Latest news with #SLATS
Sydney Morning Herald
06-08-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Queensland clears forest area twice the size of Brisbane in one year
Queensland completely cleared an area of forest and woodland twice the size of the City of Brisbane in the year to August 2023, according to a newly released report. The state government's annual Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report, released on Wednesday, revealed that 332,015 hectares of woody vegetation – trees and shrubs – were cleared in the 2022-23 reporting period – a 3 per cent increase on the previous year. Of that, 82 per cent (271,343 hectares) was the full removal of vegetation, with the remaining 18 per cent partially cleared. The survey also mapped 84,649 hectares of regrowth. Clearing activity in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for 44 per cent of the state's total clearing, a slight increase from 2021-22. About 86 per cent of clearing was to create pasture, and the vast majority of that was full clearing, putting Queensland cattle farmers at odds with major beef buyers that have pledged to go deforestation-free, including the European Union, Coles, Woolworths and McDonald's. Six per cent of clearing was for forestry and 2 per cent for mining, while infrastructure, crops and settlement were all less than 1 per cent. Agriculture was also the biggest driver of deforestation in NSW, where clearing rates surged by 40 per cent in 2023. However, Queensland cleared five times more land than NSW. Greens MP Michael Berkman called on David Crisafulli to rule out any winding back of vegetation protections laws, 'unless [he] wants to be remembered as the premier who oversaw a deforestation crisis and the effective death of the koala in Queensland'.
The Age
06-08-2025
- Business
- The Age
Queensland clears forest area twice the size of Brisbane in one year
Queensland completely cleared an area of forest and woodland twice the size of the City of Brisbane in the year to August 2023, according to a newly released report. The state government's annual Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report, released on Wednesday, revealed that 332,015 hectares of woody vegetation – trees and shrubs – were cleared in the 2022-23 reporting period – a 3 per cent increase on the previous year. Of that, 82 per cent (271,343 hectares) was the full removal of vegetation, with the remaining 18 per cent partially cleared. The survey also mapped 84,649 hectares of regrowth. Clearing activity in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for 44 per cent of the state's total clearing, a slight increase from 2021-22. About 86 per cent of clearing was to create pasture, and the vast majority of that was full clearing, putting Queensland cattle farmers at odds with major beef buyers that have pledged to go deforestation-free, including the European Union, Coles, Woolworths and McDonald's. Six per cent of clearing was for forestry and 2 per cent for mining, while infrastructure, crops and settlement were all less than 1 per cent. Agriculture was also the biggest driver of deforestation in NSW, where clearing rates surged by 40 per cent in 2023. However, Queensland cleared five times more land than NSW. Greens MP Michael Berkman called on David Crisafulli to rule out any winding back of vegetation protections laws, 'unless [he] wants to be remembered as the premier who oversaw a deforestation crisis and the effective death of the koala in Queensland'.
The Age
28-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Perverse outcomes': NSW a deforestation hotspot on par with Indonesia
Land-clearing in NSW surged by 40 per cent in 2023, making NSW a deforestation hotspot on par with Indonesia, as environmentalists slam the Minns government for failing to ditch rules driven by former Nationals leader John Barilaro after more than two years in government. The figures from the annual NSW Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS) released on Monday reveal 66,498 hectares of the state's native vegetation were destroyed in 2023 – the equivalent of 237 Sydney CBDs or four times the size of Royal National Park – and more than half was unallocated to any law. The figure is a 40 per cent rise from the revised figure of 47,388 hectares cleared in 2022. The clearing of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) jumped from 21,137 hectares in 2022 to 32,847 hectares in 2023. Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said this was 'on par with the amount of forest that is cleared every year for palm oil in Indonesia' – about 30,000 hectares in 2023. 'It's a lot ... for a rich country to be still clearing [more than] 30,000 hectares of forest and woodland in a year, and for that clearing rate to be going up,' said Pelle. The SLATS data also revealed 33,651 hectares of non-woody vegetation (grasslands, ferns and ground cover) was cleared, up from 26,251 hectares the previous year. Pelle said the surge in 2023 was probably 'panic clearing' ahead of anticipated legal reforms, since Labor came to power promising to fix land-clearing laws that had been loosened by the former Coalition government in 2016. 'If you telegraph that you're going to do something, and then don't, it can have perverse outcomes,' Pelle said. 'We need more than just words from the Minns government on reforming these rules and their enforcement or compliance.' In late 2024, the government overhauled the 2016 Biodiversity Offset Scheme, which allows developers to pay to destroy biodiversity, acting on a scathing review by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry. The government also promised to reform the Local Land Services Act, which governs clearing on private land, but its proposed legislation remains in consultation stage.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Perverse outcomes': NSW a deforestation hotspot on par with Indonesia
Land-clearing in NSW surged by 40 per cent in 2023, making NSW a deforestation hotspot on par with Indonesia, as environmentalists slam the Minns government for failing to ditch rules driven by former Nationals leader John Barilaro after more than two years in government. The figures from the annual NSW Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS) released on Monday reveal 66,498 hectares of the state's native vegetation were destroyed in 2023 – the equivalent of 237 Sydney CBDs or four times the size of Royal National Park – and more than half was unallocated to any law. The figure is a 40 per cent rise from the revised figure of 47,388 hectares cleared in 2022. The clearing of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) jumped from 21,137 hectares in 2022 to 32,847 hectares in 2023. Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said this was 'on par with the amount of forest that is cleared every year for palm oil in Indonesia' – about 30,000 hectares in 2023. 'It's a lot ... for a rich country to be still clearing [more than] 30,000 hectares of forest and woodland in a year, and for that clearing rate to be going up,' said Pelle. The SLATS data also revealed 33,651 hectares of non-woody vegetation (grasslands, ferns and ground cover) was cleared, up from 26,251 hectares the previous year. Pelle said the surge in 2023 was probably 'panic clearing' ahead of anticipated legal reforms, since Labor came to power promising to fix land-clearing laws that had been loosened by the former Coalition government in 2016. 'If you telegraph that you're going to do something, and then don't, it can have perverse outcomes,' Pelle said. 'We need more than just words from the Minns government on reforming these rules and their enforcement or compliance.' In late 2024, the government overhauled the 2016 Biodiversity Offset Scheme, which allows developers to pay to destroy biodiversity, acting on a scathing review by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry. The government also promised to reform the Local Land Services Act, which governs clearing on private land, but its proposed legislation remains in consultation stage.
