The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the first ever environment protection order issued by Australia's new national EPA to halt deforestation on a north Queensland cattle property due to its likely impact on the Great Barrier Reef.
NEPA says further clearing at Wombinoo Station - including the removal of felled trees and burning vegetation - could result in more than 1,000 tonnes of fine sediment going out to the Great Barrier Reef each year.
ACF reported this case to the EPA after detecting the bulldozing of more than 1,700 hectares of forest and woodland through its crowdsourced investigations program.
The property is home to threatened species including important populations of endangered koalas and endangered greater gliders.
"Educating and supporting landholders to comply with federal nature laws is important work, but where landowners don't or won't comply, NEPA needs to use the enforcement tools available tool it," said ACF's Acting Head of Investigations, Kim Garratt.
"The ongoing destruction of forests and critical habitat in the Great Barrier Reef catchment is a further stress on a global icon already damaged by global warming.
"For too long this big environmental problem has largely been ignored by federal environmental regulators."
Australia has the highest rate of deforestation of any developed country in the world. Much of it occurs in Great Barrier Reef catchments where it wipes out habitat for threatened species and increases the flow of muddy sediment onto the reef.
"While this action is welcome and overdue, it has exposed the tip of an iceberg," Ms Garratt said.
"ACF has detected hundreds of cases of deforestation that destroyed habitat and were not assessed under federal nature laws. We have reported dozens of these cases to NEPA.
"Every year the equivalent of 600,000 dump trucks of muddy sediment flows onto the reef, covering it like a blanket, making it harder for corals to recover from bleaching and smothering nurseries for fish and other marine creatures.
"It's awful to see a handful of irresponsible beef operators threaten the reef and undermine the hard work of farmers who are managing their land responsibly."
