No matter where you live across the country, Australia’s nature laws are impacting you and the unique plants and animals that make your home special.
We have investigated cases in Victoria, WA, NSW, NT, SA, and ACT, that highlight the suffering caused by our broken nature laws. Last, but not least, it’s time to look at Queensland and Tasmania.
The impacts highlighted in these stories are a choice that can be stopped. The Australian Government is currently re-writing new national nature laws and has gone through a lengthy process of consultation with key stakeholders. They know what must be done, and now it’s time to introduce new nature laws to Parliament that protect nature.
Learn more below about some of the real-world impacts of weak nature laws and why urgent reform is needed.
Queensland
Reefs, rainforests, pristine beaches, and wildlife found nowhere else in the world – Queensland’s nature is amazing. And it’s not just us that think so. Queensland’s has more world heritage areas than any other state or territory in Australia. These include, K’gari, the Great Barrier Reef, the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (shared with New South Wales), the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites – Riversleigh section, and the Wet Tropics.
But deforestation is a major problem for Queensland’s beautiful environment. Every year, hundreds of thousands of hectares of woodland habitat is bulldozed without regulation, as our current national nature laws turn a blind eye. In July 2023, analysis by ACF found that 350,000 hectares of bush habitat was bulldozed in Queensland, mostly to make way for sheep and cattle.
Deforestation has been called the biggest threat to nature in Australia for many decades and yet it continues at a devastating pace, driving climate change, damaging soil, polluting waterways and robbing native animals of their homes. Approximately half of the devastation that occurred in Queensland in 2023 was within the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, adding pressure to a reef that’s already suffering. Within this area, over 50,000 hectares of vegetation cleared was primary forest, equating to 27,000 Gabbas. This is habitat that has been around for many decades and can never be replaced.
The Albanese government has committed to the Glasgow Declaration to end deforestation, to achieve net zero emissions and has promised no new extinctions, none of which can be achieved until strong new nature laws are protecting our forests.
Approximately half of the devastation that occurred in Queensland in 2023 was within the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, adding pressure to a reef that’s already suffering.
Tasmania
Well known for its many natural wonders, Tasmania is an island of romance for one important, critically endangered bird. The swift parrot is a migratory bird that breeds only in Tasmania during the summer and migrates to south-east Australia during winter. It is one of only two true migratory parrots in the world, and it’s in grave danger of becoming extinct.
With a population that’s dwindled down to the hundreds, swift parrots are being pushed to the brink of extinction by habitat destruction. Despite this, the Tasmanian Government has allowed its forestry corporation to decimate foraging and breeding habitat for the birds This is all to prop up a dying industry that operates at a loss.
The breeding success of the swift parrot in Tasmania relies on specific forest types that offer both old growth forests with hollow-bearing trees for nesting and proximity to foraging trees. However, the activities of the logging industry have led to a dramatic decline in the availability of suitable areas. Without these spaces to breed, the birds are simply dying out.
The breeding success of the swift parrot in Tasmania relies on specific forest types that offer both old growth forests with hollow-bearing trees for nesting and proximity to foraging trees. Photo: Chris Tzaros
Almost a decade ago, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Birdlife International emphasised the need to “place all areas of public land that support swift parrots under secure conservation management”. Yet the logging continues, and Tasmanians are footing the bill. What’s worse, none of these operations are assessed under our national environment laws because they are exempt under the logging provisions.
The swift parrot doesn’t have months or years to wait for new nature laws. There are only 500 of these birds left and stronger protection is urgently needed.
You can add your voice to the call for urgent new nature laws by joining over half a million Australian’s petitioning for strong nature protection. Now more than ever, we need to show up and make our voices heard so that the Government knows that Australia wants to see the change, urgently.
