Australia’s current environmental regulations are inadequate in curbing the extensive tree clearing associated with agriculture, development, and mining activities.
Research from the University of Queensland highlights the ineffectiveness of Australia’s environmental laws in preventing extensive tree clearing for agriculture, construction, and mining.
A research team, led by PhD student Hannah Thomas from UQ’s School of the Environment, employed satellite imagery and land clearing data to examine vegetation loss in northern Australia, including regions in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia.
“We focused on clearing that exceeded 20 hectares and explored which national or state laws might be applicable,” Ms. Thomas explained.
“Of the 1.5 million hectares we analyzed, 65 percent showed signs of potential legal non-compliance with at least one regulation.
“Moreover, only 19 percent of the compliant clearing activities were formally reviewed and authorized, while the rest fell under specific exemptions.”
The analysis indicated that the clearing identified as potentially violating regulations likely required evaluation under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999, but such evaluations were not conducted.
Ms. Thomas noted that exemptions allowing clearing without assessment primarily stem from state-level regulations.
“Queensland exhibited the highest deforestation rates, with 75 percent of cases bypassing assessment as per the state’s chief vegetation management law,” Ms. Thomas remarked.
“In comparison, the Northern Territory conducted assessments for most clearing activities, although approvals were nearly always granted.
“In these instances, the expansion of agriculture and mining, especially related to beef cattle pasture development, was a significant driver of land clearing in northern Australia.”
Professor Martine Maron emphasized the necessity of reducing tree clearing rates, as Australia committed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to stop and reverse forest loss by 2030 and to prevent further extinction of species.
“It is urgently important to decrease land clearing rates in northern Australia if we aim to fulfill our international obligations,” Professor Maron stated.
“The combined effects of land clearing are severe and escalating, particularly alongside various smaller impacts that our study’s conservative 20-hectare threshold did not account for.
“Australia needs to ensure that current laws are enforced and assist land managers in preserving and maintaining forests and woodlands on their properties.”
