The Land and Environment Court will hear the case by the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) against the previous NSW Government’s decision to allow new overhead transmission lines through Kosciuszko National Park as part of the Snowy 2.0 project. The case will be heard Thursday 3 August.
Read More “NPA takes court action against the Snowy 2.0 transmission connection “
National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has welcomed NSW Minister for Energy, Penny Sharpe launching an inquiry into the feasibility of using underground transmission connections for renewable energy projects.
NPA CEO Gary Dunnett stated ‘Undergrounding transmission connections offer the best way of avoiding the devastating environmental damage that overhead lines cause to natural landscapes, including national parks.
‘The last major rollout of transmission works in NSW was more half a century ago, at a time when overhead transmission was the standard. Global best practice has moved to less environmentally damaging underground transmission options. NSW must shift to that best practice standard to avoid inflicting unnecessary damage to environmental and community assets.
‘NPA is calling on the committee to also review underground options for the Snowy 2.0 transmission connection through Kosciuszko National Park. The previous government’s decision to push forward with outdated, damaging overhead transmission through the national park was yet another assault on the irreplaceable alpine environment.’
NPA will continue to pursue all options to overturn the ill-advised overhead transmission lines through Kosciuszko, including our ongoing legal action’. Mr Dunnett concluded.
ENDS
Media Contacts:
NPA CEO, Gary Dunnett. NPA Executive Member, Ted Woodley (02) 9299 0000
The National Parks Association (NPA) is calling on Agriculture Minister Tara Moriaty and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe to intervene to save critically important koala habitats from a cynical attempt by Forestry Corporation to derail the creation of the Great Koala National Park.
NPA President Dr Grahame Douglas states ‘Over the weekend Forestry Corporation added an additional 746 hectares of prime koala habitat in Pine Creek State Forest for clear felling’, this is on top of the 374 hectares already planned. They have also now given the green light to the immediate clear felling of compartment 14.
Read More “Forestry Corporation targeting one of NSW’s most significant koala populations “
The period covered by the last strategic plan, NPA Strategy 2018-2022, witnessed a truly shocking deterioration in the condition of nature across the globe.
During these five years the long-predicted impacts of a heating climate and habitat loss became all too real. In NSW, years of record-breaking drought saw massive loss of aquatic life as rivers ran dry, and culminated in fires that changed lives forever, burning more than 40% of the forest estate. The fires ended with an equally record-breaking series of destructive floods. A half decade that provided grave testimony to the increasingly unstable climatic systems produced by global warming.
Bruce Gall
Former Director of the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service
Dr Graeme L. Worboys AM
Former Honorary Associate Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University.
On 19 December 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) – so named for the cities it was developed in – was signed by representatives of 188 countries, an extraordinary achievement. The decade-long framework identifies 23 national biodiversity targets, one of particular interest to NPA members being the so-called ‘30×30’ target, in simple terms, the protection of 30 per cent of a country’s ecosystems by 2030. As 2 years have already been lost to Covid, the pressure is now on governments to get cracking on this crucial target.
Read More “Australia’s Nature’s Gifts and Global Conservation Agreements”
For all, too long ago the prospect of significantly reforming our nature laws and expanding the NSW Protected Area Network seemed like a pipe dream. Yet now, with international consensus around the crisis affected natural landscapes and biodiversity, and a growing national commitment to urgent action to protect nature, there is at least the glimpse of a path towards ensuring that our natural ecosystems flourish for future generations.
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