Clearing the Way for A Catastrophe
11/18/97
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Headline: Clearing the Way for A Catastrophe
Source: The National
Date: 11/18/97
Author: James Woodford
A "catastrophe" is under way in the Daintree with the
clearfelling of rainforest, the draining of wetlands and the
destruction of the tourist values that have made the region
famous, warns the Mayor of Douglas Shire Council, Councillor Mike
Berwick.
A collective of Daintree tourist operators is so concerned about
landclearing that it has published advertisements in local
newspapers to express outrage at the "destruction".
The co-ordinator of the Cairns and Far North Environment Council,
Mr Gavan McFadzean, said the Daintree was becoming increasingly
fragmented and faces its greatest threat in more than 15 years.
Cr Berwick has condemned his own council for approving the
clearance of several large blocks near the banks of the Daintree
River and called on the Federal Government to intervene to
protect World Heritage values. A spokesman for the Minister for
the Environment, Senator Hill, said Cr Berwick was preparing a
report which would be sent to the Environment Department for
assessment.
The lowland rainforest, which is considered crucial habitat for
cassowaries and bennett's tree kangaroos, is being cleared to
make way for grazing.
In far-north Queensland, lowland rainforest is felt to be one of
the most threatened types of vegetation because so much has been
cleared to make way for sugarcane.
Several hillsides have been stripped of all vegetation, putting
the cleared areas at risk of erosion when the wet season arrives
in the next few weeks.
According to one of the area's main tourist operators, Mr Allan
Sheater, manager of the Daintree Environment Centre, the
hillsides are so steep that "cows would need climbing gear".
However, one of the landholders who is clearing forest, Mr Ron
Jack, said his family had commissioned botanical and
environmental studies before starting the work.
"The tourists can't even see it," Mr Jack said. "We are just
clearing our land for cattle grazing. The council have approved
it and we are not doing anything wrong."
The values of the wet tropics are threatened not only by
landclearing but also by a new push to open the "Quaid Road",
which cuts the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in two and is
currently locked, under an agreement between the Federal and
Queensland governments.
On November 30 the Mareeba District Chamber of Commerce has
organised a convoy to travel down the road as a protest against
its closure.
The chamber says that opening the road is crucial to development
of a major housing estate on the large, privately owned Southedge
Lakes, which would give a big economic boost to the town of
Mareeba.
The Quaid Road "offers magnificent scenery as it travels through
a rainforest landscape with views to the Great Barrier Reef,"
says a statement released by the chamber.
"Constructed by local engineers in 1989, the road has been
designed to accommodate a growth in traffic with provision to
expand from a two- to four-lane highway."
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