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Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts
Monday 19 November 2018
Eastern Australia is now a global deforestation hotspot and koala numbers are plummeting
Echo
NetDaily, 16
November 2018:
Koala numbers have
plummeted by 33 per cent over the last twenty years and experts are now warning
that they are likely to be driven to extinction. In NSW the decline of koalas
and other native wildlife is being driven by inadequate state laws regulating
both private land clearing and logging.
The National Parks
Association of NSW (NPA) is calling on the NSW government to ‘abandon its draconian logging plans and chart an exit out of
native forest logging, and for the federal government to rethink its commitment
to signing new Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs),’ said Ms Alix Goodwin, NPA
CEO.
They’ve based their call
on the recent study by three University of Canberra academics for Forest
& Wood Products Australia (FWPA) reported recently in the Sydney Morning
Herald that showed a strong majority of people oppose native forest
logging.
‘The study found that
urban and rural votes broadly share the same strong disapproval of logging –
putting the lie to claims that only urban dwellers care about the environment –
and that logging is unpopular even where the remnants of the industry persist,’
said Ms Goodwin.
‘The results are in line
with polling conducted in the NSW electorates of Lismore and Ballina in
December 2017 that showed 90 per cent support for protecting forests for
wildlife, water, carbon stores and recreation.
‘This is the latest
piece of evidence that clearly demonstrates how far the NSW government’s plans to intensify logging, abandon species
protections and open protected forests up for logging are removed from public
expectation,’ she said……
‘Koala numbers are
plummeting in NSW. It is estimated they fell from 31,400 to 21,000 in the two
decades from 1990–2010, and their numbers are continuing to decline in most
parts of the state.
‘Deforestation rates
have escalated in NSW and eastern Australia is now a global deforestation
hotspot. We need new laws to turn this around.
‘We want people to
understand that koalas face extinction unless we stop destroying their homes,
which means ending deforestation and the bulldozing of habitat.’
NSW Nature Conservation
Council CEO Kate Smolski said: ‘In one district in the northwest of the
state, more than 5,000 hectares of koala habitat were bulldozed in just 12
months.
‘Trees in that region
were bulldozed at a rate of about 14 football fields a day, and that’s just one
part of our state.
‘We know what the
solution is. We need strong new laws to end deforestation and start restoring
degraded habitat so wildlife like koalas can thrive.
‘That’s why we are
advocating for law reform to protect high-conservation-value forest and
bushland, and to set up a biodiversity and carbon fund to pay landholders to
restore degraded areas.....
Tuesday 23 October 2018
This private member's bill signals an ongoing threat to forests on the NSW North Coast and elsewhere in the state
This is Austin William Evans, NSW Nationals MP
for Murray since 14 October 2018 when he won the seat on the back of a by-election after fellow Nationals Adrian Piccoli resigned.
On 18 October
2018 Evans introduced a private member’s bill in the NSW Legislative Assembly titled,
National
Parks and Wildlife Legislation Amendment (Riverina) Bill 2018 or An Act with respect to certain lands in the
Riverina region reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or
dedicated under the Forestry Act 2012; and for other purposes.
As yet no
text of this bill is publicly available.
However,
there are no prizes for having guessed that this bill seeks to revert the Murray Valley
National Park to a state forest to allow timber harvesters back in.
According to
state parliamentary records the Bill
lapses in accordance with Standing Orders on 19/4/2019.
Austin Evans
has told the media he
hopes to have a second recording of the bill before the end of the year and
expects Berejiklian Government MPs to support it.
The 41,601ha Murray Valley National Park was
declared in July 2010 and is part
of the largest continuous red gum forest in the world, this region hosts a
unique ecosystem with over 60 threatened native animal species and 40
threatened plant species. It is also an important place for Aboriginal people.
Make no
mistake Evans’ bill represents the unsustainable native timber industry’s desire
to make inroads into the wider national park system.
In fact it
made sure it never really left the Murray Valley National Park, having received
milling timber via so-called ''ecological
thinning'' of sections of the park since 2012.
Given the number of national parks and reserves in the Northern Rivers region it is time to put pen to paper and remind Premier Gladys Berejiklian that growing the total area covered by the national park system, as well as reining in broad scale land clearance and/or extensive logging in rural and regional areas, is one of the easiest ways to mitigate against rising state greenhouse gas emissions.
