Ghost bats, sawfish and savanna...
All at stake at Claravale
Out by the banks of the Daly River, 300 kilometres south of Darwin, something devastating is happening.
Almost 7,000 hectares of precious native savanna woodland – some of the last intact habitat of its kind on Earth – has been or is at risk of being bulldozed at Claravale Station and Farm. That’s an area nearly the size of 3,500 MCG football fields. And it’s happening with barely any environmental scrutiny.
Now, the Environment Centre NT (ECNT), backed by lawyers from Environmental Justice Australia, is calling on federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to intervene – before it’s too late.
A global treasure under threat
The Daly River region is a biodiversity hotspot. It’s home to extraordinary species like the ghost bat, freshwater sawfish, pig-nosed turtle and the partridge pigeon – creatures that have thrived here for millennia under the careful stewardship of Traditional Owners.
But farming expansion is tearing through these habitats at alarming rates.
As Dr Kirsty Howey, Executive Director of ECNT explains:
“The Daly River is treasured by Territorians, but it’s under huge risk from accelerated industrial farming expansion."
Despite soaring land clearing approvals across the Territory, not once has a pastoral land clearing application in the NT been referred for federal environmental assessment under Australia’s nature laws. Not once.
The bulldozers move in
In 2021, Traditional Owners first alerted ECNT to bulldozing at Claravale Farm – where native vegetation was cleared almost to the river’s edge without a permit. Shocking images aired on ABC’s 7.30 and Four Corners programs showed the brutal extent of the damage.
Since then, the same landholders have applied to clear thousands more hectares across Claravale Farm and neighbouring Claravale Station. It’s death by a thousand cuts: each patch of destroyed woodland chipping away at a once-thriving landscape.
And the consequences for wildlife are severe.
Large numbers of ghost bats, Australia's only carnivorous bat, have been found roosting and breeding at Claravale Station. One maternity cave is home to between 70 and 500 bats – an essential stronghold for this threatened species.
Destroying their habitat could cause a long-term population decline, disrupt breeding cycles and leave these extraordinary creatures with nowhere to go.
And it’s not just the bats. The Daly River’s freshwater sawfish – an ancient giant with a long, toothy snout – depends on healthy waterways to survive. Land clearing brings sedimentation, runoff, and contamination, threatening nursery areas critical for sawfish recovery.
A call to action
Following an urgent letter to Minister Plibersek, EJA’s senior lawyer Laura Dreyfus put it plainly:
“Our client is concerned that NT government decision makers are rubber stamping permits and turning a blind eye to the environmental damage from land clearing.”
Federal environment laws exist to protect nature from exactly this kind of destruction. But laws mean nothing if they’re not enforced.
The bulldozing at Claravale could significantly impact matters of national environmental significance – including threatened species. That means it must be assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The Environment Centre NT is urging Minister Plibersek to 'call in' past and proposed lane clearing at Claravale for assessment – a critical step in preventing further environmental catastrophe.
The bigger picture
The situation at Claravale is not isolated. Across the Northern Territory, land clearing rates have exploded – jumping nearly tenfold between 2004 and 2017.
Today, almost 40,000 hectares of clearing applications are under assessment by the Pastoral Land Board. And many could be approved at any moment, without proper regard for endangered species or Indigenous cultural heritage.
The Daly Basin region, once a lush, interconnected network of woodlands and rivers, is being sliced up faster than almost anywhere else in the Territory.
Nature needs defenders
The story of Claravale is a grim reminder that our laws need to work – not just sit on paper. It’s a call to stand up for our rivers, our species, and the Traditional Owners who have cared for these lands for thousands of years.
The Daly River still flows all year round, one of the few rivers in the NT that does. Its waters, its creatures, and its people deserve better than bulldozers tearing through the bush.
Now is the time for the federal government to step in. Now is the time to put nature first.
Laura Dreyfus is a lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia, where she works with communities in the Northern Territory to protect nature and advocate for stronger legal protections for ecosystems.
Before joining EJA, Laura worked as a civil lawyer at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency and as a medical negligence lawyer in Melbourne.
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