Rio Tinto is committing A$28m (£14.5m) to build a "toad containment zone" that aims to keep cane toads out of the Pilbara region of western Australia, according to a BBC Business report. The mining company is working on the project with Curtin University in Perth and other partners.
The plan would cut off the toads' water supply across 7,500 sq km of land between the Great Sandy Desert and the Indian Ocean. The funding would be used to stop the toads reaching dams, storage tanks and other ground-level water sources. The five-year project is set to begin in 2027.
The report says the cane toad is not a direct threat to Rio Tinto's business. It produces toxins that are lethal to native wildlife. Species the report names as at risk include the northern quoll, the goanna lizard and the ghost bat.
Roberta Hunter, a ranger in the Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, said: "Cane toads destroy the water and animals." She added: "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."
Ben Phillips, a professor at Curtin University, said the toads would reach the Pilbara within two decades without action. He said the 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."
The report notes that Rio Tinto previously faced criticism for destroying two sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in the Pilbara. That decision cost the former chief executive his job, and the company committed to rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities.