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| Land cleared for cropping in north-west New South Wales. |
Australia’s indigenous people didn’t actually clear the land
rather they managed it through the use of fire.
Europeans arrived in the 18th Century and set
about to “clean the slate” and coming from a much wetter environment in which growth
was prolific, they imagined no ill with felling every tree in sight.
The idea of clear-felling freed land for productive purposes
allowed farmers to produce more of their product
and so in a market driven world become richer.
A burgeoning population increased the pressure for more
foodstuffs and so land clearing became justified for Australians, and also much
of the world, and it was see by many as progress.
Waiting in the wings and not publically understood until
midway through last century was climate change and land clearing or deforestation, is now known to be among one of the
biggest contributors to climate change.
Tree and forests are among the world’s greatest repositories
of carbon dioxide as they depend upon it to survive – what they need helps man
to stay alive.
And so for a few decades now, environmentalists and those keen to see respect for the world’s
tree and forests, and those who claim their interest is in food security have
raged against each other about the extent of tree clearing.
Deforestation is when trees are chopped down to clear a
forest so the land can be used for other purposes. The trees can eventually
grow back, but at the rate, we’re cutting
them down, they can’t grow fast enough.
A check today
illustrates that this year, which is nearly over,
we have either cut down or burned 12,839,746 hectares
of forest (that’s already well short of reality as the counter was racking up
the hectares quicker than they could be noted).
Land clearing continues to be an issue in Australia - read
the ABC Rural story - “Questions raised about landmark changes to NSW land clearing laws.”
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