Amy Remeikis reports in the Brisbane Times (7.8.16) on the latest release of data from the state government’s monitoring of tree clearing, in its regular Statewide Land Cover and Tree Study (SLATS) report. With land clearing rates rising in the last few years, the government has repeated its commitment to introduce tighter regulations for property owners.
‘The Palaszczuk Government is upping its battle to pass controversial legislation that would put tighter controls on tree clearing, releasing a new report that found vegetation clearing in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Great Barrier Reef catchment was occurring at “disturbingly high levels”.
‘Acting Premier Jackie Trad and Environment Minister Steven Miles released the 2014-15 Statewide Land Cover and Tree Study on Sunday, which found the rate of vegetation clearing within the reef catchment had “increased by 46 per cent since 2011-12”.
‘The SLATS report found 296,000 hectares were cleared across the state last year, with about a third of that coming from within the reef catchment area.
‘That’s only slightly higher than the year before, but Ms Trad said it pointed to the main reason Labor wanted to reinstate tighter controls.’
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