Australia is a global winner loser

A hidden deforestation crisis is underway in Australia and our iconic wildlife is under threat. Australia is number one in the world for mammal extinction and number two in the world for biodiversity loss.

Queensland takes the trophy for the state with the highest rates of deforestation – bulldozing more than all the other states and territories combined¹. But how did it get so bad?

A bulldozer brutally rips down trees in an Australian forest.

Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Queensland’s longest serving Premier, famously developed a technique for bulldozing massive areas of forest and bushland, using a giant anchor chain connected between two dozers to rip the forest apart. Joh oversaw the destruction of millions of hectares of forest and woodland in the Brigalow Belt of Queensland, which is one of the country’s 15 national biodiversity hotspots².

Throughout the nineties, the Australian environment movement fought for stronger laws to end the destruction of forests and woodlands. Deforestation rates started to decline before state Governments were urged by industry to loosen laws, and once again rates of deforestation began to climb. 

Today, much of the environmental destruction is going on unchecked by government or environmental bodies, so the scale of the problem is hidden from view and only exposed by expert research and investigation.

Satellite images expose deforestation that is hidden from the public view.

What’s the beef with deforestation?

Over 73% of deforestation is for the primary purpose of beef production³. Trees are bulldozed and then piled up and burnt or left to rot, invasive grasses are planted and cattle are brought in.

It’s really no wonder considering Australia is the 4th largest exporter of beef in the world. The majority of beef (60-70%) produced in Australia is for export. The remainder, however, ends up in steaks on the shelves of supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles and patties for burgers sold at fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Hungry Jacks.

Most beef is produced in the state of Queensland, so let’s take a closer look at beef driven deforestation in that state. In the five years from 2016-2021, over 2.2 million hectares of forest and bushland was bulldozed in Queensland alone⁴. Over 90% of the destruction each year was listed as being for pasture conversion.

While the vast majority of deforestation is for beef pasture, there are many other drivers – logging, mining, urban development and more recently the production of renewable energy.

Australia’s forests and bushland have been chopped, logged, pushed and dozed at scale since colonisation – mainly to create pasture for cattle and livestock. Today, just 50% of Australia’s original forests and bushland remain intact.⁵

1 second = 1 dead animal

The destruction of forests and bushland is having a huge impact on native animals. Every second a native animal is killed as a result of deforestation⁶ – in Queensland and New South Wales alone. That is tens of millions of animals and birds killed every year.

Much of the forests being destroyed are home to threatened species. In the 5 years from 2016-2021, 90% of deforestation was in habitat where threatened species are likely to make their homes.

Koalas are now endangered in NSW and QLD due to deforestation

Threatened species like the koala, northern quoll, northern hairy-nosed wombat and many more. Animals are now listed as endangered because they have lost their homes and their lives in a brutal and often bloody way.

Trees are the lungs of the planet – they clean our air and store massive amounts of carbon. When they are bulldozed, that carbon is released. So deforestation not only harms native animals, but it drives the climate crisis as well. 

How to win the war on our forests

With all of these dire facts it might be hard to see the how we can save our vulnerable forests, birds and animals. But we have a plan to turn the destruction around – a two-pronged campaign strategy. 

Step 1 – Ensure our government makes strong laws

The first step in winning is to make the government step up and bring in strong nature protection laws that don’t let this destruction continue unchecked. This year the Australian government will face a huge test — a once-in-a-generation reform of our national nature laws.

Without strong laws that genuinely protect and restore nature, the destruction of wildlife and forests will continue and countless more native animals will face extinction.

You can send an email to your local MP right now, to tell them we need strong nature protection laws.

Step 2 – Hold our biggest beef buyers to account

Next we need to get big corporates to clean up their act and, because the leading cause of deforestation is beef production, get it out of their beef supply chains.

We will be exposing the problem and calling on the biggest buyers of Australian beef – supermarkets and fast food chains – to clean up the deforestation in their supply chains.

Sign the forests petition and we will keep you up to date on the campaign – and how you can fight for the future of our forests.

