Australia's Massive Tree Felling
2/23/00
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Australia, a supposed leader in good environmental governance, has
one of the highest forest clearance rates in the World, and the
highest of developed countries. This despite the relatively small
amounts of forest cover existing. Over one million hectares (about
2.4 million acres) have been cleared in the last three years. I've
said it before, and I'll say it again, shame on you Australia. Your
poor land management damages your, and the World's, future. Please
get your act together for the sake of us all.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Australia criticised for massive tree felling
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 2000, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: February 22, 2000
AUSTRALIA: February 22, 2000
SYDNEY - Australia is destroying trees faster than any other
developed nation and has cleared more than one million hectares (2.5
million acres) of trees in three years.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said on Monday that Australia,
one of the world's driest nations and where rising salinity threatens
its agricultural belt, had cleared 529,000 hectares (1.3 million
acres) in 1999.
Australia ranked as the world's fifth biggest land-clearing nation,
trailing only Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and Bolivia in destroying trees, it said.
It said that unless Australia acted to stop the rate of land
clearance it faced major environmental damage which could cost the
nation A$1.0 billion (US$627 million) a year in repairs.
"Salinity or salt poisoning is forecast to cost this country A$1.0
billion a year in road repairs, loss of farmland, damage to
buildings, sports grounds, rusting pipes and so on," said Don Henry,
executive director of the foundation.
"These trees are capital investment against massive salinity repair
bills," said Henry.
Large areas have already been lost to agriculture as salt is brought
to the surface by the rising water table. The felling of native
trees, which require a lot of water, is blamed for the rising water
table.
The foundation said its latest data on land clearing showed a 30
percent rise from the last national figures in 1996-97.
"We have never been in the top five (land clearing nations) before.
We are the worst in the developed world. It's the biggest disaster as
a nation we will have to face," Henry said.
GOVERNMENT CONSERVATION PROGRAMME CRITICISED
The foundation criticised the Australian government's "bushcare"
programme which aims to protect and plant native trees, saying for
every one tree saved 10 were destroyed.
"Volunteer planting just can't keep up with the bulldozers - over one
million hectares has been cleared in the last three years," Henry
said.
Farmers in Australia's tropical state of Queensland, the nation's
second largest state, are bulldozing huge tracts of land ahead of new
land clearing laws.
Under the planned laws farmers must leave 30 percent of their land
under native vegetation. The foundation said Queensland accounted for
about 80 percent of Australia's land clearance.
But before the Queensland state government passes its land clearance
laws it is seeking compensation for farmers from the national
government, which has so far refused to pay.
The foundation said Australia could save 30 times more trees per
dollar if the national government backed the Queensland laws. "It
will take only A$103 million of federal money to save 4.7 million
hectares of trees," said Henry, adding the Australian government
still had A$235 million in its "bushcare" programme.