SAVE NORTH COAST NATURE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

 

Caldera from Mt Warning

Caldera from Mt Warning

 

*MEDIA RELEASE*
Sunday 4 November 2012
*SAVE NORTH COAST NATURE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED*

An alliance of environmental professionals and conservation groups are today (Monday) launching a campaign to prevent the NSW Government’s plans to remove essential environmental protection from nearly 60% of the Far North Coast’s forests, wetlands and wildlife habitats.

Called Save North Coast Nature, the campaign aims to unite environment groups, Local Government, tourism and the community to demand our region keep the same environmental protections available to the rest of the state.  It follows the State’s decision to strip powers from local government and local communities by removing environmental zones and overlays from Local Environment Plans, in a move that threatens to leave 45,000 hectares of the region’s environmental assets vulnerable to inappropriate development.

Campaign Coordinator Andy Baker said that our region’s remaining natural areas already face enormous pressure from massive residential and tourist developments along the coast and emerging industries such as coal seam gas extraction and private forestry further inland.  “Yet, in the face of these threats, NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Brad Hazzard, wants to make it easier for damaging activities to be approved in our most sensitive and vulnerable natural areas. We’re seeing the state government liquidating the environment for a quick dollar, and unless environmental protections are restored we’re going to lose not only our most precious species, but whole landscapes, and I don’t think the community of this region wants to see that. The majority of the far north coast community treasures its natural environment and doesn’t want to see it whittled away by short-sighted development, and this campaign aims to galvanise the community to take this message directly to the Minister.”

Save North Coast Nature wants to tell the other side of the story, to provide a voice for precious natural areas, and for all people who value the environment over development at any cost. It aims to have environmental zones and other protections restored to far north coast LEPs.

We’ve protected our forests, wetlands and wildlife habitats for 25 years, but now they’re at risk of being stripped of that protection to make way for development. Unless the community now stands up to the State Government and speaks out for protection of our environment, the natural values for which our region is best known won’t stand a chance” Mr Baker said.

For more information see www.northcoastnature.org.au Further information:
Andy Baker, Campaign Coordinator, Save North Coast Nature
Tel: (02) 6684-6827 Mob: 0422 736 351
Email: info@northcoastnature.org.au Web: www.northcoastnature.org.au

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