Slash & Burn in the Hinterland, N.S.W.

Once there was thick subtropical rainforest, known as the 'big scrub', now there is less than 1% left. The area around Byron Bay to Mullumbimby, Wilsons' Ck, Uki and Nimbin appears as the following:
A patchwork of sugar-cane, cattle, macadamia and banana monocultures. Watercourses are clogged with algae and a permanent chemical smell around the (eroding) banana slopes. In between are weed-infested roads, clogged watercourses and private properties. Hardly any of these places seem to like and tolerate Australian plants. Thick forests of bamboo, introduced trees such as pines, succulents and most of all out of control weeds make up these places.

The 'peace & quiet' of the country is a myth as every property sprouts huge lawns, which get manicured daily. The petrol-driven power and garden tools howl 24/7. Their packs of dogs howl and yelp.

Every few turns a quarry eliminates a hill or a landmark of the landscape. In the end they are all quarries, minerals, meat, sugar or fruit. Cows and horses seem to stand inside the barbed-wire fences, cooking and unattended.

The big scrub project is not yet completed, that 1 % is irritating. Tire-less clearing is ubiquitous, not the type that gets monitored via GPS, but small individual land holders, poisoning, ring-barking trees and making these so iconic 'heaps of vegetation' which finally get incinerated. Numerous fires go all night and over days, when some get out of control, the local fire-brigade picks up the tab. In the developing world, they call it slash and burn agriculture, here it is just culture.

The goal seems to be, eradicate bio-diversity, replace it with impoverished monoculture, then mine it or put some 'cash-cows' (houses) on it. Flog off petrol-dependent wasteland without infrastructure and then move 'away from it all'.

The native flora and fauna are the big losers. They are bullied out of their homes or their space is too fragmented and they have to cross roads. Hence, most of Australia's wildife can be viewed in wild-life rescue centres or smeared on roads. Packs of dogs roam, finishing off the rest. A lot of Australian animals also find death though the endless barbed-wire and power-lines.
Land clearing NSW
Image: 'scorched Earth' and iconic vegetation heaps ,could be anywhere in the Tweed or Byron area