Farmer in battle for name

AGRIBUSINESS owner Warren Jonsson says he has to try to rebuild his reputation after allegations that he conducted unauthorised land clearing, harming threatened species such as koalas, at his Wombinoo Station, south west of Mt Garnet.

Mr Jonsson said he received approval from the State Government in March 2015 to clear 2700ha of land at Wombinoo Station.

He said he also spent more than $60,000 for environmental impact studies to be carried out, which came back clear.

“The Federal Department for Environment came up on two occasions for four days, the last one being in August, we’ve got it written where they did not identify any koalas on Wombinoo,” he said.

Mr Jonsson is now threatening to take out legal action against ABC News and the Wilderness Society for the accusations.

Wilderness Society national director Lyndon Schneiders said a report commissioned by the Federal Government into clearing on Wombinoo states “an important population of koala occurs within Wombinoo Station and there is likely to have been a significant impact on this species due to the clearing of 560 hectares of secondary habitat that has been completed to date”. “The proposed clearing of additional habitat is likely to further exacerbate this impact,” he said.

ABC News was also contacted and “have no comment to make at this time”.

Mareeba District Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association president Joe Moro said Mr Jonsson was respected across the region.

“He’s a very well respected farmer in our community and he’s shown great leadership over the years,” he said. Watch the video online www.cairnspost.com.au