Back to the drawing board for EU deforestation maps of Australian agricultural land
The European Union drew up a map of agricultural land in Australia as part of its deforestation crackdown. Now, the bloc admits it got it wrong.
The EU has agreed to redraw its map of Australian agricultural land after concerns its looming deforestation regulation would unfairly prevent farm products from entering the bloc’s market.
Under the new rules, importers will be required to prove products they bring into the EU — including beef, timber, soy and dairy — have not come from land that has been deforested or degraded since 2020.
The regulation is not supposed to include forests legally cleared on agricultural land, but several countries, including Australia, have expressed frustration about the lack of clarity in the bloc’s definitions. The Albanese government has sided with the grazing industry in lobbying the EU to change its stance.
Graziers are concerned that the EU’s definition of deforestation does not class Australia’s rangeland cattle properties as agricultural land or recognise legal vegetation management practices used in Australia but foreign to European farming.
The confusion led to the EU last month agreeing to delay implementation of the regulation by a year to the end of next year.
Graziers have also been concerned that maps published by the EU’s Joint Research Centre had not properly depicted agricultural land.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry acting first assistant secretary Jo Grainger told a Senate estimates hearing this week that the map was being updated. “The EU, to be fair to them, have acknowledged that their map is inaccurate,” she said. “And we were able to provide data from industry to show that a number of areas of the map that had been claimed as forest were actually working agriculture right now.”
Ms Grainger also revealed the department expected importers would be able to rely on other data, including Australian government maps and information, when proving a product had not been sourced from a deforested area.
Labor and the Coalition have been calling for the EU to accept that Australian farming methods differ from European practices.
During estimates, Nationals senator Matt Canavan said that “not every forest is the Black Forest” and that while a forest in Europe might be incompatible with grazing cattle, savannah forests like those found in Australia’s north accommodated trees, wildlife and livestock.
Under questioning from Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who cited a report from conservationists labelling Australia a deforestation hotspot, Agriculture department secretary Adam Fennessy said Australia’s forest cover had increased since 2008.
Mr Fennessy pointed to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s State of the World’s Forests report published in July, which ranked Australia number two globally for the increase in forest area. Australia was also ranked in the top 10 countries for total protected area.
The Australian government defines forest as: “An area, incorporating all living and non-living components, that is dominated by trees having usually a single stem and a mature or potentially mature stand height exceeding two metres and with existing or potential crown cover of overstorey strata about equal to or greater than 20 per cent”.
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