The Berejiklian Government has already walked back from the transfer of 23,000 hectares of low productivity state forests to the national park estate and presented a whittled down version of the National Park Estate (Reservations) Bill 2018 which passed both Houses on 17 October 2018.
Although under this passed bill an est. 2,200ha of state forest will become part of the national park estate in January 2019 and and further est. 1,791 of state forest will be rededicated as state conservation areas, the total amount of protected viable koala habitat is limited.
In an effort to redress this, amendments were proposed which include the creation of the Great Koala National Park.
As of 18 October 2018 both NSW Greens and NSW Labor support the Great Koala National Park proposal and, if there is a change of government at the 23 March 2019 state election, we should see a genuine start to placing protection on enough viable habitat to begin to reverse the koala's decline towards local extinctions.
The Berejiklian Government has already walked back from the transfer of 23,000 hectares of low productivity state forests to the national park estate and presented a whittled down version of the National Park Estate (Reservations) Bill 2018 which passed both Houses on 17 October 2018.
Although under this passed bill an est. 2,200ha of state forest will become part of the national park estate in January 2019 and and further est. 1,791 of state forest will be rededicated as state conservation areas, the total amount of protected viable koala habitat is limited.
In an effort to redress this, amendments were proposed which include the creation of the Great Koala National Park.
As of 18 October 2018 both NSW Greens and NSW Labor support the Great Koala National Park proposal and, if there is a change of government at the 23 March 2019 state election, we should see a genuine start to placing protection on enough viable habitat to begin to reverse the koala's decline towards local extinctions.
Thursday 4 October 2018
Wednesday 5 September 2018
Berejiklian Government accused of timber fraud on NSW North Coast
North East Forest Alliance
(NEFA), 27 August
2018:
The North East Forest Alliance has accused the
NSW Government of fraudulently claiming a shortfall in high quality logs
available from State Forests in north-east NSW to justify their wind-back of
environmental protections and intention to log oldgrowth forest and rainforest.
NEFA today released
a review of timber
yields and modelling for north-east NSW over the past 20 years that
has identified a number of serious problems with yield estimations and
allocations from the region that will be referred to the Auditor General.
"The most
significant issue revealed is that the Government has removed hardwood
plantations from yield calculations to concoct a yield shortfall to justify
removing environmental protections, while apparently intending to reallocate
plantation timber to low value products for export" says report author
Dailan Pugh.
"According to the
Government's data there is absolutely no need to log oldgrowth forests, or to
remove other existing environmental protections to satisfy current timber
commitments.
"The Natural
Resources Commission (NRC) turned an identified surplus of 37,000 cubic metres
per annum of high quality sawlogs from State Forests in north-east NSW over the
next hundred years into a claimed deficit of 8,600 cubic metres per annum by
simply excluding hardwood plantations from their calculations.
"The NRC's claim
that 'it is not possible to meet the Government’s commitments around both
environmental values and wood supply' is based on a lie. Nowhere do they
identify that they excluded plantations. They did this to create the pretence
of a shortfall.
"Plantations
already provide some 30,000 cubic metres(14%) of high quality hardwood log
commitments per annum, with yields projected to increase up
to 75,000 cubic meters of high quality logs per annum into the
future.
"NSW Taxpayers have
spent $27 million just since 2000 establishing hardwood plantations explicitly
to provide high quality logs to take the pressure off native forests.
"It is outrageous
that the Government has excluded plantations to concoct a shortfall in timber
from State Forests in order to justify increasing logging intensity, reducing
retention of habitat trees, removing protections for numerous threatened
species, halving buffers on headwater streams, as well as now opening up
oldgrowth forest and rainforest protected in the Comprehensive Adequate and
Representative (CAR) reserve system for logging.
"The Government
recently issued an Expression of Interest for 416,851 tonnes per annum of low
quality logs from north-east NSW, of which 219,000 tonnes (53%) is apparently
to be obtained by downgrading all timber from the 35,000 ha of north-east NSW's
hardwood plantations to low quality logs and committing them in new Wood Supply
Agreements aimed at the export market.
"Three NSW
Environment Ministers (Parker, Stokes and Speakman), along with the Environment
Protection Authority, repeatedly promised that the new logging rules
(Integrated Forestry Operations Approval) would result in no net change to wood
supply, no erosion of environmental values, and no reductions in the CAR
reserve system.