1. Ward, M. and Watson, J. 2023. Why Queensland is still ground zero for Australian deforestation. The Conversation. ︎
2. DES. 2018. A Biodiversity Planning Assessment for the Brigalow Belt Bioregion: Expert Panel. Version 2.1. Brisbane: Department of Environment and Science, Queensland Government. ︎
3. The Wilderness Society. 2019. Drivers of Deforestation and land clearing in Queensland. ︎
4. Greenpeace, 2024. New Greenpeace research reveals shocking scale of deforestation crisis in Australia. ︎
5. Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Little left to lose: deforestation and forest degradation in Australia since European colonization, Journal of Plant Ecology, Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2012, Pages 109–120, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtr038 ︎
6. Finn Hugh C., Stephens Nahiid S. (2017) The invisible harm: land clearing is an issue of animal welfare. Wildlife Research 44, 377-391. ︎

Greenpeace Australia Pacific and the Australian Conservation Foundation have urged the Albanese government to forge ahead with ambitious reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) following media reports that industry groups, particularly the mining lobby in Western Australia, are galvanising behind a campaign to ‘slow down’ the process and to carve up the package of reforms.

The federal government is currently undergoing a once-in-a-generation overhaul of the EPBC, which was designed over two decades ago. An independent review in 2020 concluded that the national nature law is not fit-for-purpose, outdated, and in need of fundamental reform to reverse the downward trajectory of environmental decline.

Glenn Walker, Head of Nature at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said that in the face of a climate and biodiversity crisis, industry pressure must not impede the rollout of these much-needed reforms.

“We’re deeply concerned by reports that the mining lobby is attempting to slow down the delivery of these critically important reforms to our national nature law.

“Australia is a world leader in mammal extinctions and the only OECD country on a global list of deforestation hotspots — we simply do not have time for more stalling tactics and hot air from the mining industry, who have a long history of blocking progress on climate and enviromental protection, and greenwashing their polluting operations.

“Establishing a new, strong national nature law is an exciting opportunity for the federal government to deliver on its election promise to protect our environment — we urge Minister Plibersek to stand firm and move forward with the ambitious reforms needed to protect our unique wildlife and places from rampant destruction.”  

Brendan Sydes, National Biodiversity Policy Adviser at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said further delays to EPBC reform would mean more destruction of irreplaceable wildlife habitat.

“It is more than three years since Professor Graeme Samuel delivered his comprehensive and scathing review of Australia’s environment law to the Morrison Government and nearly two years since the most recent State of the Environment report laid bare the dire state of nature in Australia.

“The Albanese government came to office in May 2022 with a commitment to reform this law. 

“Everyone agrees the existing environment law is broken. Nearly 8 million hectares of threatened species habitat in Australia has been bulldozed, logged and cleared since the law came into effect in 2000 and recent ACF investigations show this destruction is continuing.

“Habitat destruction is a leading cause of extinction in Australia, directly contributing to the listing of 60% of Australia’s threatened species. 

“With her announcement that she intends to refuse approval of Walker Corporation’s wetland-wrecking Toondah Harbour marina, retail and apartment complex, Minister Plibersek has shown she is prepared to stand up for threatened species and natural places against those who seek to profit from their destruction.  

“She needs to stand up to the mining lobby and other interests that seek to delay and weaken urgently needed improvements to Australian environment law.”

—ENDS—

High res images and footage of recent deforestation can be found here and here

Media contacts

Kate O’Callaghan, Greenpeace Australia Pacific on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

Josh Meadows, Australian Conservation Foundation on 0439 342 992 or josh.meadows@acf.org.au 

Since December 2023, The Wilderness Society, Greenpeace Australia Pacific and Queensland Conservation Council have referred six instances of potentially illegal deforestation to the federal government for assessment. In each case, habitat for listed threatened and endangered species, including the koala, northern quoll and greater glider, was bulldozed with no assessments undertaken, and no approvals granted.

The investigation exposes alarming loopholes in Australia’s national environment law, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), which is currently undergoing a once-in-a-generation reform. The government has released elements of the draft legislation to key stakeholders, including the organisations listed above, but representatives involved in the closed-door sessions have voiced concerns that the reforms outlined so far lack the ambition needed to halt the accelerating decline of nature.

In Australia, an area of bushland and forest the size of the MCG is bulldozed every two minutes, killing and maiming millions of native animals every year. Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions and a global deforestation hotspot. 

Gemma Plesman, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said that the breaches highlight that Australia’s national environment law is not fit-for-purpose and failing to stop the unregulated destruction of forests and bushland.

