Land Clearing Archive
2001-2004
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2004
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15 December 2004
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Territorians
urge Martin Government to reject Daly development proposals. More than one thousand people, the vast majority of them Territorians,
have signed a petition calling for the NT Government to abandon
plans for large-scale land clearing and irrigated agriculture
in the Daly River region.
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release click here
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28 October 2004
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Irreversible
and unpredictable” impacts: New Daly River study. Environment
groups today launched a new scientific report showing how seriously
the Daly River catchment and its biodiversity could be affected
if further large scale agricultural landclearing is approved
by the NT Government.
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The report
says that “"The development
proposals [for the Daly] are the most significant in Australia
with regard
to their potential impact on biodiversity".”
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release click here
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9 August 2004
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Daly
at the Crossroads – Minister accuses ECNT of being "mischievous
or ignorant". The Daly River Community Reference
Group (DRCRG) is now in the final stages of writing its report
to the NT Government based
on the last eight months of meetings and debates.
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release click here
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2 August 2004
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NT Parks and Conservation Masterplan:
A Submission by ECNT, WWF-Australia, AMCS and TSN. Environment
Non-Government Organisations, including ECNT, have made a comprehensive
submission to NT Parks and Wildlife on the forthcoming NT Parks
and Conservation Masterplan.
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 Download
the submission (516KB)
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8 June 2004
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Daly
River – over 30 billion litres in new water licences awaiting
approval. The Environment
Centre of the Northern Territory is today calling on the Hon
Dr Chris Burns, Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment
to immediately suspend the approval of new water licenses in
the Daly River catchment.
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release click here
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6 April 2004
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New
large scale clearing plan – an ecological catastrophe for the
Daly
River. The Environment
Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) today attacked plans
by the NT Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for a massive
increase in landclearing in the Daly River catchment.
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release click here
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2 April 2004
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Serious
conflict of interest emerges over Glyde Point development; parliamentary
inquiry needed. The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, the Australian
Marine Conservation Society and the Save Darwin Harbour Group
today called for a Parliamentary inquiry into the environmental
assessment process for the proposed massive new industrial estate
at Glyde Point, 50 km north east of Darwin.
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release click here
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25 March 2004
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Daly
River plan undermined by lack of time and science. The
Environment Centre of the
Northern Territory and The Wilderness Society are calling on
the NT Government to extend the timeframe on the Daly River Integrated
Regional Planning process. Large-scale landclearing and irrigated
agriculture are proposed for the Daly River yet there is a lack
of high quality science guiding the planning process.
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release click here
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February 2004
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Landclearing
by stealth? Unbeknownst to most Territorians, the Parks
and Wildlife section of the Department
of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (DIPE) has released
for public comment a "draft management program" to regulate the
commercial logging of the Northern Territory's native forests
and woodlands on public land (including pastoral lease land and
unalienated Crown land).
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release click here
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2003
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10 November 2003
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Treeclearing
moratorium a good step forward for the Daly – The Environment
Centre of the
Northern Territory has today welcomed the decision by Clare Martin - Chief
Minister of the Northern Territory to place a moratorium on large
scale treeclearing and agricultural subdivisions in the Daly
Basin. However, to ensure the long term protection of the Daly
Basin future land use planning should be based on advice from
Australia's best environmental scientists.
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release click here
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1 October 2003
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Bayview
to trample more mangroves. Representatives of the Environment
Centre NT
attended today's meeting of the Development Consent Authority
and were outraged to learn that once again, environmental considerations
are being circumvented by the developers of the Bayview Haven
canal estate. Environment Centre Coordinator Kirsten Blair said "We
heard today that Dover Investments has a "masterplan" for the
Bayview development stretching beyond the area covered under
the original EIS but that this plan has not been provided to
the Development Consent Authority.
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release click here
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21 May 2003
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Landclearing
a Threat to the Top End: New National Report. Land
Clearing is a major threat to the Top End's environments
according to a new report published by the Commonwealth Government:
Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2003.
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release click
here
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29 April 2003
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Northern
Territory: Still The "Lucky Country" When It Comes To Landcare
But It's Time To Stop Repeating Southern Australia's Mistakes. The
Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) today
welcomes the opportunity to address the Annual Landcare Conference
on conservation Issues in Northern Australia. ECNT hopes
that the conference will highlight the need for a fresh approach
to development in Northern Australia, which avoids the mistakes
made in Southern Australia.
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release click
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17 April
2003
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Easter
Treeclearing Approvals for the Daly. This week the
Minister for Planning, Kon Vatskalis approved another 720
hectares of treeclearing applications in the Daly catchment
on top of the 6300 hectares approved last month. The Environment
Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) is calling on the
Northern Territory Government to publicly release all future
plans to clear for large scale farming on the Daly River.
