The Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) has adopted a preferred option for the
Pacific Highway upgrade through the Clarence valley, North Coast NSW that
involves the destruction of large areas of natural vegetation, cuts across
wetlands and places a barrier through the habitat of the endangered population
of the Coastal Emu. Proposed ameliorative measures are at the best hopeful and
at the worst farcical. The EIS has been released and submissions are due by
February 4. In excess of 80 threatened species of flora and fauna are to be
impacted including the state listed Black-necked Stork, Brolga, Australasian
Bittern, Eastern Osprey, Square-tailed Kite, Spotted Harrier, Little Eagle,
Bush Stone-curlew, Glossy Black-Cockatoo, Masked Owl, Eastern Grass Owl,
Powerful Owl, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Grey-crowned Babbler, Diamond Firetail
and more, and the federally listed Rainbow Bee-eater, White-bellied Sea-Eagle,
Latham’s Snipe, Australian Painted Snipe, Fork-tailed Swift and White-throated
Needletail, as well as numerous mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates
and flora species.
There is an alternative route but it has a greater social impact. Money can
address the social impacts but no amount of money can bring back the ecosystems
once they are lost. The orange option, that approximates the existing highway,
is a less ecologically destructive route. We are calling for it to be the
preferred route.
People that want to prepare a submission can contact me directly on
and I will send a package of material to assist with its
preparation or people can follow up the issue directly at
www.rms.nsw.gov.au/pacific (click on Woolgoolga to Ballina). I would
appreciate hearing from anyone who does send a submission.
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
0266493153 0429601960
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
