 Caution on koalas and
population in SEQ Regional Plan Wildlife Queensland has cautiously welcomed the State Government's support for south-east Queensland's endangered koala population in the release of the final SEQ Regional Plan today, but has pointed out the lack of protection for wildlife from development impacts caused by the vastly increased population predicted for the region.
'We congratulate the Queensland Government on its brave decision to remove substantial amounts of recognised koala habitat in Redlands and Thornlands from the urban footprint,' said Simon Baltais, President of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (Wildlife Queensland) today.
'We are pleased that the government has opted to contain growth within the current urban footprint, but the problem is that there are many biodiversity values that will remain unprotected in the region,' Simon Baltais said.
'While 85% of South-East Queensland is protected from urban growth – it is not protected from the impacts of urban growth: you can’t build a housing development on this land – but you can cut it with a road, dig a quarry on it, clear it for powerlines or flood it with a dam,' he said.
'The plan is still not strong enough to protect the urban koala.'
Wildlife Queensland opposes the plan's proposed population increase for the area that would see 4.4 million people living in South-East Queensland by 2031.
'The Government has totally ignored the environmental impacts of over-population,' said Simon Baltais.
'Despite the need for a formal investigation into the carrying capacity of the region, the Premier has not backed away from her unsustainable plan to shoehorn the population of Sydney into one of the most biologically diverse regions on earth.'
Wildlife Queensland has campaigned throughout the plan’s consultation phases for better protection for koala habitat and against unsustainable population growth in the south-east corner of the State.
For more information about the poultry shed grant scheme and other activities, contact Wildlife Queensland by email or call +61 7 3221 0194. |
