Deforestation: explained
Everything you need to know about the deforestation crisis taking place across Australia.
North-eastern forests & bushland
The diverse landscapes of Queensland’s vast interior teem with life and living cultural heritage. Their protection is vital for a healthy future.
Queensland is synonymous with ancient tropical rainforests, but head away from the coast and you’ll find yourself in a green belt unlike anywhere else on the planet.
Cared for by First Nations people for tens of thousands of years, these expansive savannahs, open woodlands and endangered Brigalow and mulga shrublands provide critical habitat for an array of unique animals and rare plants. And when it comes to combatting climate change, these forests and bushlands are a powerful ally, with their ability to store and remove carbon while cooling the earth.
Tragically, these areas are also on the frontline of Australia’s deforestation crisis.
More than meets the eye
Rolling savannahs, dry woodlands and unassuming shrublands. Even if it doesn’t look like much from the air, down on the ground a different picture emerges.
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Golden-tailed gecko
A golden-tailed gecko, its vision 350 times better than that of humans, appears in the moonlight—where it can see in full colour. You won’t find these remarkable reptiles anywhere else but the Brigalow forests in Queensland. Just don’t get too close: they can produce a spray of slimy, foul-smelling liquid from their tail to ward off predators! Photo: Bruce Thomson
yaminon / northern hairy-nosed wombat
Emerging at the same time to forage for grasses and sedges is a truly iconic Australian animal, and the largest burrowing marsupial in the world: the yaminon / northern hairy-nosed wombat. In fact, this region is home to the only remaining wild population, making them one of the world’s rarest mammals. They used to be widespread amongst the east coast’s open eucalypt woodland, but the deforestation of vast tracts of this vital vegetation for agriculture—particularly pastures for beef cattle to graze—has decimated their numbers. Photo: Harsha Madusanka
merrin / bridled nail-tailed wallaby
It’s a similar story for the merrin / bridled nail-tailed wallaby—another shy, solitary, nocturnal marsupial of the north-eastern forests & bushland. Their range is now reduced to three isolated areas in Queensland, but they once thrived as far south as Victoria. By day, these wallabies sleep in hollow logs or shallow depressions near bushes or trees. Photo: Bruce Thomson
Northern bettong
A northern bettong—yet another endangered marsupial of the north-eastern forests & bushland—is searching for fungus, mushrooms, tubers, scrubs, fruit and seeds. These members of the rat-kangaroo family carry nesting materials with their long, prehensile tails and shelter in their burrows during the day. They rarely drink water, and refrain from eating any green plants. Like many other native species, northern bettongs are threatened by deforestation, and are now restricted to a few small areas of mixed open eucalyptus woodlands and allocasuarina forests in far northeastern Queensland. Photo: Stephanie Todd
alwal, arrmorral, minpin, thaku / golden-shouldered parrot
The north eastern forests & bushland come alive at daybreak with the dawn chorus: including the high-pitched chirps of the alwal, arrmorral, minpin, thaku / golden-shouldered parrot. These rare birds need open forested grassland, with lots of termite species and mounds, which they use to nest in—it’s this behaviour that’s led to them being called ‘antbed parrots’. They feed on the seeds of small grass species like firegrass (Schizachyrium fragile). Photo: Scott Templeton
Cape York birdwing butterfly
A Cape York birdwing butterfly flits past on a gust of humid air, a dazzling flash of neon green and velvety black. One of the largest butterflies in Australia, some subspecies are threatened by deforestation. Photo: shirdipam
Koala
In the heat of the day, another quintessentially Australian animal dozes in a eucalypt, conserving her limited energy. Koalas are the only surviving species of an entire mammal family and have been depicted in First Nations rock art for millennia—but they’re officially listed as endangered in Qld, NSW and the ACT. The reason? You guessed it: deforestation. Photo: Bruce Thomson
Queensland lungfish
Rivers wind through this mostly dry landscape, bringing life. In an underwater cave in the murky depths of the Mary river, a small group of Queensland lungfish drift together. These living fossils are the only surviving members of an ancient lineage—a group which dates back 380 million years—and they’re native to Queensland’s Mary and Burnett river systems. If kept moist, these extraordinary animals can live for several days out of the water, as they possess a single dorsal lung, used to supplement the oxygen supplied through their gills. Photo: Ken Griffiths
Northern greater glider
The sky grows dusky again. Cautiously, northern greater gliders poke their fluffy faces outside their tree hollows. When the coast is clear, they take a leap—sailing through the forest on gliding membranes, landing with a thump on the trunk of a different tree. The smallest of the three greater glider species, you’ll only find these guys in the forests of north-central Queensland. Intact forests with hollow-bearing trees are essential for their survival.
