Queensland land clearing ban inadequate, could worsen clearing rates: WWF
21 Apr 2009
Land clearing in Queensland could skyrocket this year due to the inadequate coverage of a new Queensland Government ban on the clearing of regenerating bushland, said WWF-Australia.
Habitats for hundreds of millions of native animals in Queensland could be lost and the state’s carbon emissions could jump if panicked clearing takes hold in the wake of the Queensland Government’s limited ban.
"Landholders who fear further restrictions on land clearing are likely to fire up the bulldozers and start knocking down millions of hectares of endangered and sensitive regrowth that fall outside of the banned area," said WWF’s Dr Martin Taylor, author of a recent WWF regrowth clearing study presented to both parties.
"The Queensland Government should have started with a far broader ban and lifted the ban progressively over time to pre-empt this dangerous prospect."
In the lead up to the recent Queensland election, the Bligh Government promised a comprehensive solution to high levels of clearing of both mature and regrowing bushland, and indicated a ban could be implemented across 10 million hectares, including endangered ecosystems such as the state’s endangered Brigalow scrub.
But the three month ban announced by the government on April 7 covers only one million hectares of the state’s endangered ecosystems, and excludes sensitive parts of the Brigalow.
"We are alarmed that over five million hectares of endangered regrowth vegetation remain unprotected outside of the present ban," said Dr Taylor.
"Millions more hectares of streamside vegetation in some Great Barrier Reef catchments and regrowth on fragile soils have also been omitted.
"We call on Premier Anna Bligh to honour her election commitment to cease land clearing, highlighting her pre-election admission that these sensitive landscapes ‘badly need trees to perform their natural function'."
WWF research shows that habitats for hundreds of millions of native mammals, reptiles and birds - including thousands of koalas - may be lost due to panicked clearing in endangered and sensitive areas left outside of the ban.
Dr Taylor said that claims made about job losses and reduced income as a result of restricted land clearing were exaggerated and baseless.
"WWF supports truly sustainable production and only asks that landholders meet their basic duty of care for the land to conserve endangered landscapes and fragile soils - to prevent them washing away and choking the Great Barrier Reef and the inland rivers," he said.
For this reason, WWF is actively working to find ways to create incentives for landholders to commit to using their unprotected land as carbon sinks. These incentives could also provide rewards for landholders who voluntarily choose to retain regrowth elsewhere on their property.
Notes
Queensland’s deforestation levels are currently higher than the rest of Australia combined and contribute significantly to the state’s carbon emissions. The most recent estimates of carbon emissions from land clearing in Queensland total more than all the transport emissions in Queensland.
More information
Alvin Stone, Press Officer, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1259
Mobile: 0410 221 068
Dr Martin Taylor, Protected Areas Policy Manager, WWF-Australia
Phone: 07 3211 2749
Mobile: 0406 384 289
