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Aftermath of land clearing in Great Barrier Reef catchment – video

Queensland land-clearing shown in aerial and satellite images

This article is more than 6 years old

Google Earth reveals a property on which hundreds of hectares of previously untouched forest have been cleared

The tree-clearing explosion occurring in Queensland, usually reported in seemingly impossibly large numbers of hectares or square kilometres, is now being documented using publicly available satellite and aerial photography, revealing the graphic disfigurement of the remaining untouched bushland there.

In one property about an hour’s drive from Mackay, hundreds of hectares of previously untouched forest have been cleared, in a move that appears to have occurred outside even the lax laws currently in place in Queensland. Using Google Earth, the clearing can be seen in graphic detail.

Before and after images of tree clearing

Drone footage taken this week by WWF shows the trees clearly bulldozed over.

The area is a reef catchment, which means the clearing is likely to increase sediment run-off into the nearby streams, which will eventually flow into the Great Barrier Reef, damaging the delicate coral and seagrass ecosystems there. Tree clearing in Queensland is considered one of the primary drivers of pollution on the Great Barrier Reef. Unesco has put Australia on notice that it is at risk of losing the reef’s world heritage listing if steps aren’t taken. Koalas have been photographed in trees directly adjacent to the cleared area, suggesting the untouched forest was likely a habitat for the marsupials. Koalas are thought to have lost half their total population since European colonisation and, in some regions, such as south-east Queensland, their numbers have further declined by more than 75% since 1996.

Analysis by Martin Taylor at WWF shows that large amounts of the clearing revealed on the satellite imagery is within 50m of water bodies that flow into the Great Barrier Reef. Trees in those areas are among the highest priority for protection, which would be provided by regulations proposed by Labor, even if they were just regrowth, rather than untouched remnant bushland as they are in this case.

“It’s in a reef catchment. It’s just bulldozing large areas – hundreds of hectares. It’s appalling,” said Taylor. “This is primary forest – it’s never been cleared before. There are koalas all around it.”

He said the area that has been cleared is hilly, so isn’t even useful for growing crops. “It’s just so the cows can get in.”

Although the former Newman LNP government made clearing of this sort of land very easy, it still usually requires self-assessment and a notification. Taylor said it doesn’t appear that there has been any sort of notification made.

Clearing from earlier years can also be starkly seen on satellite imagery. The following images from Clairview show completely lawful clearing, which removed large amounts of untouched bushland over the past three years. It was allowed under rules introduced by the Newman government, which made exceptions for clearing that allowed “high-value agriculture”.

Land clearing

Taylor said the issue wasn’t about the particular landholders but rather the perception that anything goes, which has been created by the lax laws.

“I think we’re looking at the aftermath of the Newman LNP government taking the axe to the laws,” he said. “We’re see escalating clearing … They can be forgiven for thinking that anything goes.”

The former Queensland LNP government loosened land clearing laws in Queensland, unleashing a massive wave of broadscale clearing. The Palaszczuk Labor government attempted to pass legislation tightening the rules but failed to pass the bill. It is taking a similar policy to the election which it will aim to pass if elected for a second term.

Since 2010, land-clearing rates in Queensland have been skyrocketing, with enormous jumps in the past year. Notifications for future clearing have jumped even higher in the past year, suggesting the rate may accelerate higher still ahead of any possible changes to the law.

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