Land clearing rate is 5th highest in the world - is this the Smart State?

With relatively low population densities and a healthy standard of living, it is hard to imagine why Queensland should be honored with the distinction of maintaining the 5th highest rate of land clearing in the world (just after Brazil). Such titles are often given to developing nations, particularly those driven to clear vegetation by dire economic and social circumstances in combination with weak or unenforced environmental policies. On the surface, however, Queensland appears to claim neither of these characteristics. The politicians are apparently embracing a suite of 'green' policies, with our current premier Peter Beattie promising that Queensland will be 'the smart state' by encouraging innovation and sustainability in both private and public sectors. In response to the ongoing landclearing crisis, the state parliament passed the Vegetation Management Act, which has left many people wondering if this policy is not quite 'smart' enough.

Vegetation Management Act
This key environmental policy was passed by the Queensland Parliament in 1999 (with regulations delivered in 2000). The goal of this act is to "provide certainty for rural producers" and to "help preserve our land for future generations." Apparently, the former appears to take precedence over the latter, as the act only protects those 'regional ecosystems' which are endangered. This is classified as those vegetation types with 10% or less remaining or 10-30% remaining and less than 10,000 ha in total area.

Is Clearing Allowed?
A permit to clear non-endangered vegetation may be necessary under certain circumstances, but there are many opportunities to clear habitat without requiring a permit. Also, applying for a permit doesn't necessarily mean that a landowner will be denied the ability to clear; it is only a formality that provides local government agencies with the capacity to make their own such decisions, with consideration given to comments from other agencies within the context of the law.

For instance, a 'freehold' or private landowner can generally clear land within the following categories:

1. remnant vegetation, or vegetation that isn't in its 'natural' state. It is natural again when it achieves 50% density and 70% height of pre-cleared vegetation.
2. non-endangered vegetation types in an urban area (unless it has been deemed a high nature conservation value area)
3. non-endangered vegetation of 5 ha or less for development in non-urban areas,
4. clearing for buildings, fencelines, and fire breaks.

Interestingly, the rules are only slighter tougher for those 'leasehold' landowners - land leased from the state, often for 100 year periods - with restrictions on clearing for 'of concern' regional ecosystems. These are ecoystems representing habitat types with 10- 30% remaining, or those with greater than 30% remaining but less than 10,000 ha in extent.

Click here for further information : www.nrm.qld.gov.au/vegetation

Is the Act Slowing the Rate of Land Clearing?
Although the Act may be limiting clearing in some areas of Queensland, recent figures indicate that the average annual rate of clearing has actually increased during a two-year period between 1999 to 2001: from 446,000 ha/yr to over 500,000 ha/yr (WWF website -see below).

"The Premier is focusing on the amount of illegal land clearing that has occurred, but that issue is peripheral when you look at the excessive rates of legal land clearing being endorsed by his Government" said Queensland Conservation Council Coordinator Felicity Wishart.

"These figures are excessive by any standard - land clearing is out of control in Queensland" said World Wide Fund for Nature spokesperson Peter Cosier. "Token measures to address illegal clearing are open to evasion and will not solve the problem" added The Wilderness Society spokesperson Louise Matthiesson. "Scientific experts have repeatedly demonstrated that land clearing is the prime cause of salinity and the number one threat to native wildlife."

Atherton Tablelands, north Queensland. More highland rainforest being cleared for grazing land, 2001-2002. This area was known to support populations of Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo, seven species of possums and Golden Bowerbirds.

New Report Highlights Threat of Clearing to Wildlife
A recently released report (Jan. 2003) by Australian scientists titled "Impacts of Land Clearing on Australian Wildlife in Queensland" indicates that land clearing is decimating Queensland wildlife. The World Wide Fund for Nature, Australia - funded study has produced a littany of sobering figures to underscore this fact.

"At least 100 million native mammals, birds and reptiles die each year as a result of broad-scale clearing of remnant vegetation in Queensland.

The toll of native wildlife includes 2.1 million mammals, 8.5 million birds and 89 million reptiles. These figures encompass an estimated 342,000 possums and gliders, 29,000 bandicoots, 19,000 koalas, 233,000 macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and rat kangaroos), 1.25 million small carnivorous marsupials (dunnarts, antechinuses and others) and over 7,500 echidnas.

One third of the 342,000 possums and gliders killed annually are tiny feathertail gliders and the remainder is made up of about equal numbers of sugar gliders, squirrel gliders, greater gliders and ringtail possums.

52 million reptiles are killed each year. If clearing continues at its current rate in the brigalow, in 20 years time an estimated 1 billion reptiles will have been permanently eliminated from Queensland's rich diversity of reptile species."

The entire report can be accessed at the WWF-Australia website: www.wwf.org.au/downloads/Report_clearing_and_wildlife.pdf

If you would like to express your concern about continued land clearing in Queensland and its effects on native wildlife, please write to:

Hon. Dean Wells, Minister for Environment, Queensland Parliament,
PO BOX 155, Brisbane Albert Street, Queensland 4002 Australia.

Hon. Peter Beattie, Premier, Queensland, PO BOX 185, Brisbane Albert Street, Queensland 4002 Australia.
 

Mission Beach, north Queensland. Extensive lowland tropical rainforest cleared for residential development, 2000-2001. This was recognized as an important area for the rapidly declining population of cassowaries at Mission Beach.