I too am against any further clearing of mature forests, but I do think
people have to think carefully about clearing problems, especially in
Queensland.
Having recently returned from a trip through Queensland, it is obvious to
me that landholders there have quite different problems to those in my own
area. The proliferation of regrowth on previously cleared land has to be
seen to be believed and a lot of grazing land is threatened by this.
Whereas here the problem is lack of regrowth, there they have too much.
Whilst I hope quite a bit of this grows to maturity, I don't think any
reasonable person could expect landholders to sit back and see their
livelihoods dessiminated. I feel it is right to allow a lot of this
regrowth to be cleared.
There has to be a balance. Environmentalists will never get landholders on
side if they insist that all clearing is bad. If "greenies" don't
understand about that balance, all that will happen is that landholders
will laugh in our faces and our arguments will not stand a chance.
I think we have a good chance of getting cooperation by working towards
preserving the mature forests, and by understanding that the situation is
different in different places.
Working with the landholders to demonstrate the benefits of conservation
and biodiversity will be a lot more successful in the long run. There also
needs to be incentives (e.g. tax rebates?)to encourage people to preserve
habitat on their properties.
And that brings us to money. I know of lots of farmers who really want to
care for their land and leave it in a better state than when they acquired
it. However remedial work takes money, and that is something there is
little of in the bush these days.
Annabel
Annabel Hoskins
Gunnedah Global Information Centre
(Gunnedah's Public Library)
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