Pending Land Protection Causes Massive Queensland, Australia Clearing
11/8/99
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Title: Pending RFA Causes Massive QUEENSLAND Clearing
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 8, 1999
BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia, November 8, 1999 (ENS) - Farmers
anxious about pending land protection measures have cleared 60
million trees this year in Queensland, increasing greenhouse gases
and threatening species diversity in the tropical Australian state.
The farmers fear that planned restrictions in the Regional Forest
Agreement (RFA) could force them off their property. At a panicked
pace, they have removed more than 300,000 hectares (1,158 square
miles) of native vegetation, officials said.
"We haven't got any choice but to clear more to make up for low world
commodity prices," farmer Tom Nicholas told the Sydney Morning
Herald.
Under the RFA, some lands will be set aside for conservation and
others for logging. A fund will be established to reimburse
Queenslanders who lose their jobs due to the agreement. The federal
government is in the process of creating RFAs with all six Australian
states.
The Queensland RFA may not be ready until February, state government
officials said. Without the RFA legislation in place, the clearing
will most likely continue.
Federal Minister for Forestry and Conservation Wilson Tuckey
criticized the Queensland government of Peter Beattie last month for
the delay in concluding the RFA, calling it "regrettable and
unacceptable."
Rod Welford, Queensland's environment minister, contends that the
government was not to blame for the panic clearing.
Professor Graham Farquhar, Australia's leading authority on
greenhouse gas emissions, expressed concern about the clearing, which
accounts for about 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions nationwide.
He warned that the clearing is being noted overseas and could damage
Australia's reputation.