This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 4th Sept 2017
“The majority of the Emissions Reduction Fund is poured into questionable abatement schemes to discourage land clearing, while mass deforestation cancels out any climate gains.” Mike Seccombe 

Guests:
David Gallan – Director of the film “Understorey”
Dr Mehreen Faruqi –  Environment spokesperson for the Greens in NSW Parliament
Jessica Panegyres – Wilderness Society – National Nature Campaigner
Summary:
State laws are failing to prevent massive landclearing. Regional Forest Agreements are giving loggers a victory.
What new mindset will  cause  us to value forests for their carbon?

 

The Historian
David Gallan recounts the 40 year battle to save the South East Forests of NSW round Bega. His film celebrates the growing awareness of how  many species lived there with rare footage of quolls and lyrebirds. Farmers wanted to preserve the water catchment. Locals realised that forests are “worth more standing”. Scientists came to see logging for woodchips as outdated as whaling for oil. Now  that we need to draw down carbon,  they are thinking big.

The Parliamentarian
Dr Mehreen Faruqi explains how new state laws are reducing our capacity to sequester carbon. The Reputex report shows that ” ending land clearing would compete with renewables for carbon abatement”. Yet the new NSW land clearing laws will see emissions soaring.   She says they “make a mockery of any commitment from the NSW government to get to ZERO EMISSIONS by 2050”.

The Campaigner
Jessica Panegyres sees koala populations down by 80% because of deforestation and landclearing. She says “enough!”
She is the National Nature Campaigner with the Wilderness Society. As a Rhodes Scholar and former Greenpeace activist, she has seen the global struggle not to let our tropical forests go up in smoke. She will show us how all the work to sequester carbon in Qld is sabotaged by  land clearing on steroids AND  she will invite us to join the