The Queensland government's yearly snapshot of tree cover data shows the sunshine state remains the deforestation capital of Australia, with agriculture again the biggest driver.
The latest Qld SLATS (Statewide Landcover and Tree Study), released quietly on Tuesday, shows an increase in the destruction of forest and woodland from August 2022 to August 2023, compared to the previous year, with 332,015ha of woody vegetation cleared.
The Australian Conservation Foundation's Nathaniel Pelle, said:
"Almost half of the bulldozing occurred in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, which means it will be resulting in increased sediment and nutrient runoff that damages coral reefs.
"Sadly, it's no longer surprising to see big numbers coming out of Queensland when it comes to deforestation, but what is most alarming is the jump in destruction of remnant forests and woodland.
"This is catastrophic for Queensland's wildlife and proves the state's vegetation management is not working.
"Around 86% of the clearing of habitat, for native animals like koalas, is to expand pasture for livestock and we know from previous analysis that the vast bulk of Queensland bulldozing is for beef," he said.
"When Australians pick up some sausages at the local Coles or Woolies or a burger at the drive through, they want to know they aren't contributing to the destruction of koala's homes, or to damaging the Great Barrier Reef.
"Major Australian beef buyer Hungry Jack's, which also supplies Burger King restaurants globally with beef from Queensland, is yet to commit to eliminating deforestation from its supply chains, while McDonald's commitment will allow forest destruction until 2030.
"Fast food giants like Hungry Jacks, which demand cheap beef, share the substantial responsibility for this continued forest destruction.
"Fortunately for koalas, supermarkets Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi have pledged to only sell deforestation-free beef by the end of 2025, and this data shows how important it is that they implement those commitments.
"Recent investigations by ACF have found deforestation continues at an alarming rate across Australia, carried out by a minority of beef producers."
Australia is the only rich country in the world that is still engaging in broadscale deforestation which should ring alarm bells for the Albanese government as it bids to co-host next year's climate COP.
Deforestation for agriculture is expected to be a major topic at this year's COP, to be hosted in Brazil.
In the Queensland SLATS period 2022-23:
- 332,015ha of forest and woodland was cleared, an increase of 3% on the previous year
- 86% of clearing is attributed to pasture expansion
- 70,799ha of cleared forest was remnant, meaning it had never been cleared before or resembles uncleared forest - an increase of 8% on the previous year.
- 44% of the clearing was in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area.
