Land Clearing

3 March 2003

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.

ECNT Coordinator Kirsten Blair said today:

"This is a very disappointing decision which demonstrates that the Northern Territory Government is repeating the land management mistakes made in southern Australia. In one fell swoop the Northern Territory Government has approved as much landclearing in the Daly as has happened in the Litchfield Shire in the past 15 years. The Northern Territory Government has approved the clearing of over 1.6 million trees - this area is home to around 350,000 animals, many of whom will die as a result of the clearing."

"This decision will increase the pressures on the Daly river- a river prized for its biodiversity values and recreational fishing. The government is promoting development in the Daly while refusing to release important environmental studies that outline that there are strict limits to the amount of landclearing and water extraction that can occur in the catchment without seriously impacting upon the health of the river. These reports were to have been released some months ago, but have been withheld by government."

"The Northern Territory Government continues to support the subdivision of more land in the Daly with the proposed subdivision of 110,000 hectares of Douglas station identified as a priority in their economic development strategy. The Daly area is not a magic pudding- we can't keep clearing huge chunks of the area and expect it to grow back or continue to function. The Daly is one of the Northern Territory's best-loved and most important rivers environmentally. Broadscale landclearing in the catchment and extraction of huge quantities of groundwater for irrigation will destroy the area's fragile balance. The Northern Territory Government should be looking at options for protecting the area's biodiversity through a system of national parks and off-reserve management for conservation rather than pushing intensive agriculture," concluded Ms Blair.

For more information on Land Clearing contact ECNT:
Phone: 08 8981 1984
Email: ecnt@octa4.net.au

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