Alcoa's $39 Million Reparation for Illegal Forest Clearing
Alcoa, a U.S. aluminium company, will pay A$55 million to remediate illegally cleared native forests in Western Australia. The payment, covering land clearing from 2019 to 2025, will fund conservation initiatives, including protecting endangered species and managing invasive species. This represents the largest payment of its kind in Australia.
U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa has agreed to pay A$55 million (about $39 million) for the illegal clearing of native forests in Western Australia, according to the country's environment ministry.
The agreement, reached through legally enforceable undertakings, addresses land clearing activities from 2019 to 2025 in the Northern Jarrah Forest, south of Perth. The funds will support conservation efforts such as ecological offsets and programs to protect endangered black cockatoos nesting in jarrah trees, as well as initiatives to manage invasive species.
Active in Western Australia since the 1960s, Alcoa has cleared approximately 28,000 hectares of native jarrah forest for bauxite mining. Public opposition has intensified, with substantial pushback against a proposal to clear an additional 11,500 hectares, which prompted a record 59,000 public submissions to the state's environmental watchdog last year. Authorities labeled the A$55 million payment as unprecedented and the largest of its kind for unauthorized clearing.
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