The
Editor,
Herald Sun Newspaper,
Melbourne.3000
HAND
DELIVERED BY A KANGAROO AT 11:15 AM
Dear
Editor,
This
morning we are hand delivering this letter to you, containing
facts for your consideration, concerning the cruel and untenable
plight of the kangaroo populations on the Puckapunyal Military
Base, which is now attracting a significant voice of protest
from the Victorian community. We believe there should be a
full and open enquiry into the Defence Department's justification
for killing kangaroos at Puckapunyal.
Two
important documents commissioned by the Defence Department,
and recently released a month apart, contradict each other
over kangaroo populations on the army base.
The
major document is the Environmental Management Plan which
sets out the framework for the future management of the Puckapunyal
environment, recommending sustainable kangaroo populations
of 44,000 and biomass levels be maintained above 1.5 tonnes
per hectare.
The
second document is a vegetation condition assessment, and
states that the major document got it wrong about kangaroo
populations and the biomass levels, and overrules the management
plan. Defence Department's recent decision to kill 15,000
kangaroos over the next few months comes from advice contained
in this document, and is reactionary. The document recommends
kangaroo populations be reduced to 10,000 to allow vegetation
to recover from the drought, while at the same time the document
advises that reducing kangaroo numbers to 10,000 will lead
to high fuel levels because there won't be sufficient grazing
pressure to maintain grasslands at low fuel levels. So even
the minor document has a bit each way!
The
appalling realization is that Defence Department is not able
to be guided by the very document they commissioned at tax
payers expense, to guide sustainable management of kangaroo
populations at Puckapunyal. For some years now kangaroos on
Puckapunyal have been killed in the thousands, and it seems
this cruel slaughter will continue. This is a direct result
of inept and reactive policies, and mismanagement of the land
and its kangaroos.
What
follows are the obligations for participation in the Land
for Wildlife program and an insight into how the efforts of
Puckapunyal Army Base, a participant in the program, measure
up to these obligations. We could expect the major document,
the Puckapunyal Military Area, Environmental Management Plan
February 2003, would reflect the values contained in the Land
for Wildlife program. However, this is not the case as Defence
Department's ongoing mismanagement of the issues become evident
from the recommendations in the Environment Management Plan
(EMP).
The
Defence Department became the largest landholder in the Land
for Wildlife program in Victoria in 1996 when they signed
up Puckapunyal Army Base 22,000 hectares of bushland in the
program. But Defence Department disregard their obligation
to provide land and habitat for the kangaroos to live in harmony
with other land uses, and each year resorting to short term
measures kill thousands of kangaroos at the army base! Rather
than providing a safe environment for the kangaroos, it's
turned out to be land for slaughtering kangaroos.
The
Land for Wildlife program is a key to survival for native
plants and animals by providing habitat. Yet as the EMP points
out, the Defence Department has done little to provide habitat
for kangaroos because the existing shortage of food is a result
of invasive exotic grasslands taking hold, while alternative
grass species that are more palatable and non-toxic to kangaroos
are not maintained. Kangaroos are imprisoned and starved to
death. Furthermore, extensive sheep and cattle grazing has
long since damaged the ecosystem and drought has exacerbated
the crisis. That and terrible fencing is a disaster for kangaroos
Land
for Wildlife is intended to provide 'green corridors' for
native animals, and habitat for wildlife to live in harmony
with other land uses. Yet in the EMP, 'exclusion fencing'
is seen as an acceptable method of reducing kangaroo populations
on the army base, and to be used to keep kangaroos away from
water, thus restricting kangaroo access to water sources.
They die of thirst because internal fencing on Puckapunyal
separates them from water.
You
should be able to read all about this in the two important
documents commissioned by Defence Department but this has
been withheld from the general public. Availability of the
document was promised by the parliamentary secretary to the
Minister of Defence, Ms. Fran Bailey and Mr. Colin Trinder,
Director Environmental Stewardship Defence. Furthermore, the
EMP states a willingness to discuss issues arising out of
the management plan with the community prior to implementation.
But the public and the community has been denied access to
the major document? We ask how is the Defence Department held
accountable to the public for the protection and care of our
legally protected kangaroos?
The
illusive documents are: (1). Puckapunyal Military Area Environmental
Management Plan, February 2003; and (2) Vegetation Condition
Assessment Monitoring Report 2002, March 2003.
We
ask that the Land for Wildlife Status be removed from Defence
for flaunting their obligations to the Land for Wildlife scheme
and as a priority we call for a full, open and independent
enquiry into the mismanagement of kangaroos at Puckapunyal.
Yours sincerely,
Maryland
Wilson,
President 03 5978 8570 0417 148 501
AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE PROTECTION COUNCIL
247 Flinders Lane
Melbourne 3000
Tel 9650 8326
Email kangaroo@pen.hotkey.net.au
www.awpc.org.au
EXCLUSIVE
TO THE HERALD SUN
