• What's Special
    • What's Special
    • Our coasts and sea life
    • The Coastal Economy
    • Top End Rivers
    • Saltwater Country
    • Darwin Harbour
    • Fishing Lifestyle
  • The Problems
    • The Problems
    • Mangrove Destruction
    • Industrialisation of Darwin Harbour
    • Dams and cotton threaten the Roper River
    • Climate change in the Top End
    • Plastic pollution
    • Seabed mining in the NT
  • Take Action
    • Take Action
    • Protect Darwin Harbour
    • Back our NT Parks
    • Save our barramundi
    • It’s time to protect our coasts
    • Help ban single-use plastics
    • Keep NT Rivers Flowing
  • News & Media
    • News
    • Reports
    • Videos
  • Contact

Don't wreck the Roper!

    The Roper River in the Northern Territory flows into Limmen Bight Marine Park sustaining the ecosystem, which includes extensive seagrass beds, home to turtle and dugong populations, and habitat for prawns, barramundi and mudcrab. Sign the petition to protect the Roper from industrial-scale dams and cotton.

    Healthy rivers and coasts are central to our Top End way of life, the great NT fishing experience and our economy. They are critical to our shared future. 

    However, the mighty Roper River in the Northern Territory, which flows into the Limmen Bight Marine Park, is facing a new threat.

    Right now, the NT Government is considering a new massive water extraction licence which would allow 3.3 billion litres of water to be taken from the Roper River system each year for an ilmenite mine. That’s 1320 Olympic-sized swimming pools - every year. 

    This is the latest in a long list of threats to the mighty Roper, which includes proposals for cotton, fracking, land clearing, and mining. 

    Take action now. Add your name to tell decision makers Don’t wreck the Roper - reject this water licence application.

      Read the email that we'll send  


    I am very concerned about the proposal to build massive dams, clear 1 million hectares of bush, and plant industrial-scale crops like cotton for the Roper River.

    We’ve seen the disastrous impacts of irrigated cotton on the Murray-Darling River. It would be foolish to repeat them on the Roper.

    The Territory's great rivers are the lifeblood of our coasts and seas. The Roper flows into Limmen Bight Marine Park sustaining the ecosystem, which includes extensive seagrass beds, home to turtle and dugong populations and habitat for prawns, barramundi and mudcrab. 

    Without adequate protections in place, destructive proposals threaten the health of the Roper River and Limmen Bight Marine Park. Healthy rivers and coasts are central to our Top End way of life, the great NT fishing experience and our economy. They are critical to our shared future. 

    This is the latest in a list of growing threats to our Top End coasts and fishing lifestyle. It’s time to deliver the protection our NT rivers and coasts so desperately need. 

    I ask that you do all that you can to protect the Roper river from large-scale irrigation and implement the Plan to safeguard our coasts - the NT Coastal and Marine Management Strategy. This must start with delivering on the election commitment for two regional plans using marine spatial planning in this term of government. This will help recover our Top End economy and safeguard our fishing, culture and lifestyle.

    Yours sincerely,
    (Your name and suburb will be added here)

      Share on Facebook   Share on Twitter

    Keep Top End Coasts Healthy operates on the land and sea country of the Larrakia people. We acknowledge the Larrakia people as the Traditional Owners of the Darwin region and pay our respects to their elders past and present. 


    Keep Top End Coasts Healthy is an alliance of environment groups including the Australian Marine Conservation Society, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory.

     -  -

    About us / Reports / Image Credits / Privacy Policy

    Created by Code Nation using NationBuilder