Deforestation Fronts - Factsheets | WWF This time our 1-kilometre-wide piece of cleared land would stretch 318km, say from Canberra to just beyond Sydney. The total area of land cleared in Queensland was 2,446,600 hectares. This map shows the distribution of burnt forest in areas of northern and southern Australia, by the number of times each hectare was burnt in the period 201112 to 201516: PNG [1.3 MB], PDF [1.3MB]. Deforestation in Australia: Drivers, trends and policy responses But how much land are we clearing? Through these regions, forests grow on soils that vary from ancient, fragile and infertile soils, to recent, fertile soils of volcanic origin. Australia is a global deforestation front, alongside Borneo, the Amazon and the Congo. In that case, the data would show no net loss in forest cover, despite a significant deficit of habitat occurring. It can't be done, forestry industry says. Fact check: Is Queensland clearing land as fast as Brazil? This map shows the distribution of forests in northern Australia, by forest subtype: PNG [1.7 MB], PDF [1.0 MB]. For instance, using the SLATs method the Queensland state government reported 356,000 and 392,000 hectares were cleared in Queensland in the periods 2016-17 (winter-to-winter) and 2017-18 respectively. To get to that conclusion, they have compared the amount of cleared land (3.78 million hectares) with the amount of land regrown (4.19 million hectares), to come up with a "net forest clearing" figure of negative-401,000 hectares. Culture is how an organisation thinks, acts, and interacts. He pointed to what happened in Queensland in the last decade or so as an example. Since 2015 the Australian government has committed more than $1.5bn of . The main cause of deforestation is agriculture (poorly planned infrastructure is emerging as a big threat too) and the main cause of forest degradation is illegal logging. At WWF, we work in Australia and in our Asia-Pacific backyard to protect endangered species and habitats, meet the challenge of climate change, and build a world where people live in harmony with nature. Of this total forest area, determined as at 2016, 132 million hectares (98%) are 'Native forests', 1.95 million hectares are 'Commercial plantations' and 0.47 million hectares are 'Other forest'. Agriculture was the biggest driver of land clearing in Tasmania. The following map was prepared and published by ABARES: This map provides a detailed snapshot of the forestry industry, including the location of major wood processing facilities, native forest tenure, hardwood and softwood plantations, as well as roads and forestry ports: PDF [12.1 MB] and higher resolution version PDF [36.6 MB]. Globally, commercial agriculture and tree plantations were identified as the biggest drivers of deforestation. Knee-high saplings are not a forest and do not balance out the ongoing destruction of older forests decades or centuries old, he said. The vast majority of clearing in Queensland is for agriculture over 90 per cent of cleared forest was replaced by pasture in the years 2016-2019. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Australia has a total of 134 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to 17% of Australia's land area. More than 43 million hectares were lost in these fronts between 2004 and 2017, an area roughly the size of Morocco or six times the size of Tasmania. Except where otherwise explicitly authorised, any material on this website which may be construed as electoral material or an electoral matter under any State or Commonwealth Law is authorised by M. Brennan on behalf of The Wilderness Society Ltd, 132 Davey Street, Hobart Tasmania 7000. The Regional Forestry Hubs were created under the National Forest Industries Plan[PDF 3.1 MB] and associated budget measures to identify economic and social opportunities and benefits in regions with existing concentrations of wood supply resources, processing and/or manufacturing operations, established transport links, and strong potential for growth. In a statement to the ABC, a spokesperson for the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said that is was "misleading to make simple comparisons" between the different reporting methods, and that the Department was confident its records are "complete and accurate". If we want to protect our climate, and the ecosystems that make our lives possible, theres no role for deforestation in Australias future. And around 73,285ha of thator a whopping 80%was destroyed for beef production. Australia remains one of the world's hotspots for deforestation according to a new report by WWF, which finds an area six times the size of Tasmania has been cleared globally since 2004. The WWF report lists a variety of ways in which governments around the world have tried to limit deforestation. "Queensland's SLATs data undergoes extensive manual editing and verification to ensure a high level of confidence in the data for Queensland's monitoring and reporting requirements.". To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Forests extend across Australia's northern tropical regions, and down the east coast through sub-tropical regions to temperate cool-season wet and coldwet zones in the south-east; they are also found in Mediterranean climate zones in the south-east and south-west. State of the forests The forests of Australia are diverse and highly valued, and are among the country's most important natural resources. Although native forest logging has been responsible for clearing a small area by comparison, it has been a flashpoint in Tasmania for decades. In 2019, Premier Dan Andrews committed to ending native forest logging in the state by 2030, and in the wake of last season's devastating bushfires there have been calls to bring that end forward. Land clearing in Australia describes the removal of native vegetation and deforestation in Australia.Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands and native grasslands and the draining of natural wetlands for replacement with agriculture, urban and other land uses. Investing in health and disease prevention is the best cure, Identifying potential risks of COVID-19 and modern slavery in supply chain, How smart approaches to decarbonisation can generate alpha. Dr Taylor said that, despite being in the grips of a global economic downturn due to the COVID pandemic, now was a good time to examine how we could limit land clearing. Eastern Australia is now a recognised global deforestation hotspot, alongside places including the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo. Operation Artemis: Colombia's failed military operation to stop On the Koala Coast, numbers are down by 80%. Thats the misunderstanding driving our countrys deforestation crisis. Forest maps - DAFF - Agriculture Deforestation in Australia & its Impact on Koalas Dr Taylor said claims that forest area has actually expanded in Australia were misleading. News, research and analysis of ESG integration factors for ASX listed companies and investors, * Mandatory fields. From policymakers to companies to consumers, urgent action is needed to halt forest loss. As the only developed country with a deforestation front, it's no surprise Australias mammal extinction rates are the highest in the world. Koalas live in gum trees, also commonly known as eucalyptus trees. This map shows the distribution of burnt forest in Australia by the number of times each hectare was burnt in the period 201112 to 201516: PNG [0.9 MB], PDF [2.1MB]. (modern). The primary issue I have found is that deforestation leads to mass habitat and food loss for koalas. That's why I'm leading WWF-Australia's work to help our country transition from a global deforestation hotspot to a world leader in reforestation and ecological restoration. In addition to the NFPS and the RFAs, the Australian Government has a number of forest policies to achieve key outcomes for Australias forest and forest industries. And the state leading this destructive charge is Queensland. Either some of those landholders still haven't cleared that land, or it hasn't been picked up by NGA survey methods. Illegal logging - DAFF The inaccuracies and lack of context in this article as originally published unduly focused on the role of native forestry in land-clearing. Where is the worst deforestation happening in Australia? Despite Queensland restoring some restrictions in 2018, eastern Australia remains a deforestation front. And a bad one. An analysis of the imagery for Unearthed has identified 13,500 hectares of deforestation since 2018 - an area more than twice the size of Manhattan - across 57 beef cattle properties in . We can even reverse our emissions in the process. From a relative high point of 14,500 hectares cleared in a year back in 2008, only 5,300 hectares were cleared in 2018, according to NGA data. "The LULUCF activity tables are very primitive," Dr Taylor said. Australia's land clearing rate is once again among the highest in the While the majority of landholders are eager to embrace new ways to look after their land, scattered rogue operators are holding us back. The system used to estimate tree cover/loss for the NGA defines woody vegetation as of a "height or potential height greater than 2 metres, crown cover greater than 20 per cent and a minimum patch size of 0.2 hectares". Thanks! "We know that the general public is outraged by this whenever they hear about it. We recognise First Nations as the custodians of land and water across Australia and pay our respects to Elders past and present. Australian beef industry linked to destruction of forests home to Sediments and chemicals run off cleared areas into waterways that flow out to the Great Barrier Reefsmothering this already struggling icon. For industrial plantations, the ownership of the land can be different from the ownership of the trees, and management arrangements can be complex., Of the 132 million hectares of native forest in Australia, 47.2 million hectares (36%) are native forest on leasehold land, and 41.0 million hectares (31%) are native forest on land held under private freehold title. This map shows the distribution of native forest available and suitable for commercial wood production in northern Australia: PNG [1.3 MB], PDF [0.8 MB]. 2023 The Wilderness Society, 5 things you need to know about Deforestation in Australia, majority of landholders are eager to embrace new ways, 7 ways to protect WA's most valuable natural asset. Deforestation and Forest Degradation | Threats | WWF The related formal genus names are italicised and have capitalised initial letters (e.g. Again, the lion's share of that regrowth 2.7 million hectares has reportedly happened in Queensland, and to a lesser extent in New South Wales. (Supplied: Steven Nowakowski Panoscapes)Mr Davies heads up Rainforest 4: one of several conservation groups raising money to try . In total that roughly equals a 1-kilometre-wide piece of land 2,884 kilometres long or from Darwin to Adelaide with change. Thanks! Deforestation and tree-clearing is the major cause of habitat loss for many threatened and endangered species. Using a newly developed satellite data classification technique, researchers from Geoscience Australia's