Government Urged To Stop Great Barrier Reef Tree-Clearing 'Frenzy'

Fairfax - Nicole Hasham

Forest covering an area more than 50 times the size of the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne is set to be bulldozed near the Great Barrier Reef, official data shows, triggering claims the Turnbull government is thwarting its $500 million reef survival package.
Figures provided to Fairfax Media by Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy show that 36,600 hectares of land in Great Barrier Reef water catchments has been approved for tree clearing and is awaiting destruction.

Corals in the Great Barrier Reef have a lower tolerance to heat stress than expected.

The approvals were granted by the Queensland government over the past five years. About 9000 hectares under those approvals has already been cleared.
Despite the dire consequences of land clearing for the Great Barrier Reef – and billions of dollars of public money spent over the years to tackle the problem – neither Labor nor the government would commit to intervening to stop the mass deforestation.

Land clearing can allow sediment, fertiliser and pesticides to run into rivers that flow into the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Jason South

The office of Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg did not say if his government was comfortable with the extent of land clearing approved in Queensland, or if it would use its powers to cancel permits.
Federal Labor environment spokesman Tony Burke said land clearing “can hit the environment from every angle”.

Labor environment spokesman Tony Burke. Photo: Andrew Meares

“It attacks native habitat, can put further pressure on threatened species, adds to the causes of climate change and contributes to increased nutrient and sediment run-off directly into the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.
“It makes no sense that this federal government has been so willing to turn a blind eye to large-scale land clearing in Queensland.”
However, he also did not say whether Labor would review, and potentially cancel, approvals for land clearing in Queensland if it won government.
The federal government last month pledged more than $500 million to protect the reef. It included $201 million for water quality improvements through changed farming practices, such as repairing damage caused by land clearing.
Land clearing can allow sediment, fertiliser and pesticides to run into rivers that flow into the Great Barrier Reef. This causes poor water quality – the second biggest threat to the reef’s health after climate change – which leads to more algae and less coral diversity.

Old growth forest in the vicinity of Kingvale Station, where 2000 hectares is set to be cleared. Photo: Australian Conservation Foundation

The vast majority of the clearing in reef catchments was approved by the former Newman government to allow for “high value” agriculture. The Palaszczuk government tightened the laws this month to disallow such approvals.
Proponents of land clearing in Queensland say large areas of the state's vegetation would remain untouched and that farmers have a right to make their land more productive. They also argue some clearing is required to maintain the health of other vegetation.
However, the Wilderness Society, which conducted its own separate analysis of the land to be cleared, described the pending destruction as a "frenzy".
The group’s nature campaigner, Jessica Panegyres, said the clearing across 58 properties “severely undercuts” the federal government’s reef rescue plan.
“The Turnbull government has powers under national environmental laws to halt the clearing, particularly given the big threat to the reef. But they simply refuse to act,” she said.
About 30,000 hectares of the planned clearing is slated for Olive Vale Station on Cape York, which was previously owned by federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch.
Mr Entsch has reportedly dismissed as “emotional claptrap” concerns that the clearing would harm the reef, and said the property had some of the best agriculture potential in the region.
The clearing also includes almost 2000 hectares at Kingvale Station. The federal government used its powers to assess that proposal under Commonwealth laws, a move opposed by some Coalition MPs including Matt Canavan, Barnaby Joyce and Mr Entsch. Federal officials have since given preliminary support to that clearing.
The federal government has the power to call in projects for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act if it believes the development may affect “matters of national environmental significance”. The work cannot proceed until the approval is granted.
Following a decision last year by the United Nations body UNESCO not to list the reef as "in danger", a listing the government fought hard against, Mr Frydenberg talked up the Commonwealth's powers on land clearing, saying "we'll continue to implement those".

Links

• Reef charity's fundraising record casts doubt on $444 million grant
• Swaths of native forest near Great Barrier Reef set to be bulldozed
• Funding for Great Barrier Reef water quality falls despite 'crisis'
• Prince Charles issues fresh plea for Great Barrier Reef
• 'Bandaid Measure': Is $500m Enough To Save The Great Barrier Reef?
• Budget Earmarks $500m To Mitigate Great Barrier Reef Climate Change
• Great Barrier Reef Coral Bleaching
• 'Cooked': Study Finds Great Barrier Reef Transformed By Mass Bleaching
• Losing Nemo? Wider Effects Of Mass Great Barrier Reef Bleaching Emerge
• World's Coral Reefs Face New Peril From Beneath Within Decades
• Great Barrier Reef In 'Deep Trouble' As Climate, Other Threats Mount: Official
• 'Wasteful Stunt': Turnbull Government Accused Of Doing Too Little To Save Reef
• Great Barrier Reef: Rising Temperatures Turning Green Sea Turtles Female
• Great Barrier Reef Will Be Dead By 2100, Says David Attenborough's Blue Planet II
• Why Climate Change Is A Key Issue In The Queensland Election