Rio Tinto joins A$28m push to halt poisonous cane toad's march into Pilbara

Rio Tinto is pouring millions of dollars into an effort to stop the poisonous cane toad reaching the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where the mining giant runs a vast iron ore operation. The company, together with Curtin University in Perth and other partners, will spend A$28m (£14.5m) building a "toad containment zone" designed to prevent the pest travelling south. Although the cane toad poses no direct threat to Rio Tinto's business, it produces toxins that are lethal to native wildlife and is seen as a danger to the Pilbara's ecosystem. Species at risk if the toad arrives include the northern quoll, whose numbers have been decreasing, along with the goanna lizard and the ghost bat. The company has previously faced criticism in the region for destroying two sacred Aboriginal rock shelters that sat above tonnes of iron ore. That decision cost the former chief executive his job, provoked a widespread backlash and led Rio Tinto to commit to rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities. Roberta Hunter, a ranger in Australia's Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, welcomed the containment plan. "Cane toads destroy the water and animals," she said. "When toads come close to our country, we want to be there to stop them because we don't want the country to be destroyed." The scheme aims to cut off the toad's water supply by building a barrier across 7,500 sq km (2,895 sq miles) of land between the Great Sandy Desert and the Indian Ocean. In drier months, the cane toad needs water every few days to survive, and where natural sources are absent it relies on artificial water points normally used for cattle and irrigation. The funding will be used to deny the toads access to dams, storage tanks and other ground-level water sources. The five-year project is scheduled to start in 2027. Cane toads were introduced to Australia in 1935 to control beetles in the sugar cane industry. Since then they have been advancing west across the country's northern landscape at a rate of 40km to 60km a year, according to the Australian government. There are no predators or diseases that keep the toads in check, and they defend themselves using poison. Ben Phillips, a professor at Curtin University, said the toads would reach the Pilbara within two decades without action. "The toad containment zone is a once in a lifetime opportunity to stop one of the world's worst invasive species in its tracks and protect the region's unique wildlife," he said.