In 200 years of European settlement, more than half of Australia's forests and 60% of our woodlands have been cleared or severely degraded. This has resulted in extinction of species and loss of biodiversity.

22 species of mammals are extinct. 40 species are threatened. There has been a massive decline in abundance of Australian birds. This decline has been so rapid, that it is likely 100 species will become extinct.

These figures are from a report delivered to the Australian Ecological Society in 1988. As author Dr Harry Recher Biodiversity Council of the Department of Conservation, University of New England said five years later, these statistics would now be regarded as conservative. Dr Recher believes the situation is so bad that we must accept a reduction in agricultural production. This includes smaller harvests of timber and less fish taken from the rivers. The causes of land degradation and loss of biodiversity are vegetation clearance and overuse of the land.

In a radio broadcast in May 1995 ("Earthworm") Dr Recher claimed that the public is not being told the truth about the state of our land. He said scientists are not free to speak out. Most of them are employed by Government bodies and are bound by the provisions of the public Service Act. Others are reliant on grants and may lose these or be denied permission to work inside State Forests if they criticise Government policy.

Recher says there must be a significant change in our lifestyle and land management. We must stop destroying native vegetation, he says. We must allocate water resources to nature conservation, we must use less energy, we must control the use of agricultural fertilisers and chemicals, we must reduce population growth.