“Currently, the EPBC Act does little to address or regulate deforestation. On top of this, the powers that could be used to protect threatened species habitat are very rarely wielded due to the political reluctance to regulate so many bulldozing proposals at a farming property level. This means rampant bulldozing of threatened species habitat is falling through the cracks.

“Australia urgently needs strong, new environmental laws that will halt nature destruction and end the extinction crisis. Greenpeace strongly welcomes the long-overdue overhaul of our broken national nature laws but they need to address the deforestation crisis to succeed.”

Hannah Schuch, Queensland Campaign Manager at The Wilderness Society, said that the Albanese government is letting deforestation go unchecked and any reforms must rein in this environmental crisis.

“As Australia is now globally-recognised as a deforestation hotspot, monitoring the unlawful destruction of forests should not be left to environmental organisations to discover. 

“Australians expect the national nature law to actually protect the wildlife that we pride ourselves on, not to allow the ongoing destruction of vital habitat for threatened species. Stronger nature laws will give certainty to nature, communities and business. These changes are within Labor’s reach.”

Natalie Frost, Nature Campaigner, Queensland Conservation Council, said that Queensland is home to more forest and woodland than any other state, and that the Albanese government must properly enforce the current laws to protect these crucial ecosystems.

“Queensland has a world leading vegetation monitoring system, but sadly this investigation shows that nothing is being done to stop the bulldozing of hundreds of thousands of hectares each year, including forests, home to endangered koalas. 

“With a federal commitment of ‘no new extinctions’, the first step towards that would be to enforce our current laws to stop the bulldozers and protect threatened species like the Northern Quoll and Star Finch.”

—ENDS—

High res images and footage of deforestation can be found here

For interviews contact Kate O’Callaghan, Greenpeace Australia Pacific on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

New independent research commissioned by Greenpeace has revealed the shocking impact of the deforestation crisis in Australia, with huge swathes of federally-mapped koala and threatened species habitat bulldozed in Queensland.

The new research reveals how little is known about the destruction of native forests and bushland in Australia, with an area the size of the MCG bulldozed every two minutes. The majority of deforestation is occurring in Queensland, driven primarily by beef production.

The data reveals that 2.2 million hectares of forest and bushland was bulldozed in Queensland in just five years — 2.1 million hectares of which was federally-mapped threatened species habitat. Over 730,000 hectares of this was endangered koala habitat.

In Australia, over 90% of deforestation occurs without Federal environmental assessment due to a legal blindspot in our nature laws, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), which this year faces once-in-a-generation reforms.

Gemma Plesman, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the unregulated destruction of forests and bushland for beef production can not be allowed to continue unchecked.

“The vast majority of deforestation in Australia is for beef production, much of which goes to large companies like McDonald’s, Woolworths and Coles — most consumers would be horrified to know that their steak dinner could be fuelling forest and wildlife destruction,” Plesman said.

“It doesn’t need to be this way. The majority of Australian beef is already deforestation-free but currently, companies like McDonald’s do not have adequate systems in place to rule out deforestation from their supply chain. 

“In the midst of a biodiversity crisis, companies purchasing beef have a responsibility to eliminate deforestation from their supply chain — a practice which is both unnecessary and out-of-step with global demand for responsibly sourced beef.

“This shocking data should be a wake-up call to companies who are effectively hiding the deforestation in their products from consumers. It’s time for them to lead the way with strong commitments to bulldozer-free beef.”

Meghan Halverson, co-founder Queensland Koala Crusaders and conservationist, said that unregulated deforestation is taking a deadly toll on native wildlife, killing and maiming millions of animals every year and placing threatened species like the koala at risk of extinction.

“Around 50 million animals are killed every year in Queensland and NSW alone by deforestation. As a wildlife carer, I see firsthand the horrific injuries inflicted on native animals like koalas and hairy-nosed wombats from deforestation, fires and the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation,” Halverson said.

“Australia holds the unenviable title of world leader in mammal extinctions. It is simply not good enough that we have one of the worst rates of deforestation in the world, alongside places like the Congo and Amazon Basin. 

“If the Labor government is to hold true to its promise of “No New Extinctions”, it must urgently introduce the strong laws needed to protect native animals from habitat destruction.”

—ENDS—

High res images and footage of deforestation can be found here

For interviews please contact Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org