Showing posts with label environmental vandalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmental vandalism. Show all posts
Thursday 28 June 2018
Conservationists Alarmed at NSW Government Plans for our Forests
Conservationists
are alarmed about the NSW Government’s proposals to increase logging intensity
in our public forests.
And while the
Government is proposing drastic changes weakening logging rules, it is avoiding
holding meaningful public consultations about their plans. North Coast
conservationists had wanted to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to visit
local forests to see first hand the damage that has already resulted from the
current logging practices. The EPA refused to participate.
This is
probably not surprising given that the EPA, which is charged with monitoring
and ensuring compliance of logging operations in the State Forests, has failed
in ensuring that the current regulations have been adhered to. And on those occasions when it has determined
that there have been breaches, the penalties it imposed have been of the “slap
on the wrist” nature. So it is no wonder that the current rules have frequently
been ignored.
The North
Coast Environment Council (NCEC) and the North East Forests Alliance (NEFA) are
countering the Government’s current consultation failure by holding their own
meetings to explain to the community exactly what the Government has in mind
for the future of our public forests. Several meetings have already been held
on the North Coast with more planned, including one for Grafton at the Grafton
District Services Club (upstairs) on Saturday June 30.
In a recent
statement NCEC Vice-President Susie Russell outlined the consequences of the
Government’s proposed changes.
“If the
proposed rules are implemented, every population centre on the north coast will
see its water yields drop as intensive land clearfell logging dries out the
catchments. There will be increased erosion and sedimentation of streams from
decreased stream buffers.
“The
extinction cliff for many of our native animals and plants will be reached
faster as there will no longer be a requirement to look for them prior to
logging.
“The carbon storage
capacity of our forest estate will be greatly diminished as logging intensity
increases and the dense, young regrowth is more flammable than the mature
forests it replaces.
“All this at
a time when climate change is accelerating and the planet's temperature is
rising. We need now to be protecting our future by maximising the shade,
natural water and carbon storage, while connecting habitats to enable animals
to move to more suitable areas,” she said.
The NCEC is
concerned that areas that have been off-limits to logging for 20 years - old
growth forest, stream protection buffers, and high quality koala habitat – will
be sacrificed to meet wood contracts.
Our state
Government needs to be reminded that State Forests belong to the people of this
state – not to the timber industry or to a Government that seems hell-bent on
damaging as much of the natural environment as it can while it is in office.
- Leonie Blain
Friday 1 June 2018
This barbaric whale slaughter must end!
Antartic minke whale in Science, Space and Robots blog, 23 April 2014 |
The
Courier-Mail can reveal that 95 per cent of the female whales slaughtered
by the Japanese were carrying calves.
Federal Environment
Minister Josh Frydenberg has slammed the Japanese whale hunt.
“The Australian
Government is deeply disappointed that Japan continues to undertake so-called
‘scientific’ whaling,” he said.
“The Government has made
representations at the highest levels to Japan – and will continue to do so…..
Japanese whalers killed
333 minke whales – plus 122 unborn calves – in the Southern Ocean last summer.
“Apparent pregnancy rate
of sampled animals was high’’, the Japanese whalers stated in a new report to
International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee meeting in Slovenia this
month.
“One or two minke whales
were sampled randomly from each … school using harpoons with a 30g penthrite
grenade.’’
The whalers killed one
in every three of the protected marine mammals they spotted.
Eleven whales managed to
avoid the harpoons by hiding in water with high-density ice.
Over three months, two
Japanese ships equipped with cannons hunted the whales for 12 hours a day – harpooning
some whales 10m long.
Commercial whaling was
banned more than 30 years ago but Japan continues to hunt by using a loophole
to kill whales for “scientific research’’.
The Humane Society
International (HSI) blasted the harpooning of pregnant whales as a “truly
gruesome and unnecessary’’.
HSI senior program
manager Alexia Wellbelove said the “scientific whaling’’ was a front for the
meat trade, as the whales were taken back to Japan for human and pet food.
