The Guardian: We should not play Russian roulette with Australia’s national parks

Recent laws allowing hunting and logging in our parks are misguided. Our reserves protect biological diversity and shouldn’t be used otherwise.

99-year private leases granted by the Victorian Government open the door to inappropriate development in national parks, such as Wilsons Promontory. Image by Steve Bennett [CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

99-year private leases granted by the Victorian Government open the door to inappropriate development in national parks, such as Wilsons Promontory. Image by Steve Bennett [CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

The Victorian Government has recently moved to allow logging, grazing, shooting, and commercial development in national parks, and fishing in marine sanctuaries. These moves devalue the primary objective of parks — protecting biodiversity and ecosystem function.

I added my voice to that of 16 eminent Australian ecologists to draw attention to this extremely important issue.

Read the full article (and comments) at The Guardian website.