New government data shows deforestation in Queensland is still occurring at globally significant levels, with almost half of the clearing happening in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
The latest Queensland SLATS (Statewide Landcover and Tree Study) examined satellite imagery between August 2023 to August 2024 and found 274,616 hectares of forest and woodland was bulldozed in that period.
Around 86% of that was for pasture production, while 43% was in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area.
While down on the previous year, it’s more than what is cleared in Indonesia every year for palm oil, and an area larger than the whole of the ACT.
“Every year, 600,000 dump trucks of coral choking mud flows down Queensland rivers into the Great Barrier Reef, preventing reefs from recovering from bleaching, smothering nurseries for fish and clogging their gills,” the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Nathaniel Pelle said.
“While many Queenslanders, including farmers, invest their time and money planting trees and restoring riverbanks to protect the reef, a few laggards mainly in the beef industry are undermining their hard work.
“Sadly the data continues to show Queensland remains a global leader for bulldozing of the bush, while the sunshine state cleared ten times more woody vegetation in 2024 than NSW did.
“Again we have seen almost half of the bulldozing happening in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area. This is largely being carried out by a minority of beef producers.
“Less than a week ago UNESCO ordered Australia to do more about water pollution to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the ‘in danger’ list, yet the data shows a minority of graziers continue to drive deforestation.
“We need supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths and the fast-food giants, McDonald’s and Hungry Jack’s, to stamp out deforestation from their supply chains,” Mr Pelle said.
Pic: turtle on the Great Barrier Reef by Xanthe Rivett