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In 2021, Australia was one of 141 nations pledging to by 2030 – just over five years from now.

On paper, Australia should be well placed. It is wealthy, politically stable and has modern environmental laws. But the trees keep falling. Australia is the among developed nations. Forests are still being cleared for farming, mining and expansion of urban areas. More and more species are becoming threatened, and populations of threatened species .

So what’s going wrong? We investigated land clearing across northern Australia, including longtime hotspot Queensland and the Northern Territory, where land clearing is .

Forests and woodlands across Australia’s south were deforested many decades ago. But our northern reaches have stayed far more intact – until recently.

In , we found key reasons why the trees are falling faster in the north. Most clearing took place without under Australia’s national environmental laws, which covers damage to threatened species and ecological communities. And state laws have many exemptions, especially in Queensland.

What did we do?

To assess how effective Australia’s suite of laws are, we used , and in the NT and Western Australia to find examples of forest (denser canopy) and woodland (sparser canopy) being cleared between 2014-15 and 2021.

We focused only on land clearing above the 28th parallel south – the latitude line running from near Kalbarri in Western Australia to the Gold Coast in Queensland.

To avoid including small-scale clearing for firebreaks and access tracks in our data, we set a minimum clearing size of 20 hectares. This gave us a large sample of more than 18,000 clearing events done by humans.

³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ laws are ineffective

Australia’s main environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, does not explicitly regulate land clearing. But it does regulate , including loss of threatened species habitat and threatened ecological communities.

In our sample, around 80% of clearing events appeared likely to require assessment under these laws, as they involved the loss of at least 20 hectares of threatened species habitat or threatened ecological communities. We found no application for approval of clearing in the for 78% of these.

Following the blistering critique by the independent , the Australian government pledged to the laws. But this year, the government the most important components of the reforms.

If our national laws are to properly conserve – let alone recover – our threatened species, any reforms must protect their habitat. This would mean clearer communication of when these laws apply and stronger enforcement.

Broad exemptions under Queensland law

For decades, Queensland has been the top state or territory for deforestation.

Most Queensland clearing complied with state laws. But the vast majority (75%) was done under legal exemptions, meaning no assessment was required.

Queensland’s contains many broad and sometimes subjective such as “clearing for an urban purpose in an urban area”.

One specific exemption stood out: clearing regrowing forests and woodlands. Most exempt clearing was done under this exemption. But most cleared regrowth was over 15 years old, meaning it could have been .

Many poorly protected species are on private land – not in national parks. In fact, private landowners manage of Australia’s continent, including many forests and woodlands.

A 2023 of clearing in Queensland suggested far better support and incentive schemes for private owners to manage trees on their land. Why would this help reduce clearing rates?

Protecting vegetation can come with direct costs such as weed management, as well as opportunity costs (for example, denser forests are less suitable for grazing). But forests and woodlands on farms bring benefits such as boosting farm production through natural by birds and bats, as well as shade and shelter for livestock.

Routine NT clearing approvals

In the Northern Territory, clearing approvals are relatively easy to get – especially if you own a farm. Almost half (45%) of the entire NT is pastoral land – public land leased for use as .

The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction lacking specific . While the Northern Territory has previously cleared land at slower rates than other states and territories, clearing rates are now .

The NT government has ambitious plans to develop both its and sectors. This will likely mean much more land clearing, and there are over what that will do to landscapes, waterways and wildlife.

Effective laws are essential if we are to protect vegetation and wider biodiversity in the Northern Territory, home to the largest intact we have left on the planet.

What’s next?

In recent decades, huge swathes of native forest and woodland have been cleared across Australia’s north. The loss of this vital habitat has contributed to the worsening plight of our threatened species, and .

Australia has promised to end deforestation. The problem is, our environmental laws and enforcement are failing to do so. Reforming our national laws will be essential, alongside better support for landowners managing trees on their land.

After all, ending widespread clearing is the most and least risky way to protect our wealth of species.

Hannah Thomas has received funding from WWF-Australia and an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. She is an early-career leader with the Biodiversity Council.

Martine Maron has received funding from various sources including the Australian Research Council, the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, and the federal government’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Environmental Science Program, and has advised both state and federal government on conservation policy including as a member of Queensland’s Native Vegetation Scientific Expert Panel. She is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, a councillor with the Biodiversity Council, a governor of WWF-Australia, and leads the IUCN’s thematic group on Impact Mitigation and Ecological Compensation under the Commission on Ecosystem Management.

Martin Taylor was conservation scientist with WWF-Australia from 2006 to 2020. He has worked as a consultant since then producing reports for various environmental NGOs including WWF-Australia. He also has taught International and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Conservation Policy at the University of Queensland and is an adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of the Environment there.
He received no funding for participating in or contributing to this research.

Michelle Ward has received funding from The Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Environmental Science Program. She was Science and Research Lead at WWF-Australia and is currently on a Technical Advisory Panel for a vegetation change project run by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.