PREDICTABLE battle lines have been drawn on changes to the Native Vegetation Act, as green lobbyists raise fears of large-scale clearing and devastation to wildlife.
Farming groups, of course, are nervous about the influence this green campaign might have. It is, after all, more than 20 years since Bob Carr’s draconian land clearing laws were introduced and the Nationals is on the cusp of introducing more practical legislation.
As this paper has previously reported, there are many instances where simply locking up the vegetation has a detrimental effect for biodiversity.
So why is there such a rift between greens and farmers? While the farming community has been relatively successful in getting its message through to government, has it failed to explain the ground zero situation to the broader community?
The extreme viewpoints that tend to shape the debate are damaging.
Just as selecting your bulls for one trait alone can be damaging to the overall direction of your herd, shaping policy around one aspect, in this instance keeping all trees at all expense, leads to broken down policy. The herd’s ultimately worse off, and if the farmer stood back and looked at the whole bull, he’d see it wasn't that flash to start with.
Likewise, if the green lobbyists took a step back and were willing to see the whole picture, they’d see ecosystems without functioning farms weren’t always that flash either.
Claims that what happened in Queensland is going to happen in NSW is fear mongering – the legislation changes in Queensland were rushed in. In NSW the changes – while yet to be viewed by the public – have undergone far more consideration.
Meanwhile, comments by The Wilderness Society’s Glenn Walker that suggest trees are the answer to maximise opportunities in the carbon market shows a poorly informed view.
The Australian government has created methodology for the measurement of carbon in soil, but what Australia needs now are the mechanisms to utilise it. Better flexibility around land clearing laws will have a part to play, along with improved technologies.
However, the farming community needs to lift its game in communicating these aspects and how each aspect contributes to a more sustainable future, instead of getting hung up in the trees.
