The term ‘paper park’ has been used to apply to a nature reserve that is protected in name alone; a park in which native species are afforded no real protections by legislation or enforcement.
According to a recent warning released by a peak community-led parks association, this may well describe the state of affairs for Queensland’s national parks.
Paul Donatiu of the National Parks Association Queensland recently decided to investigate the prevalence of grazing leases after being dismayed at the state of Warro National Park in October last year. While he only saw 20-30 head of cattle in the immediate vicinity, the damage they had caused was evident.
“Cattle were in the wetland component of the park, where there was substantial compaction and erosion, and understorey vegetation had been largely removed,” the NPAQ executive coordinator said in a recent interview.
The practice of leasing areas of national parks to graziers appears to have been occurring for some time in Queensland as a holdover from past state governments honouring leases on State Forest land that had since been converted to national parks; but Donatiu’s primary concern is the extent to which this has been happening under the Liberal National Party state government’s rule.
“Normally, graziers have to observe stocking rates, though the LNP Government in Queensland has effectively turned a blind eye to these provisions during the current drought,” he said.
Seeking more knowledge, the NPAQ proceeded to begin searching for ‘encumbrances’ on title in specific National Parks. This information is publicly available (for a fee) via the government land title databases.
While the purpose of such encumbrances is not always provided in the lease records, Donatiu points out that a simple search for the lessee’s name frequently reveals them to be graziers, thus leading Donatiu to the conclusion that there were at least 30 such leases currently in existence across the state.
However, Donatiu highlights this issue as just one among a much larger raft of problems for national parks that have been exacerbated by the LNP.
“National parks are nothing more than a resource to the LNP, who have also changed the Nature Conservation Act in Queensland to allow commercial activities in parks, with developments such as resorts and zip-lines.”
This issue closely recalls the ongoing matter of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area, however with the LNP government having now lost its footing, it may be left to a newly-elected Labor government to rectify the sovereignty and sanctity of Queensland’s National Parks.
However, until the new government assumes active duty, it appears the Department of Natural Resources and Mines’ (the department responsible for the management of parks, as well as for the approval of leases within them) hands are tied on the matter, saying only: “As the Queensland Government is currently in caretaker mode, we are unable to provide comment on this issue”.
UPDATE: The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service provided a response to our invitation to comment and we have produced follow-up coverage as a result.