This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

More than 90% of land clearing in Great Barrier Reef catchments over a five-year period was attributable to the beef industry, according to new analysis by The Wilderness Society.

The environment group has used spatial data analysis to examine which sectors are driving deforestation in the state with the highest levels of land clearing in Australia.

The report analysed the more than 1.6m hectares cleared in Queensland between 2013 and 2018 and found that 73% of clearing across the state occurred for beef production.

The next largest land uses linked to deforestation and clearing were, in order: sheep, crops, multiple mixed use, mining and extractive industries, and rural housing, according to the study.

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Beef production was linked to 94% of all clearing in the Great Barrier Reef catchments over the five-year period, the TWS report found.

“It’s very hard to argue that deforestation in reef catchments isn’t a problem because everybody knows that the reef is in crisis,” said Jessica Panegyres, TWS’s national nature campaigner. “These findings help us pinpoint exactly what is driving Australia’s deforestation crisis and beef is number one on that list.”

The research was compiled using data the Queensland government makes publicly available on spatial vegetation, land use and clearing across the state. The government’s own analysis already shows that more than 90% of clearing in the state is due to clearing for pasture.

But TWS said identifying how individual sectors were contributing could help build understanding of where more action was needed, and which industries were potentially exposed to financial risk as a result of deforestation.

“There’s increasing pressure on major retailers because of global trends toward deforestation-free commitments,” Panegyres said. “Some of those corporations with deforestation-free policies are already purchasers of Australian commodities.

“Australia is well-placed to transition to deforestation-free products, but we need to deal with the beef industry.” Panegyres said it was positive that the beef industry had indicated it wanted to move to a more sustainable footing.

The industry set up the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework in 2017 and it tracks the performance of producers over several areas, one of which is environmental stewardship, which covers land management and vegetation practices, as well as climate change mitigation and waste minimisation.

Tess Herbert, the chair of the network, said it was important to differentiate between clearing of remnant vegetation and the active clearing of regrowth that was undertaken in parts of Queensland.

“Actively managing regrowth and thickening of vegetation can be required for both environmental benefit and production,” she said.

She said the framework recognised that deforestation and vegetation management was an issue for its major customers and because of this it had produced a report on the balance of trees and grass cover on beef properties.

Herbert said the report looked at both increases and decreases in trees and pastures for the last 30 years across 56 regions and was focused on “evidence-based and practical measures to add certainty and credibility to a contentious topic”.

In May last year, the Queensland government introduced new laws aimed at curbing the state’s rate of land clearing.

The most recent data summary published through Queensland’s statewide landcover and trees study (Slats) found 40% of clearing that occurred over 2016-17 and 2017-18 was in reef catchments.