserve endangered black cockatoos that nest in the jarrah trees, and improving the management of invasive species.

Alcoa has mined bauxite, the raw material for aluminium, in Western Australia since the 1960s and has cleared around 28 000 ha of the state's native jarrah forest. It has faced growing opposition to its land clearing and environmental impact in recent years.

A proposal to clear a further 11,500 hectares of jarrah forest attracted a record 59,000 submissions from the public to the state's environment watchdog last year.

The government said the unlawful clearing of just under 2,100 hectares between 2019 and 2025 was done without seeking government approvals. It called the A$55 million payment "unprecedented" and said it was the largest of its kind.

Edited by Reuters

Article Enquiry

Email Article

Save Article

Feedback

To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Showroom

The Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa
Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa

The Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa was established to develop sustainable, internationally competitive carbon steel tube and pipe...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
MBE Minerals SA (Pty) Ltd
MBE Minerals SA (Pty) Ltd

Your global lifecycle technology & service partner for materials & minerals processing equipment for coal, iron ore, copper, manganese & other...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (13/02/2026)
13th February 2026 By: Martin Creamer
Magazine round up | 13 February 2026
Magazine round up | 13 February 2026
13th February 2026

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.229 0.314s - 129pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now