“The killing of 122
pregnant whales is a shocking statistic and sad indictment on the cruelty of
Japan’s whale hunt,’’ she said yesterday.
Ms Wellbelove called on
State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to use her trade visit to Japan this week
to lobby its government to stop whaling.
“They claim it’s
necessary to understand whale biology but that information can be obtained
through a biopsy,’’ Ms Wellbelove said.
“The whales often get
used for pet food.’’
The IWC report, written
by employees of the Institution of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, the Kyodo
Senpaku fishing company and Tokyo University, says the whales were killed to
obtain data on the “age, sexual maturity and body length of the whales’’.
The Japanese analysed
the stomach content to “estimate prey consumption’’ and measured blubber
thickness to “study the nutritional condition’’ of the dead whales.
Minke whale surfaces through Antartic ice, vms.edu photo set |
Thursday 31 May 2018
The people of the Liverpool Plains versus Santos and its irresponsible domestic and international shareholders
Oil and gas mining corporation Santos Limited is currently seeking approval to drill up to 850 natural gas wells on est. 425 sites over 95,000 hectares in the Pilliga Forest region of north-west New South Wales.
Pilliga Forest is consdered a rare example of intact temperate forest and covers an est. 300,000 hectares sitting atop a recharge area of the Great Artesian Basin.
Santos presents itself as an Australian company, yet two affilated Chinese companys hold over 624 million voting shares in the company1 and its top institutional shareholders contain the usual mix of international banks, finance and investment companies2.
In its 2017 annual report Santos admits; A range of environmental risks exist within oil
and gas exploration and production activities3.
This is the response of the people living on the Liverpool Plains.
The backyard of New
South Wales is facing its biggest threat yet – invasive gasfields. Betrayal by
governments has meant protectors are fighting to save the things they love. The
Pilliga, Great Artesian Basin, Liverpool Plains – all are at risk. This is a
David and Goliath battle to save our land, air and water from destruction. It’s
also a fight for the soul and future of Australia. In this film we meet the
experts and people living in the sacrifice zone and uncover the truth behind
the real gas crisis confronting ordinary Australians.
https://youtu.be/h3h1FxwI1CE
Footnotes
1. As of 27 June 2017 Hony Partners Group, L.P and ENN Ecological Holdings Co Ltd acting in concert
2. At Page 130 https://www.santos.com/media/4319/2017-annual-report.pdf.
Footnotes
1. As of 27 June 2017 Hony Partners Group, L.P and ENN Ecological Holdings Co Ltd acting in concert
2. At Page 130 https://www.santos.com/media/4319/2017-annual-report.pdf.
3. 15 February 2017 Queensland Department of Environment and
Heritage Protection fined Santos $12,190
for non-compliance with a Soils Management Plan.
Wednesday 30 May 2018
Killing coastal trees is an occupation for individuals with puny minds and shrivelled souls
Clarence
Valley Council, media release, May 21, 2018:
Tree
vandals hit Yamba again
MULTIPLE trees on the
headland between Yamba’s Convent and Pippi beaches are dying in what Clarence
Valley Council staff believe is a deliberate and brazen attempt to improve
views for nearby residents.
Council’s works and
civil director, Troy Anderson, said coastal trees had an important role in
protecting headlands and landowners needed to remember they belonged to the
community.
“The environment is not
theirs to destroy,” he said.
“It belongs to
everyone.”
Mr Anderson said about
20 trees had been poisoned in the area over the past six months. They included coastal
casuarinas, coastal banksias, pandanus and tuckeroos – all native and endemic
to the area.
“In the past two years
we have lost between 50 and 100 trees along our coastline.
“We’ve had it happen in
Wooli, Diggers Camp, Angourie and twice in Yamba last year – including the site
of this latest poisoning.”
He said staff would
prepare a report to council recommending a range of actions to mitigate tree
vandalism that could include:
managing
views for public benefit only at approved locations;
planting
species that will enable views to be substantially retained in locations where those
views may be enjoyed by the public;
public
awareness and education initiatives;
installation
of signage at the vandalised area;
installation
of view screens or containers at the vandalised area, and
rehabilitation
of the vandalised area.