Digital Earth Australia (DEA) program have created a series of maps that show how mangrove locations have shifted year-to-year in response to storm events and a changing climate. The only nationally consistent data comes from the Federal Government's National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA). They also provide clean water; protect soil; provide opportunities for recreation and tourism, and scientific and educational pursuits; and support cultural, heritage and aesthetic values. Your feedback has been submitted. Registered Charity Number: ACN 001 594 074 | NSW License Number: CFN 13143. Was a mine as big as Adani's approved during the election campaign? This map shows the location of regions where forests are managed under a Regional Forest Agreement: PNG [0.8 MB], PDF [2.6 MB]. State and territory governments have primary responsibility for forest management. The beef industry must show leadership and urgently change its practices to stop selling beef linked to deforestation. Deforestation puts human health and the health of our planet at risk. Australia remains the only developed nation on the list of global - WWF Acacia forest). Your information is being handled in accordance with the. In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields' worth of trees every single minute. "Nearly a million hectares of forest has been cleared just in Queensland and New South Wales and just in the hotspot areas," Dr Martin Taylor, Senior Scientist with WWF Australia, told Hack. Australian's have a huge appetite for shopping. 'Glum future for the platypus': why the elusive mammal is disappearing under our noses, Australian wildlife 20 times more likely to encounter deadly feral cats than native predators, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia. There is no official data on how widespread this may be, however Dr Taylor said he had found numerous instances by trawling through satellite imagery several of which he showed to the ABC. When comparing the data for land clearing in Queensland from the SLATs method and the NGA method, there are vast discrepancies between the two discrepancies which cast further doubt on the idea that Australia's tree budget is "in the black". View an interactive version of this map in ArcGIS Online map viewer. Australia among the top deforesting nations in the world, WWF - ABC This map shows the location of Australia's Indigenous forest estate, by land ownership and management categories. , Australia has lost 27% of its rainforest, 19% of open forest, 11% of woodland forest, and 28% of mallee forest since 1750., Australia holds the record for the highest number of mammal extinctions globally. WWF's new report Deforestation fronts: Drivers and responses in a changing world , names 24 locations across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia and Oceania. Want more science plus health, environment, tech and more? In WWFs new report Deforestation fronts: Drivers and responses in a changing world, published today, the deforestation fronts have been expanded to 24 with eastern Australia remaining on the list. If we go back to our 1-kilometre-wide strip of land, South Australia's total clearing stretches almost 1,100km from Newcastle to Melbourne. Native forests are categorised in Australia's National Forest Inventory into eight national forest types named after their key genus or structural form: Acacia, Callitris, Casuarina, Eucalypt, Mangrove, Melaleuca, Rainforest, and Other native forest (which includes a range of minor native forest types that are named after their dominant genera, including Agonis, Atalaya, Banksia, Hakea, Grevillea, Heterodendron, Leptospermum, Lophostemon and Syncarpia). Deforestation threatens much of Australia's extraordinary biodiversity and, if not redressed, will blight the environmental legacy we leave future generations, warn scientists including Richard Kingsford, Martine Maron and Brendan Wintle. A new report from the World Wide Fund for Nature names eastern Australia among 24 global deforestation fronts the only developed nation on the list. In 2015, WWF's Saving Forests at Risk analysis identified 11 global deforestation fronts including eastern Australia. They are designed to provide certainty for forest-based industries, forest-dependent communities and achieve conservation outcomes. The report says the comprehensive failure of the federal government to crack down on illegal clearing has limited the effectiveness of Australian environmental laws in protecting some habitats. Over roughly the last 20 years, koalas numbers have declined by almost 50% across Queensland alone. State of the forests The countries with high rates of deforestation include Brazil, Bolivia, Madagascar and Borneo. . Over 43 million hectares, an area roughly the size of Morocco, was lost in these 'deforestation fronts' between 2004 and 2017. ESG & greenwashing: how did the investment industry end up here? View an interactive version of this map in ArcGIS Online map viewer. Like Tasmania, native forest logging in Victoria has been responsible for clearing a relatively small area compared to agriculture. The interim report called for an independent regulator that would be responsible for enforcing and monitoring compliance with the law. With deforestation comes extinction: Australia is the worst offending country for mammal extinctions. Forest destruction is a threat to more than 700 endangered Australian plants and animals and WWF-Australia has previously highlighted the effects of clearing conducted without threatened species assessments. Over roughly the last 20 years, koalas