Habitat Destruction through Land Clearing

Latest News 1

Monash Bushland in Monash Avenue, Nedlands, on the QE11 site.

Environmental groups are not satisfied that the bushland in Monash Avenue, Nedlands, on the QE11 hospital site, should be destroyed first for a temporary car park area and then for the Ronald McDonald House.

The bushland is an important place for Carnaby’s cockatoos leaving their roosting site adjacent to the bushland.  Three species of skink survive in the bushland and Tawny Frogmouths recently bred there.

The UBC and others put in submissions to the Appeals Convenor in February 2011 and we argued that the proposal for this bushland, Monash Bushland, was at variance with four of the clearing principles and the proposal should not be granted approval. However the Appeals Convenor and then the Minister for Planning approved the development. (Minister Marmion withdrew from making a decision as the proposal is in his electorate.)

The bushland comprises a very high level of biodiversity of flora species and the jarrah, Banksia and allocasuarina trees on the site are significant.
The cumulative effect of all the clearing which is being approved is substantial, short-sighted and shows a lack of understanding of what is needed to protect our biodiversity for our generation and for the future. See images at bottom of this page. For more information...

Latest News 2

30 September or the 1 October, around 115 trees along Winthrop Avenue were sawn down as part of the QE11 development.
In addition, around fifteen trees on the corner of Winthrop and Monash Avenues were sawn down. The Town of Subiaco had recommended that a big old jarrah with hollows on the lot be protected as well as a significant Banksia attenuata. Both trees were destroyed and the woodchips from them dumped in bushland around the corner, in Monash Bushland. See images at bottom of page.

Latest News 3

From consultations with the public on the Perry Lakes redevelopment, the Landcorp personnel of the redevelopment plan wrote; “There was a strong desire to retain as many trees as possible at the perimeter of the site and retain significant trees within the site especially around the rugby field.”

However for stage 3 over thirty mature trees along Underwood Avenue and Meagher Drive were destroyed. Good planning could have seen many more trees retained.

Now significant habitat for Carnaby’s Cockatoo, which roost on the site in numbers up to 400, has been destroyed, through ignorance and poor planning.

From The State of the Environment Report

Some facts from the State of the Environment report Western Australia draft 2006 (adapted from pp151-156, Environmental Protection Authority, Government of Western Australia):

* Broadscale clearing of native vegetation, both historic and current is a major threatening process affecting biodiversity in Western Australia.

* The urban area of Perth has doubled since the 1970s and this has resulted in the clearing of large areas of native vegetation and fragmentation of that remaining.

* Presently the main drivers of native vegetation clearing in WA are population and urban expansion in the South West, and expansion of the mining sector in the rest of the State.

Urban land clearing is a key threat to iconic endangered Black Cockatoos.

Summary of current responses

As well as regulating the clearing of native vegetation, other responses are also recommended including; an action plan (with the Commonwealth government), revegetation groups, regional natural resource management strategies, off-reserve conservation

(e.g. Bush Forever, the Roadside Conservation Committee, Land for Wildlife and Conservation Covenant programs), land use planning policy and local government (partnership projects and strategies).

Implications

Native vegetation has already been cleared below safe ecological limits on some areas, especially the Wheatbelt and parts of the Swan Coastal Plan and South Coast; the salinity problem in the Wheatbelt and South West is one direct result. Further fragmentation, decline of condition and extinction is likely if clearing continues.

Expansion of Perth suburbs and other towns all over the State will continue to drive clearing of native ecosystems. Clearing also negatively impacts on remnant vegetation by increasing edge effects, reducing the ability of animals to move between patches of suitable habitat, reducing colonisation ability of remaining plants, and increasing susceptibility to weed and Phytophthora dieback infestations.

All community members benefit when native ecosystems are retained, as these ecosystems underpin the economy and society. Consequently all people have a role in preventing further clearing and protecting existing areas of native vegetation, not just landholders.

Department of Environment and Conservation Search - Search on Land Clearing Native Vegetation

Bushland Sites under Threat

Clearing Regulations Review Submission

Landclearing Roundtable Forum

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