“If people have any
evidence of who might be responsible they should report it to council and we
will follow it up,” he said.
The sites of
where some of the trees have been destroyed.
Trees between Yamba’s Convent and Pippi beaches destroyed
by vandals.....
Labels:
Clarence Valley Council,
crime,
environmental vandalism,
trees,
Yamba
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners: "We're on the frontline defending our lands against Adani" and we ask your help
From: Adrian Burragubba - via CommunityRun <info@getup.org.au>
Date: Thu, May 24, 2018 at 5:46 PM
Subject: We're on the frontline defending our lands against Adani
To: [redacted]
Date: Thu, May 24, 2018 at 5:46 PM
Subject: We're on the frontline defending our lands against Adani
To: [redacted]
This is a message from the leaders of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners. They are the Traditional Owners of the land where mining giant Adani want to build the Carmichael coal mine. Your details haven't been shared with anyone.
Dear [redacted],
We are leaders of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners. We're the people on the frontline defending our ancestral lands in the fight against Adani's destructive coal mine.
Our people have said no four times to a miserly land deal offered by Adani in exchange for the destruction of our homelands. We have been opposing Adani and holding them off since 2012.
Our resistance has nothing to do with dollars. No amount of money or promises from a deceitful corporation can stop us standing strong in defence of Wangan and Jagalingou lands and waters and sacred sites.
But Adani are ruthless. They have used the dirtiest tactics to undermine our right to say no, and manufacture a phony "Indigenous Land Use Agreement".
Right now we're fighting against Adani's shoddy tactics and their sham "agreement" in court. The judge could hand down a decision any day now. But it won't end there.
Can you sign our petition to stand with us against Adani?
We are willing to fight Adani all the way to the High Court to protect our environment and sacred sites. We are working for a positive future for our people on our country. We won't stand by and watch its destruction for coal.
Adani are relentlessly pressuring the Queensland government to clear our Native Title rights out of the way — and as the clock ticks and Adani gets more desperate, it will only intensify.
So we need to show Adani and our Governments that they can't fake or force our consent.
We have never given our consent to Adani to destroy our country, and we never will. Our land is our living law; we are connected to it through our ancestors and our culture. Without it we will cease to exist as a people.
Our people have been leading a courageous fight against a cashed-up mining giant with politicians in its pockets, and top end of town lawyers to argue away its collusion, bad faith and dishonesty.
We're calling time on this. It's time for Adani to walk away.
Sign our petition to tell Adani No means No.
Adani can't keep bullying us, or pretending they have our consent. Consent is written in our hearts and minds, and the truth is we have said no. Time and again.
And we shouldn't have to keep saying it. Adani haven't been able to put money on the table for this project or even say when they'll start digging. They've given nothing to our people, or to the people of Queensland and Australia, except a bunch of false promises. The smart money and honest commentators know Adani's Carmichael mine is going nowhere.
But still our rights are at extreme risk. The Queensland Government could yield to this corrupt polluting corporation and "legally" rip up our Native Title, just so they can say they have their final "approval".
We continue to hold the line and have many tens of thousands of supporters in Australia and around the world, but we need more. We need to build a more powerful movement, standing in solidarity with us, to take on Adani's wealth, political influence and dirty tricks.
Sign our petition to support our fight against Adani.
We are in the fight of our lives. Adani have shown a relentless determination to use unjust legal maneouvres to trample our rights. But this fight is bigger than Adani. It's about the rights that all Aboriginal people have to say no to dirty extractive industries that profit from our traditional homelands. It's about our right under international law to be free from discrimination, and to choose our own economic future.
We have a vision for our people that's sustainable. We want economic independence, and to make a future on our country that is respectful of the land and uplifting for our people. We want to invest in solar energy and other new clean enterprises. We don't want scraps from a corrupt corporation looking to profit from the permanent destruction of our culture, or meagre handouts and low paid dirty jobs that require us to give up our human rights.
