Our 'Nature Territory' is worth protecting.
Unfortunately, Northern Territory land clearing and biodiversity laws aren’t fit for purpose to protect our precious ecosystems, including our savannas and rivers.
The Pastoral Land Board is currently considering 12 pastoral land clearing applications, covering 17,000ha of native vegetation!
The greenhouse gas emissions from clearing 17,000ha of land could be as high as 2.6 million tonnes, equivalent to 13% of the Territory’s annual emissions.
We’re asking you to take urgent action NOW, by making a submission on the latest land clearing application at Scott Creek Station, a pastoral lease located on stunning country in the Daly Basin near where the Flora and Katherine rivers converge.
Take action now and sign the submission on the Scott Creek Station clearing application.
Scott Creek has been subject to extensive clearing in years gone by, including of spectacular riparian vegetation with high biodiversity and cultural value. Now they have plans for a large-scale cotton development of close to 3000ha, and need to clear even more land. This is one of the biggest cotton proposals yet seen in the Northern Territory, and poses significant risks to our landscapes and threatened species such as freshwater sawfish, the Gouldian finch and the partridge pigeon.
The Northern Territory Government’s brand new “streamlined” process for pastoral land clearing has made it very easy for Scott Creek to steamroll ahead with their massive cotton plantation. This new process enables bulldozing and burning of up to 1000ha at a time with slashed approval times (6 months to 6 weeks) and reduced public advertising periods (4 weeks to 2 weeks). This is the second streamlined application on Scott Creek in as many weeks, showing that the new system enables proponents to “stack” applications to avoid public and regulatory scrutiny. It’s not on.
You have 3 days left to act, sign the submission now.
Right now, there is an onslaught of land clearing applications that the Gunner Government are trying to push through before the end of the year.
We must let them know that they cannot sacrifice our savanna. 13% of the Daly Basin is already cleared. There are no caps in place to prevent largescale clearing of this bioregion, with likely irreversible impacts, including on the magnificent free-flowing Daly River and its tributaries.
Submissions on the Scott Creek Station clearing application close on 19 November 2021.
Sign the submission to the Pastoral Land Board telling them to reject the application or immediately refer it for assessment under Northern Territory and Commonwealth environmental laws.