**:: Enhancing Environmental Conservation on Curtis Island JANUARY 21, 2020::**

**:: Enhancing Environmental Conservation on Curtis Island JANUARY 21, 2020::**

http://www.conocophillips.com/sustainability/sustainability-news/story/enhancing-environmental-conservation-on-curtis-island/

Additionally, the LNG companies contributed $34.5 million AUD (about $23.8 million USD) for the preservation and ongoing management of the area.

“These LNG-funded conservation measures alone protect over 44% of Curtis Island. Combined with existing conservation and national parks, more than 59% of Curtis Island is set aside for environmental protection. This is compared to the 2% used by the LNG facilities on the southern tip,” said Jason Charton, General Manager HSE at ConocoPhillips Australia.

Federal and state environmental approvals to develop the LNG facilities on Curtis Island require biodiversity offsets to counterbalance the disturbance made by the facilities. Establishment of the conservation park is a direct offset of a significantly larger magnitude than required by those regulations.

The Curtis Island Conservation Park is located within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area and features marine plain and saltpan ecosystems. These terrains are important to migratory shorebirds and serves as breeding habitat for the Capricorn Yellow Chat. Additionally, there are significant undisturbed coastal ecosystems, and more than 500 hectares (about 1,235 acres) of wetlands, including mangroves, salt flats and salt marshes, and floodplain tree swamps that are a nursery area for fish and crustacean species