Queensland’s tree clearing rate has slowed amid debate over deforestation definition

Land clearing rates in Queensland have fallen 64 per cent since controversial vegetation management laws were introduced.

A rally outside Queensland Parliament in 2016 in support of stronger tree clearing laws. Picture: Darren England.

It’s been dubbed the nation’s ­deforestation hotspot, but the tree-clearing rate in Queensland has fallen by 64 per cent since controversial land management laws were introduced.

Graziers say it shows their land management practices are sustainable, but conservationists still argue too many trees are being felled, putting ecosystems at risk.

It comes as Canberra battles to convince the EU not to classify tree clearing in Australia as “deforestation”, which could disqualify imports under new regulations coming into effect in December.

Land clearing has been a hot button political issue in Queensland, with the Palaszczuk government introducing controversial vegetation management laws in 2018.

Queensland’s latest annual Statewide Landcover and Trees Study, which uses satellite imagery to monitor changes in woody vegetation in the country, found that clearing of regulated vegetation increased from about 61,400 hectares in 2020-21 to 71,100ha in 2021-22.

“Since the 2018-19 SLATS report there has been a reduction in regulated vegetation clearing of about 64 per cent over the past four years,” the new report states.

“Overall, total vegetation clearing reduced from 348,400ha in 2020-21 to 323,700ha in 2021-22. This is a reduction of about 7 per cent.

“Since the 2018-19 SLATS report there has been a reduction in overall vegetation clearing of about 52 per cent over the past four years.”

Most of the clearing (252,500ha) was in areas that have previously been lawfully cleared and are exempt from the management framework.

There has been a slight increase in clearing of regulated vegetation, up from 61,400ha in 2020-21 to 71,100ha in 2021-22. There are 140 million hectares of regulated land in Queensland.

Cattle Australia, which represents the nation’s pastoralists, said the results showed the industry had struck a balance between food production and land management.

“The narrative that agriculture, and the beef industry in particular, are somehow per­petrating widespread habitat destruction has been discredited, yet again, by this latest data,” Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said.

Conservationists said too much land was being cleared, particularly within Great Barrier Reef catchment areas.

“It’s positive that there has been some reduction in clearing in reef catchments, but it’s not nearly enough,” Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Lissa Schindler said.

“The Queensland and federal governments need to do more.”