Government urged to set up $1bn fund to help farmers protect the environmentThe environment minister should consider farming interests before deciding whether to list threatened species, according to a long-delayed government review of how conservation laws could better serve the agriculture industry. He cited concerns that national environment laws were placing too great a burden on farmers. But the review, headed by the former National Farmers Federation boss Wendy Craik, found only 2.7% of cases referred to under national environment laws related to agricultural activity. The Craik report suggests the government introduce “market-based” incentives to pay farmers and others to protect the environment through a National Biodiversity Conservation Trust fund. Quartermain said the report made clear there was little evidence national environment laws had hurt farmer productivity.

Source: The Guardian June 27, 2019 06:26 UTC