When we say No to Adani, we mean No. We hope you'll stand with us.
Support our fight: http://wanganjagalingou.com. au/our-fight/
Adrian Burragubba, cultural leader and senior spokesperson
with Murrawah Johnson, Youth spokesperson
and Linda Bobongie, W&J Council Chairperson
for the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council
CommunityRun is a new online organisation that lets anyone start, run and win their own campaigns. It receives no political party or government funding and is not affiliated with any political party. To unsubscribe from CommunityRun updates, please visit here or visit http://www.getup.org.au/ unsubscribe?cr=true. To unsubscribe from individual CommunityRun campaigns, please visit www.communityrun.org.
Our team acknowledges that we meet and work on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We wish to pay respect to their Elders - past, present and future - and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.
Authorised by Paul Oosting, Level 14, 338 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
Dear [redacted],
We are leaders of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners. We're the people on the frontline defending our ancestral lands in the fight against Adani's destructive coal mine.
Our people have said no four times to a miserly land deal offered by Adani in exchange for the destruction of our homelands. We have been opposing Adani and holding them off since 2012.
Our resistance has nothing to do with dollars. No amount of money or promises from a deceitful corporation can stop us standing strong in defence of Wangan and Jagalingou lands and waters and sacred sites.
But Adani are ruthless. They have used the dirtiest tactics to undermine our right to say no, and manufacture a phony "Indigenous Land Use Agreement".
Right now we're fighting against Adani's shoddy tactics and their sham "agreement" in court. The judge could hand down a decision any day now. But it won't end there.
Can you sign our petition to stand with us against Adani?
We are willing to fight Adani all the way to the High Court to protect our environment and sacred sites. We are working for a positive future for our people on our country. We won't stand by and watch its destruction for coal.
Adani are relentlessly pressuring the Queensland government to clear our Native Title rights out of the way — and as the clock ticks and Adani gets more desperate, it will only intensify.
So we need to show Adani and our Governments that they can't fake or force our consent.
We have never given our consent to Adani to destroy our country, and we never will. Our land is our living law; we are connected to it through our ancestors and our culture. Without it we will cease to exist as a people.
Our people have been leading a courageous fight against a cashed-up mining giant with politicians in its pockets, and top end of town lawyers to argue away its collusion, bad faith and dishonesty.
We're calling time on this. It's time for Adani to walk away.
Sign our petition to tell Adani No means No.
Adani can't keep bullying us, or pretending they have our consent. Consent is written in our hearts and minds, and the truth is we have said no. Time and again.
And we shouldn't have to keep saying it. Adani haven't been able to put money on the table for this project or even say when they'll start digging. They've given nothing to our people, or to the people of Queensland and Australia, except a bunch of false promises. The smart money and honest commentators know Adani's Carmichael mine is going nowhere.
But still our rights are at extreme risk. The Queensland Government could yield to this corrupt polluting corporation and "legally" rip up our Native Title, just so they can say they have their final "approval".
We continue to hold the line and have many tens of thousands of supporters in Australia and around the world, but we need more. We need to build a more powerful movement, standing in solidarity with us, to take on Adani's wealth, political influence and dirty tricks.
Sign our petition to support our fight against Adani.
We are in the fight of our lives. Adani have shown a relentless determination to use unjust legal maneouvres to trample our rights. But this fight is bigger than Adani. It's about the rights that all Aboriginal people have to say no to dirty extractive industries that profit from our traditional homelands. It's about our right under international law to be free from discrimination, and to choose our own economic future.
We have a vision for our people that's sustainable. We want economic independence, and to make a future on our country that is respectful of the land and uplifting for our people. We want to invest in solar energy and other new clean enterprises. We don't want scraps from a corrupt corporation looking to profit from the permanent destruction of our culture, or meagre handouts and low paid dirty jobs that require us to give up our human rights.
