NSW biodiversity threatened by land clearing review
28 Aug 2006
Recommendations made to the NSW Government that restrictions on the clearing of 'thickening scrub' be relaxed will have dire consequences for biodiversity in NSW, warns WWF.
Land clearing is the single biggest threat to species in Australia. In NSW it kills hundreds of thousands of native animals every year, contributes significantly to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions and causes extensive dryland salinity.
A review of NSW land clearing regulations this month recommended that restrictions on thickening scrub be relaxed to allow the clearing of much older trees, the interference with tree species fundamental to biodiversity (such as eucalypts) and the retention of only very low densities of plant species.
The recommendations are based on a flawed perception that thickening scrub - misleadingly referred to as 'invasive scrub' - holds no environmental value when in fact it is often a regeneration of native species on previously degraded land and contributes significantly to biodiversity.
"The recommendations allow previously protected native vegetation crucial for the conservation of biodiversity in NSW to be cleared," said Constance Johnson, WWF's Policy Manager for Sustainable Landscapes.
"In all areas, decisions about the management of thickening scrub should be based on sound scientific considerations such as land and vegetation type, ecosystem characteristics and conservation values."
The recommendations to relax clearing restrictions on thickening scrub are inconsistent with the NSW Government's commitment in 2003 to end the broadscale clearing of native vegetation.
WWF has lodged its concerns with the NSW Government and is calling for the review recommendations not to be adopted.
Find out more
Charlie Stevens, Press Officer, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1274
Mobile: 0424 649 689
Email: cstevens@wwf.org.au
Constance Johnson, Policy Manager for Sustainable Landscapes, WWF-Australia
Phone: 07 3839 2677
Mobile: 0421 328 448
