FARMER WALKS ACROSS SALT-PAN ON HIS PROPERTY NEAR WAGGA WAGGA, 2003-04-22 (photo)

A farmer walks across a paddock affected by salinity as a result of landclearing on his property near the township of Wagga Wagga, located about 500 kilometres (310 miles) southwest of Sydney, in this September 2002 photo. Thousands of Australian mammals, reptiles, and bird species face extinction as landclearing gains pace, according to a leaked government report on April 22, 2003. The "Biodiversity Audit" says 2,891 individual Australian ecosystems are at risk, with many beyond rescue, if the current 500,000 hectares (1.236 million acres) of the vast mainly empty island continent continues to be lost to landclearing every year. Picture taken September, 2002. REUTERS/David Gray DG/FA