When we say No to Adani, we mean No. We hope you'll stand with us.
Support our fight: http://wanganjagalingou.com.
Adrian Burragubba, cultural leader and senior spokesperson
with Murrawah Johnson, Youth spokesperson
and Linda Bobongie, W&J Council Chairperson
for the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council
CommunityRun is a new online organisation that lets anyone start, run and win their own campaigns. It receives no political party or government funding and is not affiliated with any political party. To unsubscribe from CommunityRun updates, please visit here or visit http://www.getup.org.au/
Our team acknowledges that we meet and work on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We wish to pay respect to their Elders - past, present and future - and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.
Authorised by Paul Oosting, Level 14, 338 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Noble Caledonia Limited changes the 'spin' around its "Australian Coastal Odyssey" cruise and the Port 0f Yamba-Clarence River visit
It seems that Noble Caledonia Limited has decided to downgrade its description of the delights of Iluka and is trying to hide from locals the short amount of time MV Caledonian Sky passengers will be spending on land during the ship's brief stop over.
Spot the difference.
This was a snaphot of Day 16 of the cruise itineray taken on 20 November 2017....
This is a a snaphot of Day 16 of the cruise itineray taken on 20 May 2018....
Monday 21 May 2018
Water raiders are eyeing the Clarence River - again
In 2007 Clarence Valley communities saw off an Australian prime minister (John Howard) and his water minister (Malcolm Turnbull) - telling them "Not A Drop".
The issue of inter-basin water transfer became an election issue that year and the National Party lost the seat of Page and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government lost the federal election.
Having learnt nothing from the commitment of local people in the Clarence Valley, including traditional owners, once again the water raiders have raised their heads above the parapet.
The Daily Examiner, letter to the Editor, 19 May 2018, p.14:
Clarence diversion
On April 18, 2018,
Toowoomba Regional Council in south-east Queensland resolved to submit a motion
to the National General Assembly of Local Government in June this year.
This motion calls for
the Assembly to amend Resolution 77 (Griffith City Council) which was carried
the previous year.
Resolution 77 called on
the “Federal Government to carry out a further feasibility study on David
Coffey’s “Scheme to Divert Tributaries of the Clarence River to the Murray
Darling Basin” to gather up-to-date information for investigation into this
scheme”.
The Toowoomba amendment
seeks to incorporate a pipeline from the Clarence River to Toowoomba and the
Darling Downs region into that request for federal government investigation.
Hot on the heels of this
latest push to dam and divert water from the Clarence River system comes the
NSW Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 5 “Augmentation of water supply
for rural and regional New South Wales” report, released on May 14.
Although informed by
Clarence Valley Council that it has resolved six times not to support diversion
of the Clarence River, this Upper House report clearly favours damming and
diverting water from the Clarence River system.
The wording may have
been slightly watered down via a motion by Mick Veitch MLC but it is still of
considerable concern: ”Resolution 40 - 6.89 The committee heard evidence from
some inquiry participants that there may be potential benefits of diverting the
Clarence River to the west.
“These inquiry
participants were of the view that there is merit to any strategy that seeks to
mitigate floods and flood damage in the Clarence Valley and provide additional
water for agriculture in the Barwon region. The committee acknowledges that
stakeholders were divided on the issue of water diversion. However, some
inquiry participants held strong views against diverting waters from the
Clarence River to the west.”
However, the draft
version of 6.89 which indicates the extent of support the dam and divert
proposal enjoys within this Upper House committee was quite frankly alarming:
“The committee notes that there may be potential benefits of diverting the
Clarence River to the west.
“There is merit to any
strategy that seeks to mitigate floods and flood damage in the Clarence Valley
and provide additional water for agriculture in the Barwon region.
“The committee
acknowledges that stakeholders were divided on the issue of water diversion.
However, the committee believes that further investigation into water diversion
schemes is warranted to consider their feasibility as a strategy to mitigate
floods.
“The committee therefore
recommends that the NSW Government investigate the feasibility of water
diversion schemes as a flood mitigation tool.”
