Pilbara, Australia — Rio Tinto Funds A$28M Toad Barrier

Rio Tinto is putting money behind an effort to stop cane toads from reaching the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where the mining company runs a large iron ore operation, according to BBC News.

The mining giant, along with Curtin University in Perth and other partners, will spend A$28m (£14.5m) to build what organizers are calling a "toad containment zone," the BBC reported. The goal is to keep the poisonous amphibians from spreading south into the Pilbara, a region known for its red-dirt landscapes and native wildlife.

Why is a mining company paying to stop toads?

Cane toads pose no direct threat to Rio Tinto's iron ore business. But the toads carry toxins that are lethal to native animals, and their arrival in the Pilbara would threaten the region's ecosystem, the BBC reported.

Rio Tinto has spent the past several years trying to repair its standing with Indigenous communities in the Pilbara. The company destroyed two sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in the region in 2020 because they sat above a large iron ore deposit. That decision cost the company's then-chief executive his job and triggered a backlash that pushed Rio Tinto to commit publicly to rebuilding trust with Indigenous groups, according to the BBC.

Roberta Hunter, a ranger in Australia's Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, told the BBC the stakes are direct for people who live on the land. "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."

How will the containment zone actually work?

The plan centers on cutting off the toad's access to water across 7,500 square kilometers of land between the Great Sandy Desert and the Indian Ocean, the BBC reported.

Cane toads need to drink every few days during dry months to survive. Where natural water sources are scarce, the toads turn to artificial water points built for cattle and irrigation — dams, storage tanks and similar infrastructure. The funding will go toward blocking toad access to those ground-level water sources, according to the BBC.

Without a water supply to rely on, the barrier is designed to stop the toads' advance before they ever reach the Pilbara's borders.

What animals are at risk if toads get through?

Several native species in the Pilbara have no defense against the toad's poison, the BBC reported. Among the most exposed:

• The northern quoll, a small carnivorous marsupial whose population has already been declining
• The goanna lizard
• The ghost bat

Cane toads were brought into Australia in 1935 to control beetles damaging the sugar cane industry. They have no natural predators or diseases to keep their numbers in check in Australia, and they defend themselves with toxin rather than speed or stealth, according to the BBC. Since their introduction, the toads have crept west across the country's north at a rate of roughly 40 to 60 kilometers a year.

"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." — Ben Phillips, professor, Curtin University

Phillips told the BBC that without the barrier, the toads would reach the Pilbara within two decades.

When does construction start?

The project is scheduled to run five years, starting in 2027, according to the BBC. The timeline for the toads' advance and the response looks like this:

• 1935 — Cane toads introduced to Australia to control sugar cane beetles
• 1935–2026 — Toads spread roughly 40 to 60 km per year across northern Australia with no natural predators
• 2027 — Construction begins on the A$28m, 7,500 sq km containment zone
• ~2047 — Estimated point at which toads would reach the Pilbara absent the barrier, per Curtin University's Ben Phillips

What happens next

Readers tracking the project should watch for:

• Whether Rio Tinto or Curtin University release a construction schedule once the five-year project begins in 2027
• Updates on toad movement tracked by Australian wildlife authorities in the years before construction starts
• Any additional funding partners joining the A$28m project beyond Rio Tinto and Curtin University
• Response from Indigenous ranger groups, including the Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, as the barrier takes shape

The BBC's reporting did not specify additional funding partners beyond Rio Tinto and Curtin University, nor did it detail construction costs beyond the A$28m total figure. Full story: BBC News.