Expensive initiative
Australians build a private road through the middle of a national park – and have to pay a fine of 87,000 euros
Australia: Aerial view of the illegally cleared, two-kilometer-long road in the protected Bowling Green Bay National Park in northern Queensland
© /Qld Department of Environment, Science and Innovation/AAP/dpa
There is a gap in the wild nature of a national park in Australia. A man illegally cleared mangroves to build a private road. That has consequences.
Expensive shortcut: An Australian has to pay a large fine for cutting a path through one without permission National Park has beaten. Reason: The man wanted to build a two-kilometer-long road to his property through Bowling Green Bay National Park in the state of Queensland. A court in the city of Townsville sentenced him to a fine of almost 145,000 Australian dollars (87,000 euros), as the AAP news agency reported on Thursday, citing the judiciary. The money will be used, among other things, to reforest the affected area.
In total there are 19,000 square meters of land – that’s roughly three football fields. It was said that the man now convicted had previously been banned by the responsible environmental authority from clearing parts of the national park and its swamp areas. However, he did not follow the order and destroyed thousands of mangroves between October 2019 and June 2020. Authorities say it will take years for the important ecosystem to recover.
Australia: Serious ecological damage caused by illegal roads
The man also used a combination of dirt, stones, concrete, bricks and used pipes to build a boat ramp and several causeways across streams. In doing so, he caused further damage. “This individual’s brazen actions intentionally caused serious environmental damage to one of the world’s most important wetland ecosystems,” said Craig Dunk from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The wetlands of Bowling Green Bay National Park are listed as an “Ecological Area of International Importance.” They provide habitat for endangered species such as green sea turtles, loggerhead turtles and various migratory shorebirds.
In the gallery: The pictures of the day tell small and large stories from around the world