NPA NSW

Evidence Mounts that Native Vegetation Focus for Climate Mitigation is a Rort

Posted by NPA NSWon November 23, 2016March 2, 2017in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

Yesterday’s revelations in the Sydney Morning Herald[1] (SMH) that the Baird government has dipped into the Climate Change Fund to find the $240 million for private land conservation is the latest piece of worrying Coalition climate policy says the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA).

The $240 million has been repeatedly touted by the government as being a safety net against a return to broad scale land clearing resulting from the repeal of the Native Vegetation Act, but has been labelled by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists as ‘a taxpayer subsidy to farmers to clear land’[2].

Political Interference into Enforcement of Land-Clearing Laws Must Be Investigated

Posted by NPA NSWon November 15, 2016March 2, 2017in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

The NSW Nature Conservation Council and NSW National Parks Association are calling for a full public investigation into the political interference in the enforcement of land-clearing laws following revelations by the ABC Lateline program last night. [1]

Last night’s program exposed the grubby background to the Baird government’s controversial land clearing laws, set to pass through NSW Parliament today, including illegal clearing of Crown land, political intimidation and interference in land-clearing investigations, distressed farmers who have been used as political pawns, and murder of public officials.

Koalas ‘under siege’ from policy changes set to destroy habitat, report finds | Environment | The Guardian

Posted by NPA NSWon November 7, 2016March 16, 2017in NPA in the NewsLeave a comment

New South Wales government is failing to protect koalas by allowing further land clearing, logging and habitat destruction, National Parks Association says.

Source: Koalas ‘under siege’ from policy changes set to destroy habitat, report finds | Environment | The Guardian

Iconic Status Won’t Be Enough to Save Koalas Unless Baird Changes Tack

Posted by NPA NSWon November 7, 2016March 2, 2017in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

What does it mean to be an icon in NSW? Not much apparently. Unless the Baird government has a complete rethink of its environment policy the iconic koala faces a bleak future says the National Parks Association of NSW.

Koalas are one of just six of the 1000-odd threatened species put on an ‘iconic’ pedestal in the NSW government’s Saving our Species (SOS) programme. According to the government, “iconic species are important socially, culturally and economically, and the community expects them to be effectively managed and protected”1.

New Land Clearing Laws Have No Scientific Credibility: Renowned Professor Resigns

Posted by NPA NSWon November 4, 2016March 2, 2017in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

The dramatic eleventh-hour resignation by Professor Hugh Possingham[1], Australia’s most recognised scientist, has stripped away any pretence of scientific credibility and exposed Mike Baird’s land clearing legislation for what it is: a cash grab by big business and developers.

The primary objections of Professor Possingham are that the government is proposing self-assessable codes that will result in broad-scale land clearing, thus degrading soil, water and biodiversity, and that the ‘no net loss’ standard against which clearing should be measured has not made the draft legislation.

Why Are National Parks Important

Posted by NPA NSWon November 1, 2016November 1, 2016in Featured PostLeave a comment

National parks protect the best of our natural heritage: stunning landscapes, extraordinary wildlife and majestic forests. Together with other protected areas they form the basis of our economic and social wellbeing, attract millions of visitors annually, and help to protect Australia’s unique wildlife by acting as a refuge for threatened species. Although their primary purpose is the protection of biodiversity, National Parks also deliver other invaluable economic, social, cultural and health benefits to Australians. Future generations deserve the right to see these natural values intact and protected as we do today.