New data released today shows 323,676 hectares of native forest and bushland - the equivalent of 43,600 Suncorp Stadiums - has been cleared in just one year, a devastating result for Queensland’s native animals. 

The work of citizen scientists has laid bare the staggering lack of federal government monitoring of deforestation in Australia, after six instances of potentially unlawful land clearing were uncovered in the last four months through a volunteer monitoring program.

A joint investigation by three of Australia's leading environmental organisations has uncovered multiple instances of large-scale deforestation which were not referred to the federal government for approval.

The bulldozing of a 2km-long driveway through Bowling Green National Park near Townsville is an international embarrassment for Queensland, highlighting critical problems in the state’s ability to respond to illegal clearing across the state.

Yesterday on National Trees Day, the Queensland Government released the latest Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report. The report shows 349,399 hectares of land was cleared during the reporting period of 2020-2021, cementing Queensland as the national leader in deforestation and continuing Australia’s unenviable international status as a hotspot for deforestation.

While welcoming the decrease in land clearing as shown in the 2020-2021 SLATS yesterday, the Wilderness Society and Queensland Conservation Council have recently acquired new footage, taken this year in Central Queensland, highlighting the devastating reality of broadscale land clearing. Land clearing and deforestation are still driving environmental destruction in Queensland.

Conservationists say the Queensland State Budget is a step in the right direction for threatened wildlife and the new protected areas they desperately need.

More than $215 million will be spent on national parks, both expanding the protected areas estate, funding its management and supporting co-management with First Nations Peoples.

The 2023 Queensland budget, released this week, has been an opportunity for the state to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to protecting our climate, communities and nature for future generations.

Overall this budget is extremely positive for the state. With record investment in long-term infrastructure for renewable energy projects, immediate cost-of-living relief on energy bills for all households, and funding to increase national parks and prevent land clearing, there are many things to celebrate.

Much of this has been funded by a modest increase in royalties on the superprofits of Queensland coal companies, meaning those who contributed most to the climate and cost of living crisis are finally helping pay for the renewable energy solutions.

More than 100,000 hectares of land - an area the size of almost 14,000 Suncorp Stadiums - was cleared over a two year period that was unexplained and required further investigation, according to a report which details the regulatory assessments behind the land clearing figures in Queensland. 

Queensland Conservation Council Nature Campaigner Natalie Frost said:

“This report contains shocking evidence that the government has no idea the true scale of land clearing.

Every single hectare of endangered species habitat is vital for the continuation of some of our most iconic species.”

“It’s clear that legislative loopholes and lack of enforcement by the Queensland Government allows broadscale deforestation to continue, particularly in endangered and of concern ecosystems. This 100,000 hectares is only a quarter of the 418,656 hectares of land clearing as per the latest government data.”

“What’s most shocking is the amount of clearing being done in areas with endangered and of concern regional ecosystems. In just two years, nearly 60,000 hectares of vulnerable forest and bushland were cleared that should have been protected.”

In 2017, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk committed to end broadscale land clearing in Queensland. The latest statewide landcover and tree study (SLATS) report released in December last year coupled with the SLATS vegetation management analysis report reveals that Queensland continues to clear land at alarming rates with most clearing exempt from any regulation. 

“If we continue to clear forests at this rate there won’t be a future for species like the koala and greater glider. With the federal government releasing a plan to halt species extinctions, it’s imperative that the Queensland government addresses the out of control land clearing problem.”  

The Queensland Conservation Council has joined the Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF-Australia to form the Queensland Forests Alliance to advocate for the protection of Queensland’s iconic forests and woodlands.  

–ENDS–

The SLATS vegetation management analysis can be found here

The SLATS report can be found here

Contact:

Natalie Frost, Nature Campaigner, Queensland Conservation Council

0411 074 846

[email protected]

Every year in Queensland, hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests and bushland are bulldozed. Threatened species habitat, forests in catchments for the Great Barrier Reef and mature forests are destroyed by deforestation—mostly for grazing and pasture for beef production.

As exposed on the ABC, much of this deforestation occurs with little to no government assessment, due to the state’s weak categorisation of native vegetation and a systemic failure at the Commonwealth level to call-in deforestation for assessment under Federal environment law.

Dave Copeman, Queensland Conservation Council Director said, “the strong community response to the media story shows Queenslanders are shocked at the continuingly high rates of deforestation in our state that make us a global deforestation hotspot.”