“The majority of the Emissions Reduction Fund is poured into questionable abatement schemes to discourage land clearing, while mass deforestation cancels out any climate gains."
(Mike Seccombe, The Saturday Paper, 29 April 2017)
Guests:
Dr Mehreen Faruqi – Environment spokesperson for the Greens in NSW Parliament
David Gallan - Director of the film “Understorey”
Jessica Panegyres – Wilderness Society – National Nature Campaigner
BZE Community Radio Show Podcast: 4 September 2017
The podcast Land Clearing Part 1":
This describes how State laws are failing to prevent massive land clearing. Regional Forest Agreements are giving loggers a victory. What new mindset will cause us to value forests for their carbon?
On this podcast, part 2, we hear from:
The Parliamentarian, Dr Mehreen Faruqi:
Mehreen, the environment spokesperson for the Greens in NSW Parliament, explains how new state laws are reducing our capacity to sequester carbon. The Reputex report shows that ” ending land clearing would compete with renewables for carbon abatement”. Yet the new NSW land clearing laws will see emissions soaring. She says they “make a mockery of any commitment from the NSW government to get to zero emissions by 2050”.
Further Reading:
Ending land clearing would compete with renewables for carbon abatement, analysis finds: RepuTex says ceasing all land clearing by 2030 would save between 300m and 650m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions"
@MikeySlezak, The Guardian, June 2017
The Historian, David Gallan:
David recounts the 40 year battle to save the South East Forests of NSW round Bega. His film "Understorey" celebrates the growing awareness of how many species lived there with rare footage of quolls and lyrebirds. Farmers wanted to preserve the water catchment. Locals realised that forests are “worth more standing”. Scientists came to see logging for wood-chips as outdated as whaling for oil. Now that we need to draw down carbon, they are thinking big.
The Campaigner, Jessica Panegyres:
Jessica sees koala populations down by 80% because of deforestation and land-clearing. She says “enough!”
She is the National Nature Campaigner with the Wilderness Society. As a Rhodes Scholar and former Greenpeace activist, she has seen the global struggle not to let our tropical forests go up in smoke. She will show us how all the work to sequester carbon in Qld is sabotaged by land clearing on steroids AND she will invite us to join the campaign to see it brought to an end.
Watch Queensland land clearing footage.
Beyond Zero Emissions interviewer: Vivien Langford
About the BZE Community Radio Show
Broadcast from Radio 3CR Melbourne Australia
