| New national parks for the west, now not later! | |
On the eve of some important political announcements of the future of new national parks in the west of the state, the National Parks Association of NSW is strongly urging not to leave the inevitable decisions for later.
"We already know enough about the more important woodland remnants such as the Pilliga and Goonoo to make an informed decision now about their future", said Andrew Cox of the National Parks Association today.
"Regional centres like Dubbo and small towns like Baradine and Mendooran need this vision from the government to know that they are committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for regional NSW towns. There is much community and business support for the tourism dollars that such new parks would attract for small and large towns alike. Given appropriate marketing and tourist management of these areas, tourist dollars should not compromise the ecological integrity of any new national park area."
The National Parks Association has been campaigning for new national parks in the west for some years now. "The central division of New South Wales has had 74% of its vegetation cleared for food production and towns. Only 1% is reserved for conservation," said Andrew. "In order to maintain and protect the state’s biodiversity and representativeness of western ecosystems, additional areas of national park are urgently required to fill the huge gaps we currently have."
"Ironbark and box woodlands and native grasslands are the main priority for protection of the west. These areas are currently poorly represented within conservation reserves and have had a long history of human use, though there are extensive areas of land worth protecting in the Pilliga and Goonoo State Forests."
"If we leave the decisions until later then the need for increased boost to regional economies via nature-based tourism will be missed. The proposed continuation of a regional assessment for this region will not alter the need for increased protection of these and other remnants."
Contact: Andrew Cox 9299 0000 or 0438 588 040