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23/04/07 Farmers urged to help save native animals and plants, Rachel Kleinman, The Age

 13/04/07 Senate inquiry warns of climate perils Jewel Topsfield, The Age our highlighting
 

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Rachel Kleinman, The Age
April 23, 2007

Other related coverage

• Senate inquiry warns of climate perils

FARMERS must help restore Victoria's bushland if endangered animals and plants are to survive, according to environment groups.

Hundreds of native species were under siege from habitat loss, climate change, invasive weeds and feral animals, the Victoria Naturally alliance said.

"Already a third of our native animals are either extinct or threatened and our indigenous plants are faring even worse," Victorian National Parks Association director Charlie Sherwin said.

The State Government will launch a consultation paper today on the growing threat to land and marine ecosystems.

The paper says the decline of biodiversity will affect ecosystems' abilities to provide food and clean water for Victoria.

Victoria Naturally has called on the Government to provide more money to help private landholders and farmers to restore bushland. But some projects should be fast-tracked and funded now, rather than waiting for the consultation, it said.

The Government must increase efforts to control weeds and feral animals in national parks.

Victoria's Alpine National Park needed urgent attention as one of Australia's natural areas most threatened by climate change, the group said.

Seventy per cent of Victoria's land had been cleared since European settlement, more than in any other state.

North-west Victoria had the highest number of threatened species in any one region of Australia. Species most under threat included the mountain pygmy possum, orange-bellied parrot, helmeted honeyeater and broad-shelled tortoise.

"A lot of people would be surprised by the dire straits our wildlife and indigenous plants are in," Victoria Naturally project director Carrie Deutsch said.

The growing phenomenon of people retiring to coastal and country areas and Melbourne's increasing population meant urban environments were encroaching on rural areas.

This is increasing pressure on ecosystems, the Government paper says.

While farmers were struggling with the crippling drought, they must also help ease the burden on the environment.

"Farmers can reduce environmental impacts through a more efficient use of resources and improved farming practices," the paper says.

Environment Minister John Thwaites said a new policy would aim to protect biodiversity over the next 50 years. It would also plan for climate change, drought and megafires.

"(It) is about achieving the right balance between land, coastal and marine uses and sustainable management of natural resources," he said.

The discussion paper will be launched by Mr Thwaites and former Australian of the Year Sir Gustav Nossal.

The Government wants public submissions by June 22.

http://dse.vic.gov.au/landwhitepaper

http://vnpa.org.au

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Senate inquiry warns of climate perils - our highlighting

Jewel Topsfield, The Age
April 13, 2007

CLIMATE change is posing a major threat to conservation reserves across Australia, placing tropical rainforests in North Queensland in "great peril", a national inquiry has found.

The Senate environment committee report on national parks said climate change was expected to exacerbate pre-existing threats to protected areas, such as fire, feral animals and weeds. "Climate change was identified as a threat to protected areas in submissions by government authorities in every jurisdiction," said the report.

It said the impacts varied across Australia, with freshwater wetlands in Kakadu National Park threatened by salt water inundation if sea levels rise, rainforests in North Queensland facing collapse if temperatures increase, and climate change contributing to groundwater depletion in the Blue Mountains.

According to WWF-Australia, a two-degree increase in sea temperatures would bleach 95 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef, leaving it devoid of coral and dominated by seaweed and blue-green algae, the report said.

It recommended the states and Commonwealth improve the connections between protected areas to make them less vulnerable to climate change.

Committee deputy chairman Andrew Bartlett said if protected areas were cut off from each other and surrounded by suburbia, it was much harder for species and ecosystems to survive. "In North Queensland there are patches where the cassowary is surviving, but because they are not connected adequately, the population in each patch is non-viable," Senator Bartlett said.

The report also identified invasive species as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in Australia and a major threat to national parks.

Since the arrival of Europeans, more than 28,000 exotic plants have been introduced to Australia, at a cost to the economy of $4 billion a year. All areas of the country have at least one pest animal, with foxes and rabbits prolific south of the Tropic of Capricorn, 200,000 feral deer in the Victorian high country and camels in arid central Australia.

The report slammed the Federal Government for failing to respond to the 2004 Senate report Turning Back The Tide — The Invasive Species Challenge, which recommended 27 measures to combat invasive plants and animals.

"The committee believes that, despite some recent improvements in relation to weeds, the management, funding, community understanding and political will to address issues related to invasive species … remains fragmented and insufficient," the report says.

The committee also recommended all governments give greater priority to indigenous knowledge about managing fires. The loss of traditional Aboriginal burning in the Kimberleys and far north Queensland parks was threatening biodiversity, with large intense wildfires running for months and covering millions of hectares.

Turning Back The Tide — The Invasive Species Challenge,;

Index - Turning Back The Tide — The Invasive Species Challenge,

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