Jury still out on Government over landclearing
14 Nov 2005
New laws announced by the NSW Government to end the clearing of remnant native vegetation will only be viewed as successful when clearing in NSW is close to zero - said WWF-Australia and The Wilderness Society.
It is nearly three years since the Labor Government promised to end landclearing but tens of thousands of kilometres of bush continue to be cleared each year. It is positive that the laws are now finally in place. Unfortunately there are serious flaws in the legislation.
The real test of the 2003 election promise to end landclearing is whether the Government now acts to enforce its own laws.
Paul Toni, WWF Program Leader Development, said, "More than two years of exhaustive negotiations have taken place with landholder groups and the new laws have been widely advertised. We now expect to see an immediate reduction in the area being cleared."
Felicity Wade, The Wilderness Society's NSW Campaign Manager, said, "The Wilderness Society and WWF both expect to see prosecutions launched against landholders who have broken existing landclearing laws as well as strict enforcement of the new laws."
WWF and The Wilderness Society remain concerned at the continuing failure of the Government to publish maps showing remnant native vegetation and rates of clearing and its weak compliance policy.