Eungella day frog
The night is not entirely silent in the north-eastern forests & bushland. The soft tinkering calls of male frogs, including the critically endangered Eungella day frog, mingle with the running water of streams in the ranges west of Mackay. Further south, another critically endangered endemic frog, a Kroombit Tinkerfrog, is making its own metallic 'tink' sounds. It’s only found in a handful of narrow rainforest gullies within Kroombit Tops National Park. Queensland has the highest number of extinct and critically endangered frog species in Australia. Photo: Eungella day frog | James Bennett
Masked owl
In the night skies above, a masked owl soars on silent wings, searching. These owls are found in areas of forest and bushland, often with an understorey of shrubs. They roost and nest in large tree hollows near their foraging areas, where they hunt for rodents, small marsupials, possums, bandicoots, rabbits, bats, birds, reptiles and insects. Photo: Richard Jackson
Julia Creek dunnart
Down below, an endangered Julia Creek dunnart darts through grassland undetected. A bit bigger than a mouse, these tiny marsupials have a reputation for being fierce—and when threatened, will bare their pointy teeth and hiss! Only found in Queensland, they live mostly underground—hidden down the cracks of the hardened clay soil—and were once presumed extinct. Photo:
Queensland is home to twice as many native wildlife species as any other Australian state or territory, and half of them are unique to the state. A staggering 85% of Australia’s native mammals are found in Queensland, along with 72% of Australia’s native bird species and just over 50% of the country’s native frogs and reptiles.
Evolving over millennia, the sheer variety of ecosystems—from open forests to endangered shrublands—has given rise to all this rare and wondrous wildlife. This includes plants and animals that have adapted to these precise conditions and don’t exist anywhere else on the planet.
Vital vegetation
Ecologist Bruce Thomson explains the importance of different ecosystems in the north-eastern forests & bushland—not just to the plants and animals that live there, but for people too.
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Brigalow
“The Brigalow belt historically had strips of brigalow trees [known to the Gamilaraay peoples as barranbaa or burrii] interspersed with eucalypt woodland. The brigalow is actually not all that combustible, so fires only burnt for short distances and went out. Where the area has been cleared and crops planted, we’ve created a habitat that is now highly combustible! So we’re seeing a massive decline in some reptiles, including death adders.” – Bruce Thomson, ecologist
Soil
“In the northeastern forests & bushland, deep black soils develop a natural structure—with deep cracks and fissures that facilitate water drainage and provide refuge for reptiles and animals like planigales [small, mouse-like carnivorous marsupials]. But when you plough these soils, the structure is destroyed and the wildlife disappears, and so does the drainage pattern. So water is now unable to flow to rivers like the Condamine, and pools in the ploughed paddocks.” – Bruce Thomson, ecologist
A timeless Country
For tens of thousands of years, First Nations people have lived on and cared for the north-eastern forests & bushland.
In the open forest Country, ancient wells point to rich cultural stories and connection—of many First Nations groups living and trading between the coast and the inland deserts, the gulf and the big rivers to the south.
First Nations groups recognise more than four seasons in the calendar year, with intimate knowledge and experience handed down through millennia. These changes of season are celebrated through cultural observances and practices, including through ritual and ceremony, song, dance and art.
Deep understanding of and respect for Country means the unique landscapes of the north-eastern forests & bushland can thrive if managed and cared for appropriately.
Benefits of this unique region
Often overshadowed by its wet, tropical rainforest cousins to the east, the north-eastern forests & bushland are nonetheless vitally important to a healthy future for all Australians.
🪸Great Barrier Reef
In Great Barrier Reef catchments, forests and bushland bind the soil together with tree roots, so the freshwater that flows into the world’s most iconic reef system remains clean. But when this vegetation is bulldozed to raise cattle, the soil is eroded, washing pollution into the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. Sediment reduces the amount of sunlight available to seagrasses, smothers corals and other marine life, and makes it harder for marine ecosystems to rejuvenate after bleaching events. Learn about how deforestation impacts the Reef
🌡️Climate
Forests and bushland are one of Australia’s best defences against rising temperatures. Trees capture and store carbon dioxide safely in their trunks, roots and branches—preventing this greenhouse gas trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. But when the trees are bulldozed and left to rot or burnt, their carbon is released and their cooling effect disappears. Learn more about forest carbon
💧Water
When forests and bushland are left intact, they have the ability to boost rainfall by recycling and generating moisture—while healthy soil allows that rainwater to drain and flow into rivers. Where these precious forests have been destroyed for pasture, the rainwater has nowhere to go and ends up pooling in paddocks. At the same time, the removal of vast areas of forest and bushland can affect rain patterns, and lead to hotter, drier conditions—including droughts.
Beautiful one day, bulldozed the next
The biggest threat to the north-eastern forests & bushland? Deforestation.
Queensland is a deforestation hotspot—with large-scale land clearing linked to beef production wiping out climate-resilient ecosystems; wrecking the soil, groundwater and Great Barrier Reef; and pushing rare and wondrous wildlife towards extinction.
Right now, across Australia, over 1,900 plant and animal species are threatened or at risk of extinction—with habitat loss one of the main causes of this crisis. The bulldozing of forests and bushland kills and injures native animals, while destroying their homes and food sources. This is putting the wildlife of the north-eastern forests & bushland on the fast track to extinction.
If we don’t rein this out-of-control destruction in urgently, we’ll lose what makes the north-eastern forests & bushland—and Australia—so special.
What we’re doing
To combat Australia’s deforestation crisis, the Wilderness Society is:
- Calling on Big Business to source and sell products free from deforestation.
- Advocating for stronger state and federal laws that support the life our lives depend on, and ensure special forests are protected
- Campaigning for consistent, national environmental community rights—because when communities and First Nations people have a genuine say in decisions that affect the environment, there are better outcomes for nature and people
- Monitoring satellite imagery and documenting clearing to uncover deforestation as it happens
- Influencing international markets to cut ties with Australian deforestation
- Building a case for restoration funding as a climate solution
- Educating Australians on the benefits of intact ecosystems
