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Abstract
The Central Pilbara Railway (CPR) was constructed in 1992 by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd to provide a transport link between Marandoo and the proposed Yandicoogina Mine in the Central Pilbara, Western Australia. The 400 km line connects to the port of Dampier to the huge iron ore resources in the central Pilbara and a section of nearly 100 km of the railway passes through the Karijini National Park. The main area of interest in this study is within this strip and in particular the section 500 metres either side of the railway centreline between Marandoo and the eastern boundary of the park near Juna Downs.
This study uses multi‐temporal satellite data to determine the prior status and the impact on vegetation condition from the construction and operation of the CPR. This method was tested using one kilometre subdivisions along and 100 metre segments away from the line within a 500 metre zone around the CPR.
It was found that change in vegetation condition is significantly greater closer to the railway centreline than farther away. The significant decrease in vegetation condition occurs only in the 0 to 100m segment, but not beyond and the vegetation decrease may be considered an inevitable result of the CPR. It appears that wild‐fires have the greatest impact on vegetation condition in this region and the impact of the CPR is minimal by comparison.