Roadside discovery exposes devastating Aussie problem: 'So sad'
After pulling up on the side of the road, the driver shone her torch around the property to survey the damage.
A sad photograph highlights the immediate impact clearing land for development can have on native wildlife. Snapped by a woman driving home from work, the image shows a stunned brushtail possum sitting perched on a log after all of the nearby trees were felled.
The woman, who asked that we refer to her only as May, said the sleepy town of Dodges Ferry used to be a “shack area”. But because the coastal town is less than a 30-minute drive from Hobart, the simple structures and the bushland that surrounds them are being replaced with large modern homes and amenities.
“The area has really changed. I moved here because it’s out of the way, and has all these beautiful beaches. But people moving here from the city now are coming here wanting fancy amenities like they had in Hobart,” she said.
It was just over a week ago that May noticed more bushland had been destroyed. She didn’t initially see the possum, because she was focused on the sheer number of trees that had been chopped down and piled up.
“I was driving along and thought: Oh my God, what the heck have they done here,” she said.
“You never really noticed the bush before. But the trees and shrubs were gone and a bulldozer was sitting in the middle.”
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Council remains silent after land clearing
Surveying the damage with her torch, she spotted the chocolate-brown brushtail staring back at her. “I just felt so sad,” she said.
Destruction of native habitat in Australia is surging as the human population grows and expands into regional areas. While there are some protections for wildlife already threatened with extinction, abundant species are frequently pushed aside, forcing them into the pathway of cars and dogs as they search for a new home.
Sorrell Council which has jurisdiction over Dodges Ferry was asked by Yahoo News on Tuesday if it had approved the clearing of the land, or requested an environmental survey of the land before the bulldozer rolled in. Council was unable to provide comment by deadline, saying it was extremely busy and its policy was to respond to media queries within 10 business days.
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Why common species can suddenly vanish
The displacement of common wildlife species like kangaroos, possums and wombats is a concern for Humane Society International. Insects like the bogong moth which once flew over the country in its billions are now endangered.
Even the common brushtail possum is in decline. While the species is thriving in our cities, it’s lost 50 per cent of its range since white settlement.
“Species rarely become endangered because they’re naturally scarce, it’s usually because of the impact we have on them. Koalas were once enormously abundant, but they were hunted to near extinction,” HSI’s head of programs Evan Quartermain told Yahoo News.
“With the growing biodiversity crisis, we’re seeing increasing threats from the climate crisis, road strikes and development. We see species like wombats threatened by introduced issues like mange.”
How can Australia's wildlife be protected?
Tasmania is a popular tourist destination because of its wild landscapes. But there are growing concerns about the state's rapid degradation.
In September, the state government released its decade-long delayed State of the Environment report which found ecosystems unique to Tasmania are being destroyed by a perfect storm of climate change, habitat loss and invasive species.
While climate change is a major threat to Australia’s wildlife, even if emissions were significantly reduced today, it would take decades for its impact on the environment to be reversed. But there’s one area Quartermain argues can be immediately addressed, and that's habitat destruction.
“We need strong nature laws, where decision makers are empowered to say no. Because at the moment we're not saying no," he said. "We need to be saying when there's too much wildlife present, or its very important habitat that it can't be cleared, and we're just not doing that yet."
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