Beef company's decision to end broadscale clearing sets benchmark
10 Jun 2003
BRISBANE: A decision by one of Australia's biggest beef producers, the Australian Agricultural Company, to end broadscale clearing of remnant native vegetation on the company's 18 cattle properties has set a new benchmark for sustainable land management throughout Queensland, says WWF-Australia.
"It is encouraging - even inspiring - to see that a company like AACo views an end to clearing of native vegetation as part of their core business," said Noel Ainsworth, WWF-Australia Northern Regional Manager.
"This agreement will apply to 6.5 million hectares in Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is an enormous commitment to sustainable land management and extends conservation efforts well beyond the fence-line. It is a recognition that natural resource management must be considered at a landscape scale."
Mr Ainsworth said the agreement also sent a clear signal to all Australians that quality agricultural production could co-exist with conservation principles.
"It also shows that one of Australia's biggest agricultural producers is prepared to back the recent joint proposal by the Federal and State Governments to control land clearing in Queensland, " he said.
AACo executives signed the agreement today in Brisbane. The document, headed Commitment to Sustainable Growth in Australian Agriculture, commits the company to five actions to "establish and adopt best practice for sustainable management."
The actions include "cessation of broadscale clearing of remnant native vegetation", ongoing participation in local environmental initiatives and development of a commercially viable approach to identifying and conserving high conservation regrowth.
The agreement was witnessed by Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, and Queensland's Minister for Natural Resources, Stephen Robertson.
Mr Ainsworth said WWF-Australia had been involved in discussions with AACo to develop a common understanding of the issues around land clearing including ground management of regrowth and the narrow exemptions for daily property management.
"We have also discussed working with the company to develop certification procedures for sustainable agricultural production and are interested in developing conservation management actions to protect significant wetlands on their properties," he said.