"Instead of
honouring their promises, in a blatant ploy the Government has changed the wood
supply, by surreptitiously excluding plantations, to justify erosion of
environmental values and reductions in the reserve system.
"NEFA calls upon
the NSW Government to honour their promises by reinstating the intended role of
plantations in providing high quality sawlogs to take the pressure off native
forests, and to use the resultant timber surplus to reinstate the environmental
protections they are intending to remove", Mr. Pugh said.
Port
News, 28
August 2018:
I noticed in the report
by the NSW Government DPI’s principal research scientist, Dr Brad Law, which
was published in the Port News on August 1that he claims recent
audio recordings of male koalas in the hinterland of our state forests revealed
evidence of up to 10 times the previously estimated occupancy.
Well obviously if this
was the first time audio study of male koalas in the breeding season had been
carried surely finding any koalas at all would be an increase in findings. The
Australia Koala Foundation showed that one male koala 'Arnie' a dominant male
occupied a home range of 43 hectares in area so no doubt the study took
precautions to not record the same koala in other of the 171 sites.
Each site however did
not always record even one or two scats. The evidence proves only 65% of the
171 sites tested held one koala and the scats do not prove in any way a home
colony had even once existed at these sites.
Dr Law rejoices that in
his study that heavily logged, lightly logged and old growth forest areas
showed similar results which seemed to suggest that logging of our NSW State
Forests has no effect on koala numbers.
Really?
In a study by the
recognised koala expert, Dr Steve Phillips, commissioned by our own PMHC he
found that most of the suitably sized koala food trees have already been logged
out.
So WTF do they eat?
This no harm heavily
logged forest claim by Dr Law will get a real test soon when the NSW Government
introduces intensive logging in “Regrowth B” area. A map obtained under GIPA by
the North Coast Environment Centre indicates 142,818 ha. of our north coast
state forests between Taree and Grafton will be clear-felled.
Any small trees left
will be hauled away to the soon be established Biomass Plants at Taree, Kempsey
and Grafton and now it seems a new “renewable energy” diesel manufacturing
plant at Heron’s Creek. “Renewable” meaning over the next 100 years.
Any regrowth in the
intensively logged forests will likely be sprayed and Blackbutt monocultures
planted.
Oh, and so no damage is
done to the forest populations of koalas and protected animals and plants small
clumps of forest will be left.
How a male koala will
roam to the next paradise island of the living dead to breed without being
attacked by wild dogs or run over by logging trucks is not discussed in the
literature.
Even Dr Law did not
bother to defend his government’s offset scheme which will according to
evidence presented at the PMHC Koala Roundtable result in local extinction of
koalas in the Port Macquarie local government area…..
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
Sunday 10 June 2018
The political endorsements of extinction by Turnbull, Berejiklian and Palaszczuk governments continue
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
5 June 2018:
Wild fish stocks in
Australian waters shrank by about a third in the decade to 2015, declining in
all regions except strictly protected marine zones, according to data collected
by scientists and public divers.
The research, based on
underwater reef monitoring at 533 sites around the nation and published in
the Aquatic Conservation journal, claims to be the first
large-scale independent survey of fisheries. It found declining numbers tracked
the drop in total reported catch for 213 Australian fisheries for the 1992-2014
period.
The biomass of larger
fish fell 36 per cent on fished reefs during 2005-15 and dropped 18 per cent in
marine park zones allowing limited fishing, the researchers said. There was a
small increase in targeted fish species in zones that barred fishing
altogether.
"Most of the
numbers are pretty shocking," said David Booth, a marine ecologist at the
University of Technology Sydney. “This paper really nails down the fact that
fishing or the removal of large fish is one of the causes” of their decline.
Over-fished stocks
include the eastern jackass morwong, eastern gemfish, greenlip abalone, school
shark, warehou and the grey nurse shark. The morwong catch, once as common as
flathead in the trawl fishery, dived about 95 per cent from the 1960s to 109
tonnes in the 2015-16 year to become basically a bycatch species……
…Peter Whish-Wilson, the
Greens ocean spokesman, said the new research was largely based on actual
underwater identification – including the Reef Life Survey using citizen
scientists. It suggests fishing stocks "are not as rosy as the industry or
government would like us all to think".
