RAMSAR Wetlands Cleared

The recent unveiling of land clearing within a wetland system in Northern N.S.W has prompted letters to the a Sydney based newspaper questioning the motives of both farmers and governments.

I, to no extent defend the alleged actions, but find it hard to join the farmer abusing bandwagon, based on out dated, ill informed, stereotypes. I intend on highlighting the bigger picture that is so commonly over looked.

It is apparent that people are confusing the successfulness of the N.S.W Land and Environment court in regards to environmental Protection enforcement with the out dated local government court system.

The wetland system in question was the first site RAMSAR site in 1999 where farmer’s voluntarily transferred private land to the nature reserve.

The environmental problems associated with the land clearing are minimal considering the area cleared represents less than 1% of the entire wetland system.

I have no problem with people criticising the actions of other people, but the criticism should be restricted to the people in question and not whom they represent.