New analysis from the Australian Conservation Foundation has highlighted the enormous scale of deforestation in Australia, exacerbated by 'deforestation loopholes' and weak nature laws that provide special carve outs to industry and allow rampant destruction of the bush.
The analysis, using State of the Forests Report data, found that just 34.7% of Australia's native forests remain as mature forests, compared to when Europeans arrived in the 1700s.
"Australia has lost almost two-thirds of its mature forest cover since Europeans arrived. This is utterly shameful. Mature forests are irreplaceable. They provide critical habitat, stable soil systems, and long-term carbon storage that take centuries to develop," said ACF Acting CEO Dr Paul Sinclair.
"Once cleared, these ecological functions typically can't be fully restored for many generations," Dr Sinclair said.
"Our natural environment is at breaking point. Every two minutes, a football field's worth of forests and bushland is bulldozed, displacing threatened species and destroying their homes," he added.
The data comes as Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt prepares to table reforms of Australia's nature protection law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, in this week's Parliamentary sittings.
ACF is calling for four key changes to the legislation:
- Close deforestation loopholes – so the same rules apply to all industries, with no special carve outs.
- Set clear, strong rules for nature protection – that set the standard for nature protection and restoration so everyone knows what's in and what's out.
- Establish an independent environmental regulator – a referee that makes sure no industry gets a free pass and that decisions are made on evidence, not politics.
- Consider climate harm in all decisions – new laws must be up to the task of preventing impacts from fossil fuels and able to reject proposals that damage our shared climate.
"An independent environmental watchdog that works at arms length to government is essential for consistency and certainty in delivering laws that are good for nature and for industry," Dr Sinclair said.
The ACF analysis also found that since 1990 at least 29 million hectares of Australia's mature forests have been impacted by clearing or bushfires – an area over four times the size of Tasmania.
"Labor looks as if it is going to ignore climate harms as part of its nature law reform. This would be a catastrophic failure for nature. These nature laws are the single biggest legislative and policy mechanism to protect nature from climate harm," said Dr Sinclair.
"Our economy relies on healthy nature. About $900 billion – that's half – of Australia's GDP has a moderate to very high direct dependence on nature. The tourism industry alone generates $60 billion a year and employs more Australians than mining. Our reefs and forests are on the precipice. If they go, those jobs go. To ignore the damage climate change does to it is a kick in the guts for Australians. If we want a strong Australia, we need strong nature laws."
"The federal government has often claimed that the fossil fuel-driven climate impacts on nature are dealt with in other legislation. This is not true," said Dr Sinclair. "The Albanese government has a range of other legislative and policy mechanisms for reducing emissions, including the Safeguard Mechanism, but none that consider the impact of global heating on the 'Matters of National Environmental Significance' that the EPBC Act is supposed to protect.
"We will be watching closely and will continue to fight for our essential four asks. You can't talk about protecting nature and allow hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest to be bulldozed. The legislation must address deforestation and climate change. Without it, it doesn't pass the pub test."
[