If these sentiments are
echoed by the Berejiklian Coalition Government down in Sydney then Clarence
Valley Council, the people of the Clarence Valley and communities whose local
economies depend on a healthy Clarence River will have a fight on their hands.
Because the calls from
communities and vested interests who have managed to reduce their region’s
rivers to a series of mud puddles will grow louder and more insistent over
time.
This time around the
call is spearheaded by Griffith, Toowoomba and the shadowy lobby group,
Australian Water Exploration Company Ltd, which is apparently looking to
benefit from any infrastructure spend on a Clarence Valley dam and pipeline.
At the June National
Assembly of Local Government they will be speaking to a sympathetic audience.
Hopefully Clarence Valley Council is sending a representative to this gathering
that will strongly counter their arguments.
Judith M. Melville,
Yamba
Friday 13 April 2018
Alleged irrigator water theft heading for the courts?
A cousin by marriage of the current Australian Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud, John Norman, finds his agricultural business practices under scrutiny.....
The
Guardian, 9
April 2018:
Fraud charges are
expected to be laid against one of Queensland’s biggest cotton irrigators, John
Norman, within a matter of weeks.
If the trial of the
owner-operator of Norman Farming, and former cotton
farmer of the year goes ahead, it is likely to draw attention to the
links between the irrigator’s family and that of the federal minister for
agriculture and water resources, David Littleproud.
If the charges are laid,
they will also throw the spotlight on the Queensland government’s failure
in administering a key plank of the $13bn Murray-Darling basin plan, how it
withheld critical information about the alleged crimes, and how it raises
queries as to whether it lied about its own investigation.
For the past 18 months,
an expanding team of undercover detectives, cybercrime experts and forensic
accountants have been investigating Norman’s business on the Queensland/New
South Wales border, an irrigated cotton aggregate stretching 45km north from
the McIntyre river.
The investigation has
focused on whether Norman Farming misused upwards of $25m in
Murray-Darling basin infrastructure funds that were supposed to make the
irrigator more efficient and deliver water back to the ailing river system
downstream.
The plan for the basin
is funded by the commonwealth and administered by state governments. But
allegations that the $150m Healthy Headwaters Water Use Efficiency
projects in Queensland, part of the MDB plan, lacked any genuinely independent
checks on projects, means it may have been left open to corruption.
“It’s been a
loosey-goosey slush fund helping irrigators get richer,” according to Chris
Lamey, a dry-land farmer who’s seeking compensation from Norman, his neighbour.
“It’s achieved the opposite of what was intended. There’s a lot of water not
getting into NSW now and it’s backed up in dams next door to me.”
Queensland’s covert
police investigation into Norman Farming went
public in October 2017, when dozens of major crime squad detectives holding
multiple subpoenas fanned out from Goondiwindi in early-morning high-speed
convoys, heading across the floodplain to the irrigator’s properties and
several of its contractors in and around the border river town…..
Monday 9 April 2018
Land degradation will be main cause of species loss & driver of the migration of millions of people by 2050
IPBES:
Science and Policy for People and nature, media
release, 26 March 2018:
Worsening Worldwide Land
Degradation Now ‘Critical’, Undermining Well-Being of 3.2 Billion People
Main cause of species loss & driver of the migration of millions of people by 2050 In landmark 3-year assessment report, 100+ experts outline costs, dangers & options
Worsening land degradation caused by
human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity,
driving species extinctions and intensifying climate change. It is also a major
contributor to mass human migration and increased conflict, according to the
world’s first comprehensive evidence-based assessment of land degradation and
restoration.
The dangers of land degradation, which
cost the equivalent of about 10% of the world’s annual gross product in 2010
through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are detailed for
policymakers, together with a catalogue of corrective options, in the
three-year assessment report by more than 100 leading experts from 45
countries, launched today.
Produced by the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the
report was approved at the 6th session of the IPBES Plenary in MedellĂn,
Colombia. IPBES has 129 State Members.
