Restoring rainforests top priority for Mandy Nolan

MANDY Nolan has revealed the Greens party’s new environmental policy, which will ensure one per cent of the Federal budget goes towards the natural environment, in the lead-up to the election on May 3.

The plan includes reforming environment laws, a moratorium on clearing koala habitat and ensuring mines and developments are properly assessed for their impacts.

They also plan to devote $20 billion over the next decade to biodiversity restoration, including projects targeting threatened species recovery, monitoring and data collection, rehabilitation of waterways and invasive species management, plus $5 billion over four years for a Protected Areas Fund to purchase land and work with states and territories to expand, protect and manage high biodiversity areas.

Nolan, who is the Greens candidate for Richmond, said the policy was about protecting forests, grasslands and rivers and safeguarding biodiversity.

“The Northern Rivers is one of the most biodiverse regions in the country,” she said. “We have World Heritage-listed forest and amazing species and many of them are threatened, like koalas, black cockatoos and sugar gliders.

“Part of our commitment to reforestation is environmental but it’s also working hand in hand with science, as we know how reforestation is the best way to take carbon out of the atmosphere and address climate loss.

“This region has a strong commitment to environmental outcomes. We are already restoring forests; we are already on the frontline.”

The much-loved comedian attended a tree-planting event run by a local influencer Montana Lower, who founded natural skincare brand INBLUEM, and ReForest Now on private land near Bangalow last week.

The team planted more than 1000 trees as part of a wider project to bring back the Big Scrub rainforest, which was once the largest continuous tract of sub-tropical rainforest in Australia, covering 75,000 hectares of northern NSW. Today only about 100 hectares remains as isolated patches.

“So many landowners are on board with this, working with environmental groups and doing restoration,” Nolan said.