Land Clearing & the NSW National Party

Land clearing in NSW tripled over past decade, State of the Environment 2021 report revealsEPA analysis paints grim picture for ecosystems under increasing threat from habitat destruction, invasive species and climate crisis

Greens Candidate for Northern Tablelands, Dr Dorothy Robinson, said that clearing land for industrial scale farming divided local communities, especially family farms left vulnerable to changes in the micoclimate. "The Nature Conservation Council warns that habitat clearing for agricultural development is now the biggest cause of environmental loss in NSW, with 50 million trees and almost 100,000 hectares lost in NSW each year", she said.

"We need to develop land clearing policies that are truly in the National Interest", said Dr Robinson.

As well as destroying biodiversity, land clearing and tree loss increase global warming and the risk of droughts, floods, storms and extreme weather events all of which affect agricultural productivity. Ken Henry's independent review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act, together with the review of the Local Land Services Act, will pave the way for new legislation to protect our our threatened species and our entire environment. The Greens hope to provide valuable input into this process to ensure the best possible outcome both for nature and for the climate.

“Land clearance and degradation is one of the greatest crises facing Australia and the world,” said Bill Hare, chief executive and senior scientist with Berlin-based Climate Analytics when interviewed by the Guardian. “It undermines the basis for food production, is causing species loss and ecological decline, destroys climate resilience, degrades water resources and reverses carbon storage on the land.”

Despite this, in August 2017, the LNP Coalition replaced the NSW Native Vegetation Act by the Local Land Services Act, which made land clearing easier and allows farmers to self-assess whether they required approval.

The result was a land clearing epidemic. The Guardian reports that clearing in NSW almost quadrupled from about 9,000 hectares annually in 2014-15 to 35,000 hectares in 2017-19.

Stripped bare: Australia's hidden climate crisisAn epidemic of land clearing is sabotaging efforts to address climate change. Farming communities are bitterly divided over the issue – but it also has global consequences

A critical area for preserving native vegetation due to its unique endangered species and only 10% of native vegetation remaining in a fragmented state, is the NSW North West, which saw a sharp increase in clearing even before the new regulations were implemented. Much of these newly cleared areas became vast plains of dirt because farmers were unable to plant them during the drought.

Solicitor and NSW Nationals Norther Tablelands 2024 Candidate, Brendan Moylan, provided legal defence for some of the cases. A Guardian investigation of cases before the courts in 2019 as a result of breaches of the old laws reveals a number of repeat offenders whose farming empires are valued in the tens of millions. The alleged clearing is not trivial – some involves as much as 1,000 hectares, the removal of koala habitat and the destruction of the last remnants of endangered ecological communities.

Some farmers prosecuted for land clearing allege former NSW Nationals minister Kevin Humphries gave them green light | Deforestation | The Guardian.

Authorised by A. Croft for The Greens NSW, 19/1 Hordern Place, Camperdown, NSW 2050.