The Wilderness Society calls for a more immediate stop to re-clearing

The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc
Media Release
18 February 2009

The Wilderness Society has welcomed the release of figures from the Queensland Government showing a reduction in tree clearing, but says more needs to be done urgently to stop re-clearing.

Data released today showed tree clearing was reduced by 40 percent in six months in late 2006/ early 2007.

The Wilderness Society campaign manager (QLD) Dr Tim Seelig said that the data showed that the tree clearing ban was working.

“It’s good to see a significant reduction in broad scale tree clearing across the board,” Dr Seelig said.

“However, we need Premier Bligh to go further and immediately ban all clearing in environmentally sensitive areas.

“The statistics on re-clearing are concerning to us and we think they need to be urgently addressed".

“Queensland has a terrible track record when it comes to clearing its precious land".

“We’re seriously concerned about the high level of illegal clearing, which remains a problem in many areas of the state".

“We call on the state Government to broaden its commitment to the environment by immediately banning all land clearing near riverbanks, in wetlands and in ecologically sensitive zones".

“We’d also like to see clearing in endangered or vulnerable re-growth forests ceased immediately.”