Scientists urge premiers to protect long paddock
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More than 450 scientists have written an open letter to the Queensland and New South Wales premiers, calling for more protection for the stock route network.
Both states are considering changes to the management of the so-called long paddock, which the scientists fear could lead to degradation and threaten native plants and animals.
The network covers more than three million hectares of eastern Australia.
Spokesman Professor Hugh Possingham says some of the proposals could threaten native plants and animals, which are already endangered.
"The stock route network is very valuable for the conservation of Australia's biodiversity," he said.
"The management in Queensland may well be handed over or leased permanently to local landowners who will graze them like they graze the rest of their property, which is very different for biodiversity and has a very different impact on species."
Professor Possingham says stock routes have significant environmental and cultural heritage values which need to be protected.
"In Queensland, the stock route network is 2.6 million hectares and it's a really important corridor or connection across the whole state," he said.
"Effectively that will be very important to a lot of species under climate change. Many species may well need to move across the landscape to maintain their populations."