"This study also
shows that marine parks can be successful fisheries management tools but we
simply don’t have enough of them or enough protection within them to deliver
widespread benefits," he said.
"The new
Commonwealth Marine Reserves are woefully inadequate and won’t do anything to
stop the continuing decline in the health of our oceans."
Environmental Defender's Office NSW, July 2017:
Humane Society
International Australia (HSI), represented by EDO NSW, is seeking independent
review of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s (GBRMPA) decision to
approve a lethal shark control program in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
HSI has lodged an appeal
in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which will require a full
reconsideration of the approval of the shark control program. The 10 year
lethal control program targets 26 shark species in the Marine Park, including
threatened and protected species. The appeal is based on the public interest in
protecting the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.....
As apex predators,
sharks play a vital role in maintaining the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
HSI is concerned about the ongoing impacts caused by the use of lethal
drumlines which are known to impact not only on shark species but also
dolphins, turtles and rays. HSI is calling for non-lethal alternatives for
bather protection.
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
27 May 2018:
Forest covering an area
more than 50 times the size of the combined central business districts of
Sydney and Melbourne is set to be bulldozed near the Great Barrier Reef,
official data shows, triggering claims the Turnbull government is thwarting its
$500 million reef survival package.
Figures provided to
Fairfax Media by Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy
show that 36,600 hectares of land in Great Barrier Reef water catchments has
been approved for tree clearing and is awaiting destruction.
The office of
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg did not say if his government was
comfortable with the extent of land clearing approved in Queensland, or if it
would use its powers to cancel permits.
The approvals were
granted by the Queensland government over the past five years. About 9000
hectares under those approvals has already been cleared.
Despite the dire
consequences of land clearing for the Great Barrier Reef – and billions of
dollars of public money spent over the years to tackle the problem – neither
Labor nor the government would commit to intervening to stop the mass
deforestation.
Environmental Defender's Office NSW, 25 May 2018:
Freedom of information
laws are an important mechanism for making government decisions transparent and
accountable. But the existence of such laws doesn’t mean access to information
is easy.
It took a three-year legal
process for the Humane Society International (HSI), represented by EDO NSW,
to access
documents about how the Australian Government came to accredit a NSW
biodiversity offsets policy for major projects.
The NSW policy in question
allowed significant biodiversity trade-offs (that is, permitting developers to
clear habitat in return for compensatory actions elsewhere) seemingly
inconsistent with national biodiversity offset standards. HSI wanted to know how
the national government could accredit a policy that didn’t meet its own
standards.
Despite Australia being
a signatory to important international environmental agreements and accepting
international obligations to protect biodiversity, in recent years it has been
proposed that the national government should delegate its environmental
assessment and approval powers to the states, creating a ‘one stop shop’ for
developers.
The original FOI request
in this case was submitted in early 2015, during a time when Federal and State
and Territory Governments were actively in consultation on handing over federal
approval powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This was to be done in the name of
efficiency, with the assurance that national standards would be upheld by the
states.
Over 60 documents
finally accessed by HSI show this was a false promise. The documents reveal
that federal bureaucrats in the environment department identified key areas of
the NSW policy that differed from federal standards.
Despite this, the policy
was accredited.
Accreditation meant that
the NSW policy could be used when approving developments with impacts on
nationally threatened species found in NSW, instead of applying the more
rigorous national offsets policy.
In the time it took to
argue for access to the documents, NSW developed a new biodiversity offsets
policy as part of broader legislative reforms for biodiversity and land
clearing. Unfortunately, the new NSW biodiversity offsets policy continues to
entrench many of the weaker standards. For example, mine site rehabilitation
decades in the future can count as an offset now; offset requirements may be
discounted if other socio-economic factors are considered; and supplementary
measures - such as research or paying cash - are an alternative to finding a
direct offset (that is, protecting the actual plant or animal that has been
impacted by a development).
While there have been
some tweaks to the new policy for nationally listed threatened species, there
is still a clear divergence in standards. The new policy, and the new NSW
biodiversity laws, are now awaiting accreditation by the Australian Government.
How our unique and
irreplaceable biodiversity is managed (and traded off) is clearly a matter of
public interest. And on the eve of a hearing at the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal, the federal environment department agreed and released over 60
documents. While it was a heartening win for transparency and the value of FOI
laws, it was a depressing read when these documents revealed the political
endorsement of extinction.