numbers have declined by almost 50% across Queensland alone. Such claims are based on classifying young regrowth, often only knee-high, from previous clearing, as forest. Despite Queensland restoring some restrictions in 2018, eastern Australia remains a deforestation front. We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions. A leaked report from the Natural Resources Commission last year suggested that land clearing may have surged by as much as 13 times. (We will update these figures to reflect the new stats for 2019-20 as soon as possible.). Of the 288,400 hectares cleared in Western Australia, 68,7000 hectares were primary forests at least 30 years old. The lion's share of land cleared in Western Australia was for agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Carbon once stored in trees and soil goes back into the atmosphere. Without a liveable climate, the vulnerable ecosystems that sustain us, wont. Text available under Creative Commons license. By incentivising them to rehabilitate bulldozed land, we can make our soils, wildlife and landscapes more resilient to climate change. However, native forest and plantation forestry only contributed to around 86,000 hectares of clearing in this period. Undertaking research to blow the lid off this hidden crisis. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Australia's forest and forest products industries, Accelerate Adoption of Wood Processing Innovation Program, Exports of unprocessed wood (wood export licensing), Commercial environmental forestry: Summary of the 4 year program, Optimising transport choice for plantation harvests, Why a National Indigenous Forestry Strategy, Plantations for Australia: the 2020 Vision, Forests and People - the Social Assessment, Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management, People jobs and communities - Social assessments, Annual reports and five year reviews by state, World Heritage Sub-theme: Eucalypt-dominated vegetation, Future of Our Forest Kit - Media Releases, Australia's sustainable forest management, Australia's Sustainable Forest Management Framework of Criteria and Indicators 2009, Development of Project Planning and Evaluation for Farm Forestry, The development of an effective methodology to capture forest type condition and volume data for privately managed forests, National principles related to wood production in plantations, Australia's Long Term Ecological Research Forest Sites, Mechanical Bushfire Fuel Load Reduction Programme, Monitoring the social and economic impacts of forestry, Preparing forest industries for the future - climate change research, The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement Industry Development Programs, Research into alternatives to clear felling in old growth forests, TCFA Research into alternatives to clearfelling (Final Report), TCFA Research into alternatives to clearfelling (Operating Plan), Research into alternatives to the use of 1080, Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement Media Releases, Tasmanian Forest Contractors Exit Assistance Program, Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement, Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement - Contractors Voluntary Exit Grants Program, Voluntary Exit Grants Program frequently asked questions, Terms of reference for an independent facilitator, Forestry contacts, agencies and organisations, Importing timber and wood related products, Australia's bilateral relationships on forestry, Illegal Logging: Regional Capacity Building Partnership, Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management (APFNet), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Tropical Timber Organization, Report on the visit to China by NSW Rural Fire Service Forest Fire Management, Farm Forestry Plantations and Water publications, Growing a Better Australia-A Billion Trees for Jobs and Growth, National Forest Industries Plan Progress Report, Australian Forestry - planning tomorrow for today, Growing a Better Australia A Billion Trees for Jobs and Growth. acacias). Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies. A DES spokesperson told the ABC that "SLATs applies a highly rigorous methodology". "As soon as the Newman Government came [into office in Queensland] and weakened the laws, in fact, in their own words they 'took the axe' to the vegetation laws, we saw a five-fold increase to just the mature forest being cleared in a five year period," he said. Almost two-thirds of NSW native forests burned during the Black Summer Bushfires, devastating huge swathes of threatened species habitat. Forests are generally confined to regions where average rainfall exceeds 500 millimetres per year. Australia's land clearing rate is once again among the highest in the world. The latest figures show that deforestation in Queensland is still rampant, damaging the health of the Great Barrier Reef, destroying biodiversity and worsening climate change. But Dr Taylor said ultimately stronger laws are what drive down land clearing. ('Primary' refers to forests 30 years and older. Julin Parra De Moya Archives - Conservation news Using satellite imagery of forest cover and deforestation events across Australia . For species like the koala, we know the biggest problem is the destruction of their forest homes. Mangroves on the move. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. The TCFD framework - What is it and how can it be applied to investment analysis? Deforestationthe reduction or complete removal of native forest and bushlandhas escalated over the recent years to reach globally significant levels.