In the cross-hairs of Queensland Government Acquisition?
“The Queensland Government will channel more than $10 million a year into a new ‘Eco Fund' to expand the state's National Parks.”
So said the Hon. Premier, Anna Bligh and Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation, the Hon. Andrew McNamara, in a joint statement last Friday.
“… we’re going to expand our National Parks by 50% … reaching a target of 12 million hectares by 2020 …”
Developers and other entities will pay for this doubling of protected area, by offsetting their environmental impacts and greenhouse emissions. The Eco Fund will provide a facility for these offset payments to be retained within Queensland and re-invested into conservation land acquisition, giving the illusion of ecological neutrality or better.
However, there are some glaring problems with the concept. First of all, protected area management is very inefficient and a major contributor to emissions in its own right, particularly when burning.
In 1999, it was revealed that in the six years preceding the ‘LGAQ Public inquiry into the Management of National Parks’ Queensland’s protected area estate had doubled whilst its budgetary allocation had increased by only 9% . The inquiry found that QPWS was neither staffed nor resourced to manage its reserves, which were being increasingly overrun with feral weeds and animals. Doubling the estate, yet again, would surely double these identified inefficiencies.
The LGAQ Inquiry also revealed the convention that lands acquired for addition to protected area estate, invariably had existing conservation values. In effect, the only real change was the name on the land title. Whilst there was usually an acquisition cost, it could hardly be described as a carbon offset, when nothing had been done to change the ecological nature of the environment.
By contrast, if productive land were to be acquired and re-vegetated for inclusion into the protected area, then the public would be able to see the ecological gain and know that it had paid for the change of land-use, including compensation and loss of income-earning capacity.
Then there are the recreational and tourism entitlements of the public-at-large, with all known and associated impacts and emissions. The Queensland government currently opposes cost-recovery through user-fees on National Parks, so all costs associated with management and impact mitigation are met by the taxpayer. This further disadvantages conservation management on private lands, through the exclusionary provisions of subsidisation on a tenure-exclusive basis.
This fund is just another step in collectivised ecology. The turkeys blew it so bad and so conspicuously with collectivised economy but just could not bring themselves to dump their flawed mindset. So now we have creeping (and creepy) collectivised ecology where every ecosystem is equally degraded by so-called "custodians" who clock off at 5pm, take their annual leave during the bush fire season, get double pay for emergency call outs, spend most time engaged in ideological "education" and demand $1000/hour helicopters to do the work of half a $100/hour bulldozer.
But don't worry folks. This regime will eventually collapse, as all regimes that substitute ideology for practical reality do. The main unknowns are;
How long will it take?
How bad will the resulting degradation be?
And how soon will practical ecologists realise that proping up a flawed regime merely prolongs the suffering of it's victims, both human and animal?
So go for it, fellas, and I'll just sit back and wait for the megafire and look the other way when firebugs do their patriotic duty. You have a date with destiny, and the sooner you get there, the sooner you bogus cover will be blown and the higher will be the value the public places on private ecology and the rights on which those private ecological services depend.
It might surprise you Lukeasaurus I do get out and I would hazzard a guess and say a great deal more than thou.Being that Monday has arrived it could a good time to rummage though the undies draw find nice pair of size 32s slip 'em on the outside and save us from ourselves....again! I'm going outside now.I could be quite a while.
The only reason that bookings are required for national parks is the misguided belief by park management that people are shouldn't be in national parks and somehow need to be 'managed'.
The creation of an artificial limit to the number of visitors/campers is not necessarily good park management, more likely about dealing with the pressures of 'green' groups such as NPA etc.
Carnarvon gorge is a good example, all car based within park camping facilities have been removed and now camping is restricted to the private 'resort' neighbouring the park. A clear case of a lack of perspective regarding the area utilised by car based campers in regards toteh total area of the park.
You should get out more wjp - try Girraween, Lamington, Carnarvon or Bunya Mtns in peak holiday time. Well actually don't. With welcoming ferals like yourself frequenting the back of Baradine no wonder they stay home. I'll take the dogs.
I've got a real job for you Lukeasaurus.I need some bait to bring in a pack of wild dogs that frequent my place.The gig is, there's nice spot under a red cedar by a creek,you camp out(no need to book) and make yourself attractive(to a wild dog that is)and I promise to shoot each dog as it has a nibble on you.Also it would be interrrresting to see how the Pilliga NP copes with it's flood of visitors it being a relatively recent creation.
Bush Heritage org? Is this some kind of a double agent pretending to be Luke?
Carping about invasive species, how exclusionary and non progressive. Back to re education until you learn to embrace diversity.
"scrabbling over rocks, being bitten by critters and staring into a smoky fire is like going back into another era when tribal wars was the only light relief."
Even those of us who do enjoy this don't want to do it all year round.
Look Luke, the idea of camping in the wilderness is appealing to some but not too many - resorts have booking facilities 24/7 and offer child minding, sports, games, food and a host of other activities - scrabbling over rocks, being bitten by critters and staring into a smoky fire is like going back into another era when tribal wars was the only light relief.
Luke, it is indeed Queensland we're talking about and under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002 all landowners EXCEPT the state itself must take reasonable steps to keep their land free of feral pigs.