Cockatoo habitat clearing. Opinion

SINCE European colonisation, more than 87 per cent of the Carnaby’s cockatoo habitat has been cleared.

In fact, there are three species of black cockatoo officially endangered, something that the environmental authorities chose to ignore.

We must urgently protect any remaining trees and banksia bushland for the cockatoos’ survival.

I am appalled (although not surprised) that given the above known facts the Roe 8 development was approved.

It was said that trees shown to have nesting birds will be left until the birds have fledged. However, what of next year’s breeding season when those ever-scarce breeding trees are lost, or surrounding food for that matter?

Once the trees and food go, so do the birds.

It was also claimed “offset” bushland would be provided as replacement. Yet do you seriously imagine that this “offset” bushland is not already overcrowded with wildlife desperately competing for any available breeding hollows and vegetation due to our continual encroachment into areas that not so long ago would all have been dense bushland?

The above facts are completely overlooked by authorities, which is why our wildlife is in crisis.

Our native animals and bushland are a precious asset to this country and must be given some chance to survive ad thrive into the future for the generations to come.

Once cannot replace 100-year-old trees overnight. What takes that long to grow can be torn to the ground in a matter of minutes.

Sadly, we sit by while this madness continues.

KRISTA PRICE, Bull Creek.