The NSW government has announced today the state’s first ‘Biobank’ site, but the
state’s peak environment group says biobanking will do nothing to protect NSW’s
threatened biodiversity.
“The Biobank scheme allows developers to buy their way out of protecting
threatened species and their habitat. It will not stop urban clearing or halt the
alarming rate of biodiversity loss due to overdevelopment,” said Nature
Conservation Council of NSW, Acting Chief Executive Officer Haydn Washington.
“It is perverse that in the International Year of Biodiversity, when global attention
is focused on saving threatened species and their habitat, our State government is
promoting a Biobanking scheme to facilitate the on-going destruction of high
conservation value habitats.
“Threatened species should be strongly protected from extinction wherever they
occur, not abandoned in favour of conservation in another area.
“Loss of biodiversity should occur only as an absolute last resort yet it could
become a ‘business-as-usual’ model for development in NSW.
“The precious animals, plants and ecosystems of an area, including threatened
species, cannot simply be traded for another pocket of land elsewhere. The
scheme ignores the unique biodiversity of each area and it allows high
conservation value land to be bulldozed in exchange for protecting other areas of
low biodiversity.
“The Nature Conservation Council of NSW calls on the State government to cease
the current biobanking scheme and commit to a mechanism which genuinely
protects and enhances all remaining high conservation value areas in the NSW,” Dr Washington said.
