Tree clearing, not urban sprawl, wiping out koalas in Queensland, WWF says

Environmentalists estimate that tree clearing in regional and rural Queensland is now 15 times more destructive to the state’s koala populations than urban sprawl.

The clearing of agricultural land in Queensland is putting
koalas under threat, say environmentalists. 

Development, and the loss of koala habitat for housing and infrastructure, was considered a key reason why the koala was added to the “vulnerable” species list in 2012.

But analysis by WWF conservation scientist Martin Taylor challenges the idea that the state’s koala populations are most at threat by the growth of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and sunshine coast.

Taylor concludes that of more than 5,000 estimated koala deaths due to loss of habitat in Queensland from 2012 to 2016, almost 94% occurred outside the heavily developed south-east.

Read the story by Ben Smee from The Guardian - “Tree clearing, not urban sprawl, wiping out koalas in Queensland, WWF says.”

Standing Up for Rural Australia Means Standing Up on Climate Change

The farmers in this ad represent thousands from across Australia who are demanding rural and regional politicians do more to stop damage to our climate harming our livelihoods. 

We must act, to prevent a situation where our kids won’t have the choice to farm like we do.

Watch the YouTube clip - “Standing Up for Rural Australia Means Standing Up on Climate Change”.

Climate change: 90% of rural Australians say their lives are already affected

The Climate Institute says 82% of poll
respondents in rural and regional Australia
 and 81% of those in capital cities were
 concerned about increased droughts as a 
result of climate change. 

Ninety per cent of people living in rural and regional Australia believe they are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and 46% believe coal-fired power stations should be phased out, according to a new study.

A poll of 2,000 people conducted by the Climate Institute found that 82% of respondents in rural and regional Australia and 81% of those in capital cities were concerned about increased droughts, flooding and destruction of the Great Barrier Reef due to climate change, and 78% of all respondents were concerned there would be more bushfires.

About three quarters of all respondents – 76% in capital cities and 74% in rural or regional areas – said ignoring climate change would make the situation worse and about two-thirds said they believed the federal government should take a leading role.

Read Calla Wahlquist’s story in The Guardian - “Climate change: 90% of rural Australians say their lives are already affected.”

Urban sprawl equally troubles regional towns and cities worsening emissions

U

rban sprawl troubles cities the world over and it is equally troubling for most of Australia’s regional town and cities.

Sometimes it feels like this even in
 relatively tiny Shepparton.

That same sprawl produces much of the carbon dioxide simply because those towns and cities are inefficient and force people into carbon-rich lifestyles.

Generally, the infrastructure is such that people have little option but to use their carbon dioxide producing cars for almost everything.

Subsequently, as Climate Central reports - “Urban Sprawl, Cars Hamper Cities’ Best Efforts on CO2”.