Julie Lyn McLaren wrote:
> 1,000 klms. West of the intensive farming areas and any land clearing
> out in this area is basically to stop erosion. From our personal
> experience of having pulled scrub about 10 years ago to stop this
> erosion I have come to the conclusion that there has to be a case for
> selective clearing.Where there was no grass and a lot of sick trees
> there is now an abundance of all the native grasses and thousands of
> mulga trees, and in this rejuvenated area the wealth of not only
> birdlife but all wildlife native to this area has increased
> tenfold.
I'd have to say that this all seems counter-intuitive, and what
independant verification has there been? If we're going to promote
"pulling of scrub" as a regenerative process, I can't see how that can
continue on a large scale without loss of biodiversity along the way.
Where does the fauna squat while the "scrub" is re-growing?
"All the wildlife native to the area has increased tenfold" - this is
clearly nonsense. Maybe some of the bigger/brighter birds and mammals
have??? What about the invertebrates, small mammals .... and other
cryptic fauna?? There's no information to suggest that knocking all the
veg down every decade or so is a good way to promote biodiversity. Why
should Australians subsidise people engaging in such a ludicrous
practice?
> of the cycle.I am appalled by the large scale clearing of timber in
> the pursuit of the almighty dollar, however, farmers have to be
> allowed to keep in line with the CPI which is the privilege of all
> other Australians and how this can be done is a great big question
> mark.Moderation and common sense on both sides must be employed to
> arrive at a satisfactory result.
The compromise is traditionally at the expense of biodiversity
conservation - invariably so.
If you're still not convinced that land clearing is unsustainable, come
and have a look at Victoria. Salinity and biodiversity loss are
gathering pace down here, in a manner so rapid and rapacious as to make
any thinking person shudder with horror.
Australia is well on its way to becoming an agricultural basket case,
and to losing its unique biota. People of subsequent generations will
curse us if we don't make a stand now.
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