Coalition's Vision - a bulldozed landscape

Saturday, 03 February 2007 03:40

Wednesday's native vegetation policy launch by the NSW Coalition has been slammed by environment groups as a policy that will set NSW back years in the quest to end land clearing.

The Coalition has vowed to scrap native vegetation rules that seek to end broadscale land clearing.

"This policy will guarantee the destruction of further bushland, increase the rate of wildlife extinctions and lead to further greenhouse gas pollution as trees are bulldozed, burnt or left to rot", said Reece Turner from The Wilderness Society.

"The Liberal National Party has become captive to the extremists in the tree clearing lobby.  It's a recipe for massive greenhouse emissions and biodiversity loss.  They are going to gut the state's land clearing laws just when they are starting to have a good impact", said Jeff Angel from the Total Environment Centre.

"If implemented, this will lead to further pressures for our struggling wildlife, rivers and farmlands. It is a vision of a bulldozed landscape for NSW's bushlands and will not assist the long-term interests of rural NSW" said Cate Faerhmann from the NSW Nature Conservation Council.

"The science on land clearing is clear: the practice is currently posing the greatest threat to the nature of NSW. Land clearing is the number one cause of wildlife extinctions, the number one cause of dryland salinity and it greatly exacerbates the impacts of drought", concluded Turner.