Land Clearance In Queensland Is Still Occurring At An Alarming Rate

In the sun-drenched expanse of Queensland, a sobering reality persists – land clearance continues to unfold at an alarming rate. Efforts from the state to reduce the impact of this devastating industry have proved lacklustre. The numbers are staggering – within the past five years, almost 2 million hectares of forest have been destroyed within Queensland. From ecological upheaval to biodiversity loss, the ramifications are profound and demand urgent attention.

The State of Land Clearance in Queensland

Queensland continues to rank as the highest land-clearing state in all of Australia. In previous years, Queensland has helped Australia secure a spot as the only developed nation on a list of global deforestation fronts. The most recent data on land clearance in Queensland comes from the 2020-2021 Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATs) report. During this period, involved parties cleared nearly 350,000 hectares of woody vegetation. This was a decrease of 17% from the 2019-2020 period in which a total of approximately 419,000 hectares was cleared. Although we’ve seen a reduction in recent years, the amount of land cleared from 2020-2021 is still massive. In fact, clearing 350,000 hectares of land in a single year is equivalent to removing about 480 MCG‘s (Australia’s largest stadium) worth of forest, every day!

The Main Cause of Land Clearing in Queensland

One industry, livestock, drives the high levels of land clearance in Queensland. The land is cleared to grow new pastures to feed farm animals, primarily cattle. The 2020-2021 SLATs report outlines that 89% of all land cleared during the period was done so for pasture. This is perhaps unsurprising as Australia has, for some time, been one of the world’s biggest exporters of meat. However, these habits are clearly unsustainable. It is apparent that the nation requires an Integral Thinking shift. A key aspect of Integral Thinking is the use of global thresholds to guide human development. A great example is the Planetary Boundaries framework, which identifies critical environmental limits that balance human needs with ecological constraints. These frameworks help define the parameters within which societies and economies must operate to ensure long-term sustainability. Without such a shift, Australia risks exceeding these critical thresholds, leading to irreversible environmental degradation.

The Catastrophic Consequences of Land Clearance in Queensland

Impacts on Biodiversity

The leading threat to terrestrial biodiversity in Australia is habitat loss and fragmentation. This threat occurs primarily from land clearing. Past studies have shown that out of the major threatening processes to Australian threatened species (critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable), habitat loss has the most detrimental impact (80%). It also occurs in more than 85% of subcatchments within Australia. Additionally, the land-clearing process can result in direct species death. A 2003 study estimated that between 1997 and 1999, when approximately 450,000 hectares of forest were cleared in Queensland each year, 2.1 million mammals, 8.5 million birds, and 89 million reptiles died. Animals not killed directly by the clearing process often die soon after from stress, starvation, or predation.

Biodiversity is vital for supporting human life on Earth. In Australia, and across the world, animals provide a number of important ecosystem services. Our crops rely on insect pollination and the complex biological processes that create fertile soil. For example, without insect pollinators (e.g., Bees) many foods we take for granted would no longer be available. Additionally, Australia is home to various unique species. About 82% of our mammals and 93% of our frogs exist nowhere else in the world. If Australia is to stay on track to achieve the ambitious goals of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework then we must act now to reduce the rates of land clearing in Queensland.

Impacts on Climate

Land Clearance is a major contributor to climate change through its greenhouse gas (GHG) outputs. Clearing forests results in the loss of trees that function as vital carbon sinks. Bulldozing or leaving forests to decay releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other GHGs, accelerating climate change. CO₂ Australia projections estimate that cumulative emissions from land clearing during the period of 2016-2030 will be between 673 and 826 metric tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. This is equivalent to operating at least four extra dirty coal-fired power plants over that same amount of time.

It is now a well-known fact to most that climate change comes with negative effects. Many of these effects are already being felt around the globe. In Australia, the increase in global surface temperature, brought about by climate change, corresponds with an increased probability of wildfires. These wildfires, as we have seen in recent years, can be detrimental to animals, forests, and human well-being. Australia has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 alongside a target of a 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030. To meet these targets, we must immediately reduce emissions by bettering our land-clearing practices.

Land Clearance Laws and Regulations in Queensland

In efforts to address the significant threats that vegetation loss poses, Queensland established the Vegetation Management Act (VMA) in 1999. Since its establishment, there have been regular amendments to the act. These amendments have had both positive and negative effects on the overall state of Queensland’s forests. Queensland’s current native vegetation clearing laws place priority on conserving remnant vegetation (patches of native forest that have, to date, escaped clearing). This is crucial as remnant vegetation is vital for biodiversity conservation owing to its characteristics. However, loopholes in previous amendments to the VMA have unfortunately allowed for large amounts of remnant clearing to take place. These loopholes primarily arose from legislative exemptions and broad categories that were subject to interpretation. For example, past amendments permitted land clearing for “high-value agriculture,”. This loophole allowed landowners to clear large areas of remnant vegetation if they could demonstrate an economic rationale.

The Current State Of Land Clearing Policy In Queensland

The most recent amendment to the VMA came in 2019. The most pivotal change of this amendment was the removal of broad-scale clearing for agricultural and grazing purposes. This change has led to greater restrictions on clearing remnant vegetation in recent years. However, 15% of the clearing during the 2020-2021 period still occurred in remnant areas. The 2019 amendment also reduced buffer zones encircling wetlands and watercourses from 200 to 100m. This change came in response to the Government’s concerns about increased sediment and nutrient run-off into our waterways. However, despite the tightening of these regulations, clearing activity in the Great Barrier Reef catchment areas still accounted for almost half (47%) of the state’s total clearing during the 2020-2021 period.

What Must Be Done

In recent years, significant progress has been made by the Queensland Government to reduce the amount of land clearing occurring in the state. However, these efforts have still been insufficient to completely halt the detrimental consequences of land clearance. The Queensland government should act to close the existing loopholes that exist within the VMA, prevent any more from forming in future amendments, and enforce stricter compliance measures for involved landowners. More robust data collection and independent monitoring will be crucial to ensure accountability in land clearing. Additionally, enforcement and monitoring of illegal clearing currently seems insufficient, this inevitably results in increased habitat loss.

Another ongoing issue is that, during key reform phases of the past, political leaders have deliberately restricted the scope and effectiveness of the VMA because of concerns about its potential effects on the agricultural sector. Incentivising landholders to engage in conservation efforts (e.g., reforestation) could help to circumvent this by providing a way to balance economic interests with environmental protection.

Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – How They Relate To Land Clearance

This month THRIVE focuses its attention on SDG6 – clean water and sanitation. Establishing better land-clearing methods will protect our waterways and marine ecosystems for future generations. This could involve increasing the limits of riparian buffer zones to filter run-off, reduce erosion, and better protect water quality. The impacts of land clearing also directly relate to SDG13 – climate action, and SDG15 – life on land. Implementing more sustainable forestry practices (e.g. eliminating clearance of remnant vegetation) is just one way that we can start to move towards achieving these goals.

A Thrivable Framework

THRIVE Project stands to create a future in which humans will not only survive but also thrive. Our mission is dedicated to securing the enduring welfare and ‘thrivability’ of all species on Earth. The THRIVE Framework examines issues and evaluates potential solutions – making predictive analyses using topics that support environmental and social sustainability transformations. The THRIVE Framework utilises 12 Foundational Focus Factors (FFFs) to address the issues that we face globally in a holistic manner; with the focus of this article being integral thinking.

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