On 17 July 2024, the Queensland Government released the 2021-22 Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report. The report shows 323,676 hectares of land was impacted by land clearing during the 2021-2022 reporting period, cementing Australia’s unenviable international status as a global hotspot for deforestation.

While the very slight reduction from the previous reporting year (349,399ha) is welcome, it is 10 times more deforestation than there was in all of Indonesia for palm oil last year (30,000ha). Land clearing and deforestation are still driving environmental destruction in Queensland: 88% of land clearing activity was for pasture, and Wilderness Society analysis has shown the majority of this is for the expansion of beef pasture.

Queensland is home to the largest variety of native Australian species in the country, and many of them are threatened with extinction. Rampant deforestation is putting threatened species such as the koala on the fast track to extinction, harming the Great Barrier Reef and worsening climate change.

On 11/02/22 the government officially listed the koala as Endangered in Queensland, NSW and the ACT. For species like the koala, we know the biggest problem is the destruction of their forest homes.

With deforestation comes extinction: Australia is the worst offending country for mammal extinctions. Over roughly the last 20 years, koala numbers have declined by almost 50% across Queensland and they have continued to do so. Deforestation—the reduction or complete removal of native forest and bushland—has escalated over the recent years to reach globally significant levels.

Eastern Australia is now a recognised global deforestation hotspot, alongside places including the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo. And the state leading this destructive charge is Queensland.

How do we know deforestation is a big problem in Queensland?

The Queensland government's own data shows what a massive problem deforestation is in the state. The Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report for 2021-2022 shows a slight decrease in deforestation but it’s not good news for nature.

Our analysis of the latest Queensland government’s SLATS figures for the year 2021-22 show:

• 323,676 hectares of forest and bushland was impacted in one year
• 67% of land clearing activity was linked to beef
• 44% or 143,683 hectares of land clearing was in Great Barrier Reef catchments–84% of which was linked to beef.

The most recent 2021-22 data was released on 17 July 2024. It's clear that the destruction of forest and bushland across Queensland continues to be the biggest contributor to Australia's terrible deforestation record.

The latest Wilderness Society report demonstrates that from 2018–22, 64% of all deforestation and land clearing in Queensland was linked to beef production. That’s over 1 million hectares bulldozed to make way for pastures for beef.

So why is this destruction happening?

Our analysis of the 2018–2022 Queensland government data found that shockingly, 717,636 hectares of mapped known or likely koala habitat in Queensland has been impacted by land clearing activity in the last four years of reporting. Of which, 80% was destroyed for beef production.

With clearing of this scale, no wonder they were recently declared endangered in Queensland, NSW and the ACT.

Koala habitat is being trashed to grow more pasture for cattle.

This continued destruction is devastating for the environment and wildlife. Tens of millions of native animals are killed annually by this scale of clearing. Sediments and chemicals run off cleared areas into waterways that flow out to the Great Barrier Reef—smothering this already struggling icon. Bulldozing trees worsens climate change—carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when the fallen trees are left to burn or rot.
 

Big buyers of Australian beef must go deforestation-free

The beef industry must show leadership and urgently change its practices to stop selling beef linked to deforestation. This change is needed throughout the whole supply chain, from producers through to retailers, such as supermarkets and fast food restaurants.

Major retailers could, and as good corporate citizens should, choose to only buy deforestation-free beef. If this happened, the whole industry would need to clean up its act. But currently, none of the big supermarkets and fast food chains can guarantee that the beef they source and sell is free of forest and bushland destruction.

We need to make this an issue they can’t ignore, so that Queensland's spectacular forests and bushland, home to some of the most iconic animals in the world, remain intact and healthy.

Our analysis of the Queensland government's own land clearing data for 2018–22 reveals that approximately 99% of land clearing and deforestation in Queensland for beef production was in threatened species habitat.

Over roughly the last 20 years, koala numbers have declined by almost 50% across Queensland alone. If we want to protect Australia's remarkable biodiversity, including its most iconic animals, we must protect habitat. Deforestation has to stop.

Thanks to supporters, Wilderness Society has used billboards across Brisbane to draw attention to the devastating effects that deforestation and land clearing have on wildlife across Queensland.