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release click
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3rd March 2003
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Daly
Sold Up The River? NT Government approves 8000 hectares
of land clearing in the Daly. The Northern Territory Government
has approved the clearing of over 8000 hectares in the Daly
bioregion 150 km south of Darwin. ECNT understands that the
Minister has approved the applications with some modifications
over a week ago. Minister Vatskalis has made no public announcement
about the approvals, and ECNT has only been formally advised
of the decision after making our own enquiries despite the
fact that we made a submission and are supposed to receive
a copy of the decision as it is made.
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release click
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3rd February
2003
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An
end to the Daly as we know it? Landclearing applications
a test of NT Government's new laws. The Daly River area is
under immediate threat from a raft of landclearing applications
lodged with the Northern Territory Government in January 2003.
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release click
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2002
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11 December
2002
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New Landclearing
Laws a Step Forward for the NT – The Environment Centre Northern
Territory has today welcomed the introduction of new landclearing
laws in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Government
today announced the introduction of interim clearing controls
to apply to all areas in the Northern Territory not currently
subject to landclearing regulation. Landclearing is one of
the major causes of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation
internationally, and landclearing has been increasing in recent
years in the Northern Territory.
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release click
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20 November
2002
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Australia's
landcleraing rates skyrocket – New independent research has shown that Australia's
land clearing rate is much higher than previous estimates,
increasing by 22% to reach a total of 687,000 hectares.
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release click
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23 July 2002
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Railway company
destroys prime Gouldian Finch habitat – The Environment Centre NT has
today condemned the critical error made by contractors for
the Alice Springs to Darwin railway. An area of prime gouldian
finch habitat has been accidentally bulldozed along the railway
corridor, just north of Katherine. The proponent for the railway,
Adrail, had been advised that the railway corridor should avoid
this area west of the Yinberrie Hills (the largest known colony
of the endangered Gouldian Finch), and the area was cordoned
off. Unfortunately the construction contractors mistook the
cordoned off area for the railway corridor and encroached on
the protected area before realising their mistake.
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release click
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19 July 2002
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Environment
Centre Omitted from New NT Landcare Council – The
Environment Centre NT today criticised the decision by the
NT Environment Minister, Kon Vatskalis, to exclude the Environment
Centre from the re-formulated Landcare Council NT. Minister
Vatskalis has not yet announced the new Landcare Council
but has informed those who have been appointed to the new
Council.
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release click here
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25 March
2002
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Environment
Centre Calls for Community Action on Clearing – Calls for community
action on land clearing were made today by the Environment
Centre of the Northern Territory. An information flyer covering
the current controls on land clearing, the impact of clearing
and promoting community participation in Government processes
was released today by the Environment Centre.
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release in click
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the flyer (160KB)
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2001
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7 September 2001
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Tiwi plantation
update – APPROVED
Massive Acacia Plantation on Tiwi Islands gets
the go ahead
Senator Hill approved the clearing of 26,000 hectares
for an Acacia plantation on the Tiwi Islands on the 12 August
subject to various conditions. It was disappointing that the
proposal had been approved but heartening to find that the conditions
will go some way to protecting the biodiversity of Melville Island
from the impacts of the proposal. The Commonwealth approval under
the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 (Cth) ('EPBC Act') marks the completion of the
assessment stage for the proposal which means it can now go ahead.
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here
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23 August
2001
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NT Government
encouraging landclearing Daly River under threat. The auction today of
over thirteen thousand hectares of crown land from Stray Creek
marks the continuation of NT Government plans for massive landclearing
and agricultural development in the Daly Basin.
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release click
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19 June 2001
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Environment
Centre NT Slams latest report on Ord Stage 2. The Environment Centre
NT is appealing against the Western Australian Environment
Protection Agency report recommending the commencement of the
Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) Stage 2 proposal. The report
focuses on the management of the project area and is the final
stage of a two-part assessment by the EPA both recommending
approval of Stage 2 subject to conditions.
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release click
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2 May 2001
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ECNT launches
new landclearing report – A new report documents
the threats to the Top End's native vegetation from agricultural
and horticultural expansion. The report - "Clearing Moves North
- Review of Landclearing in the Northern Territory" written
by highly respected Top End botanist John Brock, author of
'Native Plants of Northern Australia' - was launched today
by the ECNT. "This report is a significant step towards
documenting and understanding the current threats to woodland
habitats from landclearing" Northern Woodlands campaigner
Jann Crase said. "With massive agricultural and horticultural
projects planned for the Daly Basin and the expansion of the
Ord Stage 2 there is a real and immediate threat to the ecological
integrity of the northern woodlands."
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To view the report
and the Executive Summary click
here
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Download
the report in full (588KB)
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For more information on
Climate Change contact ECNT:
Phone: 08 8981 1984
Email: ecnt@octa4.net.au
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