Why Leonardo Di Caprio is talking about this tiny Australian town

Leonardo Di Caprio has criticized the felling of native forests in Western Australia, claiming that the Government “will prioritize mining development on environmental protection.”

The American actor told his 60 million Instagram followers that the South32 Mining Company will destroy the “critical habitat”, since it expands its Bauxita mine near the small city of Boddington in WA.

“The South32 mining company will clarify 9,600 acres of this old growth forest, which is the home of threatened species such as the Woylie in critical danger,” he wrote.

“This operation will destroy critical habitat for more than 8,000 species, 80 percent of which are not found anywhere else on earth.

“Although the felling of the native forest was prohibited in Western Australia in 2024, the elimination of native forests for mining is still allowed due to separate government policies that prioritize mining development on environmental protection.”

Di Caprio has criticized the environmental history of the Australian government in the past, after having taken a chance in the land compensation practices in Queensland in 2024.

Its new objective, the South32 Project Project, has been operating in the southwest of WA for more than 40 years.

A WA map, highlighting Perth and the city of Boddington to the south

The Boddington region had an estimated population from 1,786 to June 2023, with another 2,000 workers traveling every week according to the region’s development commission website.

In February, the Minister of Environment, Tanya Plibersak, approved her expansion proposal, which will contribute to a loss of 3,855 hectares (9,525 acres) of native vegetation.

The project is one of the largest employers in the region, says the company, spending millions of dollars locally around Boddington.

‘Strict approval’

While Di Caprio’s publication highlights the issue of deforestation in WA, South32 said that the actor’s statement is not completely precise and leaves aside the “strict” conditions that the company must follow.

According to WA government approvals, South 32 cannot disturb the old growth forests and must undertake several conservation projects.

“The Worsley Minas Development Project will be carried out according to the strict approval conditions that seek to avoid or minimize the impacts on species habitats, including black cacatúa, to support its continuous viability,” South32 said in a statement to SBS News.

“Within the areas in which we have received the approval of mine, protected areas and cushioning areas, they will be implemented around known habitats of certain protected species and we will carry out (or we have already undertaken) surveys of flora and fauna directed as required by our approval.”

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A spokesman for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water defended the approval of the expansion of the mine, which describes South32’s obligations with the area.

They include a progressive rehabilitation of mined areas, protecting nests from black caratuas and 12,345 hectares of land to compensate for approved land authorization and guarantee the viability of the local populations of Woylie and Numbat.

South32 must also “establish artificial nests for three threatened species of black cactoo,” said the department spokesman.

The ‘excited’ conservationists by Di Caprio

The Save the Black Cockatoos group supported the publication of Di Caprio.

“Happy that Leonardo Di Caprio has had images of karaks (Red-Tail Black Cockatoos) to his 60 million followers to highlight the problem of bauxite mining in the jarrah forest,” he wrote on Instagram.

Together with the WA Conservation Council, the group wants more strict laws around Earth’s authorizations.

Leonardo Di Caprio talking on a podium with a United Nations emblem.

Actor Leonardo Di Caprio spoke at the Paris Agreement ceremony on climate change in 2016 at the United Nations headquarters. Fountain: AP / Mark Lennihan

“We need the government to take some direct measures, such as placing a moratorium on the cleaning of critical habitat and remnant native vegetation in WA,” says its website.

“Found ecological restoration programs to increase the coverage of native vegetation to 30 percent in 2040, focusing on areas of the local government and bioregions with less than 10 percent coverage.”

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