In northwest Tasmania, an escalating dispute over the future of the Takayna/Tarkine rainforest has emerged as a flashpoint in the global tension between resource extraction and environmental protection. At its core is a proposed tailings dam by Chinese state-owned miner MMG, which environmentalists say threatens one of Earth’s last expanses of temperate rainforest.
MMG’s presence in Tasmania is part of a broader push by Chinese state-owned companies to secure critical minerals across the Asia-Pacific. From the Pacific Islands to Papua New Guinea and Australia, these projects are increasingly clashing with local demands to protect the environment and respect Indigenous land rights.
MMG has previously faced environmental and community backlash over its operations in Peru and Laos, including protests over water pollution near its Las Bambas copper mine and concerns about biodiversity impacts at its Sepon gold and copper mine.
With China’s naval presence reportedly increasing near Tasmania, MMG’s tailings dam proposal has become part of a broader debate about China’s strategic interests in sensitive ecological and cultural zones.
As scholars interviewed by The Diplomat’s managing editor, Catherine Putz, have observed concerning Central Asia, Chinese-backed projects often attract heightened scrutiny over environmental and sovereignty concerns amid rising Sinophobic sentiment that complicates local perceptions and resistance.
Ancient myrtle and man ferns thrive in a lush section of the Takayna/Tarkine rainforest, one of the areas environmentalists say is threatened by MMG’s proposed tailings dam. Photo by Hugh Bohane.
The Tarkine is home to more than 60 rare, threatened, and endangered species, including the critically endangered swift parrot, the vulnerable Tasmanian masked owl, the Tasmanian devil, the giant freshwater crayfish, and the spotted-tailed quoll. These species face escalating threats from habitat destruction linked to MMG’s proposed tailings dam.
The Rosebery mine, operated by MMG since 2009, is a major local employer and producer of zinc and copper minerals deemed essential for the global clean energy transition. However, to continue operating beyond 2027, MMG needs a new tailings storage facility.
“As part of our plan for Rosebery’s future, we are exploring locations across our mining and exploration tenements around Rosebery,” said an MMG spokesperson. “We are also making a significant investment in our existing facilities at Bobadil and 2/5 dam, which could extend their life to 2030, subject to permitting approvals.”
The spokesperson added, “MMG complies with all regulatory requirements in the programs of work.”
A logged coupe in Takayna/Tarkine shows the aftermath of native forest clearing, part of what conservationists argue is an ongoing threat to one of the world’s last temperate rainforests. Photo by Hugh Bohane.
Ecological and Cultural Significance of Takayna/Tarkine
The proposed new site, however, is within Takayna, a region of immense ecological, cultural, and spiritual significance to Tasmanian Aboriginal communities. Environmental advocates warn that the dam would destroy old-growth rainforests and endanger threatened species.
“MMG’s proposed tailings dam would permanently destroy a pristine section of rainforest,” said Charley Gros, a forest ecologist with the Bob Brown Foundation (BBF). “This area is a known habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot and the vulnerable Tasmanian masked owl. If the dam proceeds, both species will be closer to extinction.”
Gros added that tailings dam leaks, often involving toxic heavy metals, pose a “severe risk” to the Pieman River catchment and could cause “irreversible ecological collapse.”
The proposal has yet to receive approval under Australia’s national environmental law. According to a spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water, “A decision on MMG’s proposed new tailings storage facility at South Marionoak has not yet been made. The Tasmanian government is first assessing the proposal.”
MMG is preparing a draft of the Environmental Impact Statement to be released for public consultation. The conflict pits multiple levels of government policy against environmental science and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Tasmanian Minister for Business, Industry, and Resources Eric Abetz defended the state’s position, arguing that mining can be compatible with environmental goals. “As the world continues to shift to a renewable energy future, Tasmania has the key and critical minerals needed to power this transition,” Abetz said.
“Few other places can match Tasmania’s ability to produce ‘green,’ low carbon-intensive metals.”
He described the Tarkine as “an exemplar of multiple land-use management, where recreation, conservation, resource utilization, and tourism have co-existed successfully for generations.”
But Palawa cultural leaders like Ruth Langford, a Yorta Yorta and Jaja Wurrung woman who grew up in Lutruwita (Tasmania), sharply contest this framing.
She says the forest is far more than a resource; it’s a sacred teacher.
“Takayna has a living life force for our health and wellbeing,” Langford told The Diplomat. “It’s not just about protecting trees; it’s about protecting the very things that give us life.”
Langford, who is also the founder of the Aboriginal social enterprise Nayri Niara, believes the tailings dam threatens not only biodiversity but the spiritual integrity of the region. “Uncle Jim Everett [Puralia Meenamatta] teaches us we are water. And our primary obligation is protecting water because every living being relies on it.”
Langford acknowledges the moral and economic complexity faced by residents who rely on MMG for employment. “I met a man walking through the forest who said he comes here just to reset,” she said. “But when I asked about the dam, he said, ‘I’ve got young children. What happens if those tailings dams leak?’ People talk about it, but it’s one of the only jobs in town.”
