Claims around the rate in which vegetation is cleared in NSW have been challenged by the peak lobby group for NSW Farmers.
Last week the Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC) responded to the annual Statewide Land and Tree Study (SLATS) data, which the NCC claims yet again, was ‘a shocking amount of habitat was cleared across the state, taking the average to 84,000 hectares of native vegetation (defined as trees, shrubs or woody vines, or understory and groundcover plants.’
They said, ‘NSW remains in the midst of an extinction crisis which will continue to gather pace until the root cause – widespread and unregulated destruction of our habitat encouraged by the former government – is addressed’.
In reply, NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said the clearing figures made ‘no reference to the amount of land set aside for conservation, which was roughly four times as large’.
‘While the NSW Government claimed 420,000ha had been cleared of native vegetation from 2018 to 2022, it miscalculated the environmentally beneficial clearing of invasive native species’.
Mr Martin said ‘the NSW government knew the actual amounts of land cleared were dwarfed by plantings and environmental gains, including on-farm conservation efforts and setting aside of farmers’ land for the environment, but this had been wilfully ignored or distorted’.
The Echo asked the NCC for comment on the claims.
A spokesperson replied, ‘We won’t argue with government data or cast doubt on the other scientifically based evidence that unequivocally shows changes in habitat distribution’.
‘The government data shows that 420,000 ha of vegetation was relatively unchanged since 1990 and has now been lost over the last five years. The regulatory instrument designed to protect important habitat is failing to do so and is failing to give us a clear picture of what’s happening on the ground. The new data shows that we don’t know the circumstances under which nearly half of the non-woody vegetation clearing happened in 2022. It may be illegal clearing – we just don’t know.
‘We urge Farmers NSW and others to look past the outdated narrative pushed by now irrelevant members of the Nationals party, and to a future for regional NSW where healthy ecosystems form the basis of flourishing regional economies.
‘The government reform process provides an opportunity to look after people and Country together in NSW – we know the vast majority of land holders value ecological diversity. We need a system that supports landholders with restoration projects, holds bad actors to account, and empowers communities to protect the places they love. We call for strong regulatory reform with support for landholders to restore habitats, corridors and landscapes and take advantage of the burgeoning world of biodiversity stewardship models’.
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