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
Sunday 6 May 2018
"We don't have old buildings, we have old trees": the fight to save a 200 year-old Lennox Head fig tree continues
Echo
NetDaily, 30 April
2018:
Ballina
Council has offered a temporary reprieve for the 200 year old Moreton Bay fig
tree in Castle Drive Lennox Head. Photo Jenny Grinlington.
Ballina’s Deputy Mayor,
Keith Williams, has thanked locals campaigning to save a
200-year-old Fig Tree at Lennox Head.
He said community
pressure had contributed to a rethink from the mayor that resulted in a last
minute rescission motion to temporarily save the tree while further
investigation is undertaken.
The motion signed by
Mayor David Wright, Cr Williams and Cr Meehan calls an Extraordinary Meeting to
consider further technical reports on the causes of cracking in an adjoining
house.
‘A number of highly
qualified arborists have written to Council urging further investigation of the
tree roots and claiming that soil moisture issues under the house are a more
likely source of the damage than the tree. This warrants further investigation,
said Cr Williams.
‘This tree predates the
arrival of European settlers in the area. Apart from items such as centuries
old fish traps, these ancient trees are some of the most significant heritage
items in the shire. They should be protected on that basis.’
‘I think all councillors
are mindful of the fact that our insurer has accepted a claim for damage and
denied future liability unless this tree is removed. But if that assessment is
wrong, we should challenge it on behalf of our community’, said Cr Williams.
He told Echonetdaily it
was ‘a difficult issue – we’ve been placed in a difficult position with our
insurer. They don’t value heritage. This in my view this is a significant item
of heritage – we don’t have old buildings, we have old trees.
While the date of the
extraordinary meeting is still to be determined by the general manager, Cr
Williams said he expects it to be ‘within next couple of weeks’.....
Labels:
Ballina Shire Council,
trees
Sunday 11 March 2018
A brief respite in the NSW Berejiklian Government's war on the natural world
"Clearing under the Code may threaten the viability of certain threatened species at property and local landscape scale. The risk highest in overcleared landscapes where most clearing is likely to occur under the Code." [NSW Office of Environment & Heritage, "Concurrene on Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code", August 2017, p. 3]
Sometime in 2017 a document was prepared for the NSW Minister for Environment & Heritage and Liberal MP for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton to sign in order for increased clearing of native vegetation across New South Wales to occur.
This new land clearing policy came into effect in August of that year but faced a legal challenge.
The
Coffs Coast Advocate,
9 March 2018:
THE Land and Environment
Court has delivered a massive blow to the NSW Government by ruling its land
clearing laws invalid because they were made unlawfully.
The Nature Conservation
Council (NCC) launched a legal challenge to the codes last November arguing
Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair failed to obtain concurrence from
Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton before making the codes, as is required by
law.
This morning the
government conceded this was the case and NCC chief executive Kate Smolski was
was quick to pounce.
"Today's ruling is
an embarrassing admission of failure by the government and a great victory for
the rule of law and the thousands of people who have supported us in taking
this action,” she said.
"It is
deeply troubling that the government disregarded the important oversight role
of the Environment Minister when making environmental laws but we are even more
concerned about the harmful content of the laws themselves.
"By
the government's own assessment they will lead to a spike in clearing of up to
45 per cent and expose threatened wildlife habitat to destruction including 99
per cent of identified koala habitat on private land.
"Premier Berejiklian
must act now to prevent further plundering of our forests, woodlands and water
supplies by scrapping these laws and making new ones that actually protect the
environment.”…..
The NSW Government is
yet to issue a statement on the decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nature Conservation Council (NCC)
Media Release, 9 March 2017:
Media Release, 2 March 2018:
Media Release, 9 March 2017:
Court finds NSW
Government land-clearing laws invalid
The Land and Environment
Court today ruled the NSW Government’s land-clearing laws invalid because they
were made unlawfully.
“The government has
bungled the introduction of one of its signature pieces of legislation, and in
the process demonstrates its careless disregard for nature in NSW,” Nature
Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said.
“Today’s ruling is an
embarrassing admission of failure by the Berejiklian government and a great
victory for the rule of law and the thousands of people who have supported us
in taking this action.”
