Land Clearing – Our Changing Landscape

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What is Land Clearing?
Some Facts
Auditor Generals Report
Land Clearing Forum
CCCC Forms
Further Information

What is Land Clearing?
Defined simply, land clearing is the removal of native vegetation.
The Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (WA) defines land clearing as the killing or destruction of, the removal of, severing of trunks or stems of and the doing of any other substantial damage to any vegetation that is native to Western Australia.

Land clearing is a serious threat to the sustainability of our natural resources that can lead to adverse problems such as salinisation, soil erosion, eutrophication, increased gas emissions and loss of aesthetic qualities.

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Some Facts
1. Approved clearing equates to 10 football fields per day, which is more than 16,500ha since July 2005. Over half of this is due to mining and petroleum activities.
2. Only 65% of all clearing applications are approved
3. To date, the Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR) has not refused an application.

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Auditors General Report
In September 2007, the Auditor General released a report assessing the primary legislation that relates to land clearing, the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (WA). The report highlights the downfalls in the administration and implementation of these regulations.

Findings of the report that are of main concern are:
- The amount of illegal clearing in W.A. is not known.
- There has been no meaningful testing by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and DoIR about whether people are complying with clearing decisions.
- DEC has used satellite images and other techniques to identify potential unauthorized clearing. However, there has been almost no investigation into these areas.
- There is inconsistent and limited follow-up of complaints across the regions relating to potential illegal clearing and what little follow up that has been done involves those cases that are least significant.
- There is a lengthy backlog and waiting time in processing applications. On average, an application takes 222 days to be processed, which can have negative consequences.  For example, the recent case of illegal clearing at Northcliffe.  Click here to find out more about this case

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Land Clearing Forum Following the release of the report and its disturbing findings the Conservation Council, The Urban Bushland Council and the Wildflower Society decided to tackle this issue and bring it back to the forefront of community awareness and government attention.  A round table forum with government bodies, other environmental groups and members of the public was organised to gain more insight into on-ground situations of landclearing in WA.  Members of the community were invited to submit cases of clearing of community concern (CCCC) at the forum.  23 cases were submitted at the forum.

Issues highlighted at the forum included:
-  Exemptions under the clearing regulations need to be addressed quickly. There is too much clearing allowed under the exemptions set out in the regulations (Click here for regulations)
-  Clearing, even if under the exemptions, needs to be recorded
-  The current resources (staff and funding) are inadequate to control clearing
-  Clearing for resource mining results in a loss of declared rare flora and priority flora
-  Protected Environmentally Sensitive Areas needs to include Banded Ironstone Formations.
-  In many cases road side clearing is unnecessary with road safety used as an inappropriate excuse
-  In Toodyay Shire, 9 out of the 10 clearing principals will be breached (Click here for a list of clearing principals)
-  DEC currently has 1500 audits to do and DoIR 1800 to do next year.
-  Clearing Regulations do not sufficiently halt the clearing of native vegetation in Western Australia.

The forum was followed up with a letter to the Minister of the Environment requesting information on offset conditions in relation to approved applications.  Included with this letter were the 23 forms of community concern for land clearing.

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Link to CCCC form
Members of the community are invited to submit CCCC forms with information continuing to be gathered.

To download a form click here.

Help us and play a part to help keep Western Australia’s vegetation intact.

Further Information

A photographic display of land clearing will be displayed in community libraries throughout 2008

Fremantle - March 18th - April 4th
Midland - April 7th - April 25th
Osbourne Park - May 1st - May 27th
City of Perth - May 28th - June 28th
Scarborough - June 30th - July 25th
Armadale - August 5th - August 29th

If you need any further information contact the Conservation Council on conswa@conservation.asn.au or (08) 9420 7266

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