Providing the best-available evidence
for policymakers to make better-informed decisions, the report draws on more
than 3,000 scientific, Government, indigenous and local knowledge sources.
Extensively peer-reviewed, it was improved by more than 7,300 comments,
received from over 200 external reviewers.
Serious Danger to Human
Well-being
Rapid expansion and unsustainable
management of croplands and grazing lands is the most extensive global direct
driver of land degradation, causing significant loss of biodiversity and
ecosystem services – food security, water purification, the provision of energy
and other contributions of nature essential to people. This has reached
‘critical’ levels in many parts of the world, the report says.
“With negative impacts on the
well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, the degradation of the Earth’s land
surface through human activities is pushing the planet towards a sixth mass
species extinction,” said Prof. Robert Scholes (South Africa), co-chair of the
assessment with Dr. Luca Montanarella (Italy). “Avoiding, reducing and
reversing this problem, and restoring degraded land, is an urgent priority to
protect the biodiversity and ecosystem services vital to all life on Earth and
to ensure human well-being.”
“Wetlands have been particularly hard
hit,” said Dr. Montanarella. “We have seen losses of 87% in wetland areas since
the start of the modern era – with 54% lost since 1900.”
According to the authors, land
degradation manifests in many ways: land abandonment, declining populations of
wild species, loss of soil and soil health, rangelands and fresh water, as well
as deforestation.
Underlying drivers of land
degradation, says the report, are the high-consumption lifestyles in the most
developed economies, combined with rising consumption in developing and
emerging economies. High and rising per capita consumption, amplified by
continued population growth in many parts of the world, can drive unsustainable
levels of agricultural expansion, natural resource and mineral extraction, and
urbanization – typically leading to greater levels of land degradation.
By 2014, more than 1.5 billion
hectares of natural ecosystems had been converted to croplands. Less than 25%
of the Earth’s land surface has escaped substantial impacts of human activity –
and by 2050, the IPBES experts estimate this will have fallen to less than 10%.
Crop and grazing lands now cover more
than one third of the Earth´s land surface, with recent clearance of native
habitats, including forests, grasslands and wetlands, being concentrated in
some of the most species-rich ecosystems on the planet.
The report says increasing demand for
food and biofuels will likely lead to continued increase in nutrient and
chemical inputs and a shift towards industrialized livestock production
systems, with pesticide and fertilizer use expected to double by 2050.
Avoidance of further agricultural
expansion into native habitats can be achieved through yield increases on the
existing farmlands, shifts towards less land degrading diets, such as those
with more plant-based foods and less animal protein from unsustainable sources,
and reductions in food loss and waste.
Strong Links to Climate
Change
“Through this report, the global
community of experts has delivered a frank and urgent warning, with clear
options to address dire environmental damage,” said Sir Robert Watson, Chair of
IPBES.
“Land degradation, biodiversity loss
and climate change are three different faces of the same central challenge: the
increasingly dangerous impact of our choices on the health of our natural
environment. We cannot afford to tackle any one of these three threats in
isolation – they each deserve the highest policy priority and must be addressed
together.”
The IPBES report finds that land
degradation is a major contributor to climate change, with deforestation alone
contributing about 10% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Another
major driver of the changing climate has been the release of carbon previously
stored in the soil, with land degradation between 2000 and 2009 responsible for
annual global emissions of up to 4.4 billion tonnes of CO2.
Given the importance of soil’s carbon
absorption and storage functions, the avoidance, reduction and reversal of land
degradation could provide more than a third of the most cost-effective
greenhouse gas mitigation activities needed by 2030 to keep global warming
under the 2°C threshold targeted in the Paris Agreement on climate change,
increase food and water security, and contribute to the avoidance of conflict
and migration.
Projections to 2050
“In just over three decades from now,
an estimated 4 billion people will live in drylands,” said Prof. Scholes. “By
then it is likely that land degradation, together with the closely related
problems of climate change, will have forced 50-700 million people to migrate.
