One of Australia’s Great Tropical Rivers
Daly River begins near the World Heritage landscapes of Kakadu National Park and Katherine Gorge before flowing approximately 500 kilometres to the Timor Sea. Unlike many rivers in northern Australia, the Daly maintains strong flows throughout the dry season, making it critically important for wildlife and freshwater ecosystems. The river system supports 48 fish species, including the threatened freshwater sawfish and northern speartooth shark. The Daly also contains Australia’s greatest diversity of freshwater turtle species and provides refuge for 22 migratory bird species across its wetlands. The catchment remains rich in forests and woodlands and is home to Traditional Owners and Aboriginal communities with longstanding cultural connections to the river.
The Threat
During the early 2000s, both Territory and Federal governments proposed large-scale agricultural expansion across the Daly catchment. Plans involved extracting huge volumes of groundwater from aquifers that sustained the river’s dry-season flows. Campaigners warned the proposals would result in extensive land clearing for plantations and crops, increased erosion, declining river levels and major impacts on wildlife and wetlands. Traditional Owners and environmental groups also feared the Daly could suffer ecological decline similar to heavily altered river systems elsewhere in Australia.
The Campaign
The Wilderness Society campaigned for many years to secure legal protections for the Daly River. The campaign included radio and newspaper advertising, community outreach and large-scale public engagement. In 2007, leaflets supporting protection of the Daly River were distributed to 30,000 homes across Darwin and Palmerston. The Wilderness Society worked alongside the WWF Australia and the Environment Centre NT throughout the campaign. Traditional Owners also played a major role in defending the river and opposing unsustainable development proposals.
Partial Protection Secured
On 12 December 2007, Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson announced a two-year extension to the land-clearing moratorium protecting the middle and lower Daly catchment. The extension was considered a significant partial victory for campaigners. When the moratorium expired in 2010, it was replaced with new planning guidelines that established a one-kilometre buffer zone along the Daly River rather than a complete ban on land clearing.
Legacy
The Daly River campaign became an important example of efforts to protect northern Australia’s free-flowing rivers from overdevelopment and excessive water extraction. It also highlighted the importance of combining scientific, community and Traditional Owner advocacy to defend ecologically significant river systems.
“We don’t want another Murray. They are not looking at the environment and our culture – they are only thinking of the dollar value.”—John Daly, Traditional Owner and Deputy Chairman of the Northern Land Council (The Age, 15 September 2003)