Native Waterbirds - Veac Recommendations Irresponsible And Outdated

COALITION AGAINST DUCK SHOOTING


Media Release Monday 29 September 2008


NATIVE WATERBIRDS

VEAC recommendations irresponsible and outdated


While the Coalition Against Duck Shooting has praised many aspects of the Victorian
Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) recommendations, especially the creation of new
National Parks and the involvement of traditional owners as co-managers, the recommendations
fail to acknowledge the serious impact of climate change and duck shooting on native waterbirds.

Campaign Director, Laurie Levy today said: "The VEAC recommendations relating to native
waterbirds are seriously flawed and outdated. Climate change has already had a major impact on
native waterbirds, causing their numbers to decline by 82% across eastern Australia over the last
25 years. While VEAC has closed down wetlands in the creation of new National Parks, they have
also capitulated to hunters by leaving many wetlands open to shooting. VEAC has failed to take
into account that climate change has rendered the recreational shooting of native waterbirds
unsustainable in the 21st Century.

"VEAC avoided the hard decisions and instead pandered to the dwindling numbers of duck
shooters in this state. Native waterbirds do not breed during drought when water and feed is
scarce. With the Murray-Darling river system seriously degraded and with important wetlands in
northwest Victoria now dry, everything should be done to ensure the survival of our native
waterbirds well into the future.

"The VEAC recommendations claim to protect endangered species, yet Hird Swamp in northwest
Victoria was left open to shooting. This wetland is often home to one of Australia's most
threatened birds, the Painted Snipe, with a population Australia-wide of only approx.1,500 birds.
In Victoria, the Painted Snipe is listed under the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act as Critically
Endangered," Levy said.

"VEAC also left Lake Murphy open to shooting where rare and threatened Freckled Ducks often
seek refuge. Freckled Ducks were again illegally shot on Lake Murphy at the opening of the 2006
duck season.

"As global warming poses a continued threat to native waterbirds, VEAC must bite the bullet and
listen to the 75% of Victorians who want the recreational shooting of native waterbirds banned
(Roy Morgan poll, Oct. 2007), as three other Labor states have already done," Levy concluded.




For further information contact:

Laurie Levy
Campaign Director
Mobile: 0418 392 826




304/78 Eastern Road South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Tel: 03 9645 8879 email [email protected]