The Nature Conservation
Council, represented by public interest environmental lawyers EDO NSW, launched
legal challenge against the government’s land-clearing codes last November.
NCC had argued through
its barristers Jeremy Kirk SC and David Hume the codes were invalid because the
Primary Industries Minister failed to obtain concurrence of the Environment
Minister before making the codes, as is required by law. The government today
has conceded this was indeed the case.
“It is deeply troubling
that the government disregarded the important oversight role of the Environment
Minister when making environmental laws, but we are even more concerned about
the harmful content of the laws themselves,” Ms Smolski said.
“By the government’s own
assessment, they will lead to a spike in clearing of up to 45% and expose
threaten wildlife habitat to destruction, including 99% of identified koala
habitat on private land.
“These laws were made
against the advice of the scientific community and against the wishes of the
vast majority of the many thousands of people who made submissions.
“It would
be completely cynical for the government to immediately remake these laws
without first correcting their many flaws and including environmental
protections the community wants and the science says we need.
“Premier Berejiklian
must act now to prevent further plundering of our forests, woodlands and water
supplies by scrapping these laws and making new ones that actually protect the
environment.”
Ms Smolski pledged to
continue the campaign to overturn weak land-clearing laws.
“As the state’s peak
environment organization, we will do everything we can to expose the damage of
land clearing and will not stop until we have laws that protect nature,” she
said.
“These laws are a matter
of life or death for wildlife. More than 1000 plant and animal species are at
risk of extinction in this state, including the koala and 60 per cent of all
our native mammals.
“Land clearing is the
main threat to many of these animals, and the laws this government introduced
unlawfully are pushing them closer to the brink.
“It is regrettable that
we had to take the government to court to make it abide by its own laws, but it
demonstrates the critical role organisations like ours play in our democracy.”
Environment Minister
knew 99% of koala habitat would be exposed to land clearing by contentious new
laws, FIO document shows
A document obtained
under freedom of information laws shows the Berejiklian government knew its new
land clearing laws would cause extensive harm to wildlife habitat but pressed
ahead with the changes anyway.
“This is damning
evidence that the Environment Minister approved these new laws knowing they
would expose 99% of identified koala habitat on private land to clearing,” NCC
CEO Kate Smolski said.
“The document also shows
the Minister was warned the laws could cause a 45% spike in land clearing and
that they would mostly benefit very large agribusinesses that could clear land
on a massive scale, not smaller enterprises and farming communities across the
state.
“It shows what we have
suspected all along – environment policy in NSW is being dictated by the
National Party and the powerful agribusiness interests the party represents.
“Minister Upton knew
these laws were very bad for threatened species and bushland, yet she approved
them anyway. This is a disgrace.”
The document, obtained
by EDO NSW for the Nature Conservation Council, was prepared by the Office of
Environment and Heritage for the Environment Minister and outlined the
consequences of Ms Upton agreeing to land-clearing codes proposed by Primary
Industries Minister Niall Blair.
Key warnings in the
document include:
*
“The regulatory changes will further increase agricultural clearing by between
8% and 45% annually.” (Page 3)
*
Clearing under the code risks: “Removing key habitat for threatened species,
including koala habitat (less than 1% of identified koala habitat in NSW is
protected from clearing under the Code)” and “Increasing vulnerability of
threatened ecological communities”. (Page 6)
*
If unchecked “such clearing could destroy habitats, cause soil and water
quality impacts”. (Page 5)
*
“The main benefits are likely to be private benefits for large farming
operations which broadscale clear under the Code.” (Page 6)
“These are terrible laws
that put our wildlife at risk,” Ms Smolski said. “Premier Berejiklian should
act immediately to protect the thousands of hectares of koala habitat at risk
by exempting sensitive areas from code-based clearing. “In the longer term, she
should go back to the drawing board and draft new laws that protect our
precious wildlife and bushland.”
Snapshots from NSW Office of
Environment & Heritage, "Concurrence
on Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code", August 2017:
UPDATE
The respite
ended before it really began………
The
Guardian, 11
March 2018:
But the government made
no delay remaking the laws, announcing
on Saturday it had been completed.
“The remade code is
identical to the previous one and is an integral part of the new land
management framework which gives landowners the tools and certainty they need,”
said David Witherdin, the CEO of Local Land Services, which oversees clearing
under the codes.
The move was condemned
by the NCC.
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