Environment groups applaud federal decision on alpine grazing: Victoria must remove cattle

Friday, 18 March 2011

Media release

The Victorian National Parks Association and The Wilderness Society have welcomed federal environment minister Tony Burke's decision to demand that the Victorian Government refer its trial of cattle grazing in the Alpine National Park for proper assessment under national environment laws.

"Minister Burke's decision confirms that the State Government acted in defiance of federal environment laws when it allowed 400 cattle into the Alpine National Park on January 12 this year," VNPA executive director Matt Ruchel said today.

"We call on Premier Baillieu to put some commonsense back into this situation and remove the cattle once and for all.

"This ill-advised experiment must not resume next season, it should be abandoned for good, it's a park not a paddock."

Several federally-listed threatened species including the Alpine Tree Frog are known to live in areas where the cattle have been allowed to graze, and are at risk of damage.

"Studies have already shown cattle-grazing is not effective in reducing either the extent or severity of fire in the high country, and notably the Black Saturday Bushfires Royal Commission did not recommend the return of grazing for fire management," Mr Ruchel said.

The Wilderness Society's Victorian campaign manager Luke Chamberlain said the attempt to dress up the alpine cattle grazing trial as science was misguided.

"The Baillieu Government's attempt to disguise this blatantly political decision as scientific research has failed - the scientific community was not convinced, and neither is the Federal Government," he said.

"In just eight weeks the cattle have already trampled endangered alpine wetlands and damaged the habitat of rare plants and animals - they should never have been there in the first place."

For comment

• Matt Ruchel, VNPA Executive Director - 0418 357 813.
• Luke Chamberlain, TWS Campaigns Manager - 0424 098 729.