To: Murray Watt
Stop the clearing of 2,723 hectares of tropical savanna in the Northern Territory!
Dear Honourable Murray Watt,
I am writing to formally object to the proposed agricultural development by Top End Pastoral Company, which would involve clearing approximately 2,723 hectares of woodland at Claravale Farm and Station in the Daly River region.
The scale of the proposed clearing is absolutely huge. An area of 2,723 hectares is equivalent to around ten times the size of Sydney CBD. Clearing this amount of native woodland would pose a serious and potentially irreversible risk to local ecosystems, habitat connectivity, and threatened species that rely on intact tropical savanna landscapes such as Gouldian finches, freshwater sawfish, pig-nosed turtles, red goshawks and ghost bats
I am writing to formally object to the proposed agricultural development by Top End Pastoral Company, which would involve clearing approximately 2,723 hectares of woodland at Claravale Farm and Station in the Daly River region.
The scale of the proposed clearing is absolutely huge. An area of 2,723 hectares is equivalent to around ten times the size of Sydney CBD. Clearing this amount of native woodland would pose a serious and potentially irreversible risk to local ecosystems, habitat connectivity, and threatened species that rely on intact tropical savanna landscapes such as Gouldian finches, freshwater sawfish, pig-nosed turtles, red goshawks and ghost bats
I am deeply concerned that the project has been declared “not a controlled action”, allowing it to proceed without a full environmental assessment under national environmental legislation. This decision is particularly troubling given the longstanding and well-documented concerns that large-scale pastoral land-clearing projects are rarely assessed despite their cumulative and long-term impacts on biodiversity.
Environment groups and scientific experts in tropical savanna ecology have already expressed dismay at this decision. The Daly River region is widely recognised for its ecological significance, and large-scale clearing of woodland in this area has the potential to affect:
-native vegetation communities and ecological integrity
-habitat for threatened and declining species
-water quality and hydrological processes in the Daly River catchment
-landscape connectivity and resilience to climate and fire impacts.
-native vegetation communities and ecological integrity
-habitat for threatened and declining species
-water quality and hydrological processes in the Daly River catchment
-landscape connectivity and resilience to climate and fire impacts.
The government has stated that, following “careful examination”, a delegate formed the view that the project is unlikely to have a significant environmental impact. However, without a detailed, lawful and site-specific ecological survey across the full project area, such a conclusion cannot be considered adequately supported by evidence.
I respectfully request that:
- the current decision be reconsidered, and
- a comprehensive and independent ecological survey be required within the full development footprint, and
- the project be referred for formal environmental assessment to properly evaluate its potential impacts on threatened species and ecosystems.
Given the size of the proposed clearing and the ecological sensitivity of the Daly River region, allowing this development to proceed without rigorous assessment sets a concerning precedent for future land-clearing projects across northern Australia.
Thank you for considering this submission. I strongly urge the Minister to ensure that this proposal is subject to an appropriate level of environmental scrutiny before any clearing is permitted to proceed.
Yours sincerely,
Name here
Name here
Why is this important?
In Australia, we we losing vegetation and biodiversity at an alarming rate. Australia is one of the world’s deforestation hotspots, with more than 45% of forests cleared since European settlement. Over 10 million hectares of forests and woodlands were cleared between 2000–2017, including more than 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat.
Northern Territory contains one of the largest and most intact tropical savanna systems left on the Earth.
Tropical savanna woodlands provide habitat for mammals, reptiles, frogs and birds including critically threatened species such as Gouldian finches, freshwater sawfish, pig-nosed turtles, red goshawks and ghost bats.
Not only do these woodlands support important fauna, but savanna woodlands stabilise soils, filter sediments and slow surface runoff during intense seasonal rain.
Savanna woodlands also store carbon in the trees and soil. Clearing releases that stored carbon and removes the future capacity of the land to absorb emissions.
Northern Territory’s tropical savanna ecosystem is one of the last large, relatively intact savanna landscapes left on the planet. Please help me save it.
Tropical savanna woodlands provide habitat for mammals, reptiles, frogs and birds including critically threatened species such as Gouldian finches, freshwater sawfish, pig-nosed turtles, red goshawks and ghost bats.
Not only do these woodlands support important fauna, but savanna woodlands stabilise soils, filter sediments and slow surface runoff during intense seasonal rain.
Savanna woodlands also store carbon in the trees and soil. Clearing releases that stored carbon and removes the future capacity of the land to absorb emissions.
Northern Territory’s tropical savanna ecosystem is one of the last large, relatively intact savanna landscapes left on the planet. Please help me save it.
