THE NSW WESTERN WOODLANDS NEED YOUR HELP NOW!
PUBLIC SUBMISSION TIME - Monday 30 September- Friday 25 October
2002
An IMPORTANT decision is coming near. In November this year, the NSW
Government will decide the future of 6.5 % of the state - the Brigalow Belt
South region (BBS).
The BBS region stretches through the Central West from Dubbo north to the
Queensland border. It is an area of heavily cleared agricultural land dotted
with mostly small but crucial areas of remnant vegetation. It also contains
two large areas of remnant forest and woodlands ? the Pilliga and Goonoo
State Forests.
Pilliga (near Coonabarabran) and Goonoo (near Dubbo) are the largest
remaining temperate woodlands in Australia. Such woodlands are almost
totally cleared in Victoria and most of NSW.
These areas are home to many threatened woodland birds, such as the Mallee
Fowl, Regent Honeyeater, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Gilbert's Whistler,
Turquoise Parrot, Barking Owl, Bush Stone Curlew, Masked Owl and
Square-tailed Kite.
If we are to avoid more regional extinctions of animal and plant species these
irreplaceable woodlands, as well as other smaller remnant woodland patches,
should be securely protected in National Parks.
The conservation movement, under the banner of the ?Western Conservation
Alliance? (WCA) is proposing a large increase in National Parks to address
the environmental crisis in the BBS region.
Only National Parks give secure protection from ongoing threats such as
logging, mining, grazing and firewood collection that nibble away at
woodland habitat values.
The WCA has developed a comprehensive proposal, called the ?WCA
Option?, that will securely protect these woodlands. The WCA Option makes
a very clear choice for the future of the BBS region: it chooses a future for
endangered species, a genuinely sustainable timber industry, a boost to
tourism, and new alternative industry opportunities; it chooses an end to
destructive logging, clearing for mining and agriculture, salinity, and
unsustainable agriculture.
The WCA needs your help to persuade the NSW Government to choose the
WCA Option ahead of industry and Government agency options that will not
securely protect endangered species and their habitats. (The full WCA
Option can be viewed at www.npansw.org.au/wca-bbs)
Please write to BOTH of the following: the Resource and Conservation
Assessment Council AND Premier Bob Carr (addresses below).
Your letters must be received by Friday 25th October 2002.
Make the VITAL POINT in both letters that:
?I support the Western Conservation Alliance Option for the Brigalow Belt
South Bioregion.?
Personal, hand-written letters are a most powerful medium and have proven
to make a difference.
Check the WCA website at www.npansw.org.au/wca-bbs for dot points to use
in writing your letters - as well as a print-ready form letter, if this is what
you
prefer.
You can email if you have any questions.
Send your submission to:
Resource and Conservation Assessment Council (RACAC)
GPO Box 3927
SYDNEY NSW 2001
FAX: 02 9762 8712
and send a copy to:
Hon. Bob Carr
Premier
Parliament House
Macquarie Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
FAX: 02 9228 3935
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.
NOTE:
You can view all 8 BBS stakeholder options that have been put on public
exhibition at:
http://www.racac.nsw.gov.au/rfa/wra/brig_ex.shtml
--
Julie McGuiness
9 Seymour Place
Kambah ACT 2902
AUSTRALIA
(02) 6231 9882 (h)
(02) 6249 6491 (w)
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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