That tension between keeping a job and protecting the land is why campaigners insist we need independent, science-backed research, not shaped by mining interests.
Former Greens leader Dr. Bob Brown was issued a notice by Tasmania Police during a protest in a logged area of the Styx Valley in 2024 as part of ongoing efforts to protect the rainforest from industrial development. Photo courtesy of the Bob Brown Foundation.
The Role of Science-Led Activism
For Gros, this is where science-led activism plays a vital role. He says that environmental assessments commissioned by mining companies often miss key findings due to limited timeframes and scope. “In contrast, science-led activism engages citizen scientists, conducts months of fieldwork, and independently verifies the presence of threatened species,” Gros said.
Although Australian governments frequently pledge to safeguard endangered habitats, Gros argues that mining approvals often contradict those commitments. “When critical habitats are at risk, science-led activism steps in to hold governments accountable to their environmental laws.”
The struggle for Takayna is emblematic of global battles in the Amazon, the Congo, and Southeast Asia, where industrial development collides with Indigenous sovereignty and irreplaceable ecosystems.
The campaign to protect Takayna has drawn international attention, including support from high-profile figures like Leonardo DiCaprio, who has used his platform to highlight the forest’s global ecological importance.
In 2021, ecologists from the BBF discovered a nesting site of the endangered Tasmanian masked owl within the proposed dam site. The finding prompted a successful Federal Court injunction that temporarily halted MMG’s exploratory work. The court found that the federal environment minister had not adequately considered whether the dam would significantly impact threatened species.
Jenny Weber, BBF’s campaign manager, says the issue goes beyond science and policy; it’s about moral courage. “We’re not just up against bulldozers; we’re up against a system that refuses to value nature and Indigenous culture,” she said.
“The government keeps telling us it’s ‘sustainable,’ but that’s a lie. You can’t log rainforests or dump toxic waste and pretend it’s sustainable.”
Among the BBF’s members are forest defenders whose tactics have ranged from blocking access roads and locking onto heavy machinery to establishing tree-sits high in the forest canopy.
Weber has been arrested 11 times for her activism and spent more than two decades campaigning in Takayna. She said, “I’ve stood in front of bulldozers. I’ve watched elders cry over desecrated land. I’ve also seen people from all walks of life come together and say, ‘This must stop.'”
She argues that MMG’s impact on Takayna isn’t an isolated case. “This is industrial vandalism; it’s cultural and ecological violence against a landscape that holds the oldest living culture on the planet. MMG is a company with a track record of environmental destruction. We’re seeing it unfold here right now,” Weber said.
(Left to right) Bob Brown Foundation’s campaign manager Jenny Weber, Indigenous elder and Tasmanian logging protestor Jim Everett (Puralia Meenamatta), and Ruth Langford, founder of Aboriginal social enterprise Nayri Niara. Photo courtesy of the Bob Brown Foundation.
The Long-Term Costs of Environmental Damage
Weber warns that the cumulative toll on the landscape will have long-term consequences: “Once a rainforest is destroyed, it doesn’t grow back in a decade or two. We’re talking hundreds of years of ecological loss. You can’t offset that. There’s no ‘green mining’ in a rainforest.”
The campaigner also questioned the state’s framing of resource extraction as a green energy necessity. “They’re greenwashing destruction,” she said. “Critical minerals don’t have to come from rainforests. Other ways to meet demand don’t involve annihilating ancient ecosystems.”
And while MMG has claimed it explored alternative sites, Weber remains unconvinced. “MMG tried to pretend there were no alternatives. But we’ve proven otherwise. We found sites outside Takayna that they refused to consider. This is about cost-cutting and convenience, not necessity,” she said.
When asked what keeps her going, Weber replies: “Love. Love for this Earth, love for justice, and the absolute refusal to give up. Sometimes, it’s a 70-year-old grandmother chaining herself to a gate. Sometimes, it’s a 20-year-old discovering their voice for the first time. That’s where hope lives.”
Langford, too, sees this moment as part of a larger reckoning with Australia’s colonial systems. “Our government is part of a structure designed to benefit the few while the many are enslaved to it,” she said.
She states that Indigenous leadership must be central to any future that claims to be ethical or sustainable. “If Australia wants to come back to an ethical way of being, then Indigenous and First Peoples’ leadership is imperative. Without it, we only recycle the same paradigm that caused this crisis.”
As debates continue over what constitutes a “just transition,” Langford urges Australians to listen to the forest, the land, and the oldest continuous culture on the planet.
“Across the world, I see disturbed landscapes. But Takayna still holds its integrity. It reminds us what ecosystems are meant to look like,” she said. “We are all beholden to the law that ensures water flourishes.”
The BBF has been advocating for Takayna/Tarkine to be nominated for a UNESCO World Heritage listing, arguing that its ecological and cultural values meet the criteria for international protection.