Decreasing land productivity also makes societies more vulnerable to social
instability – particularly in dryland areas, where years with extremely low
rainfall have been associated with an increase of up to 45% in violent
conflict.”
Dr. Montanarella added: “By 2050, the
combination of land degradation and climate change is predicted to reduce
global crop yields by an average of 10%, and by up to 50% in some regions. In
the future, most degradation will occur in Central and South America,
sub-Saharan Africa and Asia – the areas with the most land still remaining that
is suitable for agriculture.”
The report also underlines the
challenges that land degradation poses, and the importance of restoration, for
key international development objectives, including the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. “The greatest
value of the assessment is the evidence that it provides to decision makers in
Government, business, academia and even at the level of local communities,”
said Dr. Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of IPBES. “With better
information, backed by the consensus of the world’s leading experts, we can all
make better choices for more effective action.”
Options for Land
Restoration
The report notes that successful
examples of land restoration are found in every ecosystem, and that many
well-tested practices and techniques, both traditional and modern, can avoid or
reverse degradation.
In croplands, for instance, some of
these include reducing soil loss and improving soil health, the use of salt
tolerant crops, conservation agriculture and integrated crop, livestock and
forestry systems.
In rangelands with traditional
grazing, maintenance of appropriate fire regimes, and the reinstatement or
development of local livestock management practices and institutions have
proven effective.
Successful responses in wetlands have
included control over pollution sources, managing the wetlands as part of the
landscape, and reflooding wetlands damaged by draining.
In urban areas, urban spatial
planning, replanting with native species, the development of ‘green
infrastructure’ such as parks and riverways, remediation of contaminated and
sealed soils (e.g. under asphalt), wastewater treatment and river channel restoration
are identified as key options for action.
Opportunities to accelerate action
identified in the report include:
Improving monitoring, verification
systems and baseline data;
Coordinating policy between different
ministries to simultaneously encourage more sustainable production and
consumption practices of land-based commodities;
Eliminating ‘perverse incentives’ that
promote land degradation and promoting positive incentives that reward
sustainable land management; and
Integrating the agricultural,
forestry, energy, water, infrastructure and service agendas.
Making the point that existing
multilateral environmental agreements provide a good platform for action to
avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation and promote restoration, the authors
observe, however, that greater commitment and more effective cooperation is
needed at the national and local levels to achieve the goals of zero net land
degradation, no loss of biodiversity and improved human well-being.
Knowledge Gaps
Among the areas identified by the
report as opportunities for further research are:
The consequences of land degradation
on freshwater and coastal ecosystems, physical and mental health and spiritual
well-being, and infectious disease prevalence and transmission;
The potential for land degradation to
exacerbate climate change, and land restoration to help both mitigation and
adaptation;
The linkages between land degradation
and restoration and social, economic and political processes in far-off places;
and
Interactions among land degradation,
poverty, climate change, and the risk of conflict and of involuntary migration.
Environmental and
Economic Sense
The report found that higher
employment and other benefits of land restoration often exceed by far the costs
involved. On average, the benefits of restoration are 10 times higher
than the costs (estimated across nine different biomes), and, for regions like
Asia and Africa, the cost of inaction in the face of land degradation is at
least three times higher than the cost of action.
“Fully deploying the toolbox of proven
ways to stop and reverse land degradation is not only vital to ensure food
security, reduce climate change and protect biodiversity,” said Dr.
Montanarella, “It’s also economically prudent and increasingly urgent.”
Echoing this message, Sir Robert
Watson, said: “Of the many valuable messages in the report, this ranks among
the most important: implementing the right actions to combat land degradation
can transform the lives of millions of people across the planet, but this will
become more difficult and more costly the longer we take to act.”
Unedited
advance Summary for Policymakers of the regional assessment of biodiversity and
ecosystem services for Asia and the Pacific
EN
PDF
EN
Word
Unedited
advance Summary for Policymakers of the thematic assessment of land degradation
and restoration
EN
PDF
EN
Word
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