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The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientist say the changes would result in “more degraded land, more damage to river systems, increased carbon emissions, and the loss of habitat critical
to the survival of threatened species.”
If they become law, the proposed changes will:
- allow landholders to self-assess land-clearing. This is alarming because most landholders do not have the expertise to identify threatened species or ecological communities.·
- increase the use of indirect biodiversity offsets. This means that landholders will be able pay money into a fund rather than locally creating or protecting habitat equivalent to that lost
- remove the requirement to ‘maintain or improve biodiversity’
- allow landholders to legally shoot and kill Purple Swamphens, Galahs, Cockatoos and all corvid species without a license
BirdLife Australia is opposed to these changes and is calling on the NSW government to:
1. Extend the public comment period by a period of no less than six months and undertake genuine engagement of the community in the design of new biodiversity legislation.
2. Ensure the Biodiversity Conservation Bill 2016 will:
- prevent the extinction and promote the recovery of threatened species, populations and ecological communities;
- protect critical habitat of threatened species, populations and ecological communities; and
- avoid further species becoming threatened with extinction
3. Ensure that prior to clearing of vegetation in NSW, sites must be assessed by experienced, independent ecologists to ensure:
- threatened fauna or flora species are not killed or destroyed
- threatened species habitat is not removed or destroyed without direct offsets that meet strict criteria.
4. Commit to the necessary staff and funding resources for Local Land Services to certify and regulate vegetation management.
5. Establish an evidence-based approach for listing native species as ‘exempt wildlife’
BirdLife Australia has prepared a
thorough submission here.
But we encourage all supporters to make a
short submission (using the points above) directly to the
NSW Government Submissions page.
Submission close tomorrow, Tuesday June 28th 2016.
Alternatively click the following blue underlined text to
Stand Up For Nature and our birds.
Thank you for helping prevent our birds from going extinct. Once they are gone, like the Dodo, Thylacine and Paradise Parrot, we will never get them back.
*Biodiversity Conservation Bill 2016 and Local Land Services Amendment Bill 2016
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