Conservation groups claim more than one million hectares of trees have been bulldozed in Queensland, since the former Newman Government loosened land clearing laws four years ago.

But the claim has angered farmers, who argue they have acted within the law and are not damaging the environment.

"One million of hectares of native forests and woodlands in Queensland have been cleared, which is four times the size of the Australian Capital Territory," Tim Seelig from the Queensland Conservation Council said.

"It's more than one million football pitches and this rate has to be brought back down again because it's unsustainable.

"It is an unprecedented rate in recent times; it's the type of rates we saw in the 1970s, 1980s and 1999s."

Queensland has a turbulent history regarding tree clearing reform, with the Beattie Labor Government clamping down on the practice a decade ago.

That saw clearing rates fall to around 78,000 hectares in 2010, but that figure has more than tripled in recent years due to changes made by the LNP Government in 2013.

The LNP amended the Vegetation Management Act, introducing permits for farmers to clear land for new high-value agriculture projects with approval from the Department of Natural Resources.

The changes also gave landholders more power to clear using a series of self-accessible codes, enabling farmers to remove some trees without needing approval.

The Palazsczuk Government vowed to appeal those challenges as an election pledge, but failed to convince the Parliament to pass the amendments, angering conservation groups.

"Queensland is in the midst of an environmental crisis from land clearing," Wilderness Society Queensland campaign manager Gemma Plesman said.

"The Newman Government gutted land-clearing laws four years ago today, but the explosion in land clearing had started beforehand when the LNP announced it would stop enforcing the laws."

The Queensland Conservation Council, Wilderness Society, and other green groups have now formed an alliance to lobby the major political parties for tree clearing reform ahead of the next state election.

"We will put a 10-point plan together and call for immediate action now, but we are also looking towards the next Government committing to stronger protections," Mr Seelig said.

"I have no doubt this will become a big public issue again."

Grant Maudsley, the general president of lobby group AgForce, slammed conservationists for accusing farmers of excessive clearing.

"Trees get cleared from time to time but they also grow as well, there are two sides to every story," he said.

"Everyone who lives in the bush and who spends their hard-earned life and dollars working the land understands their country, and how quickly it can re-grow.

"If you are an environmentalist in the city you will never experience that with your own eyes, so it's not unexpected that they say this."

AgForce said it was currently preparing its own lobbying strategy ahead of the next state election, which is expected to be held late this year or early next year.

"There is no surprise in the alliance conservationists have formed, just as there should be no surprises to them that there are plenty of alliances in the bush from people who work the land," Mr Maudsley said.

"They [conservation groups] don't realise they have picked a pretty strong fight if they want to keep this sort of rubbish up."

Farmers and environmental groups are often divided on tree clearing reform in Queensland. ( ABC Rural: Marty McCarthy )

One million hectares based on 'projected modelling'

Given the Queensland Government has not yet released clearing data for the past year and a half, it means the one million hectare claim made by conservationists is based on their own estimates and forecasts.

Each year the Queensland Government releases data from the Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS), which uses satellite imagery to monitor the amount of woody vegetation cleared across the state.

Statewide Landcover and Trees Study data: 2009/10 — 77,590 hectares (Labor Government)

2009/10 — 77,590 hectares (Labor Government) 2010/11 — 91,690 hectares (Labor Government)

2010/11 — 91,690 hectares (Labor Government) 2011/12 — 153,000 hectares (Labor Government, election of LNP Government)

2011/12 — 153,000 hectares (Labor Government, election of LNP Government) 2012/13 — 230,000 hectares (LNP Government)

2012/13 — 230,000 hectares (LNP Government) 2013/14 — 278,000 hectares (LNP Government)

2013/14 — 278,000 hectares (LNP Government) 2014/15 — 296,000 hectares (LNP Government, election of Labor Government)

2014/15 — 296,000 hectares (LNP Government, election of Labor Government) 2015/16 — data not yet released

2015/16 — data not yet released 2016/17 — data not yet collated

"We are extremely confident our numbers are right," Mr Seelig said.

"We have gone back to the 2012 period and looked at the three major releases of data under the Palaszczuk Labor Government and done modelling on where that is projected to be.

"We know the Government is doing much more intensive monitoring using more frequent satellite imagery, and we have access to the same sort of technology ourselves these days."

When the Labor Government failed to tighten the laws in 2016, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad vowed to instead be tougher when assessing applications for clearing permits under the existing laws.

"We know that under the LNP the assessment and the analysis of the applications that came through just wasn't rigorous," she told the ABC in August 2016.

"We know in an administrative sense we can tighten that loophole, but ultimately we need stronger laws."

Andrew Cripps, the LNP Member for Hinchinbrook, who oversaw the introduction of the changes to the Vegetation Management Act in 2013 said, in a statement, that green groups were manipulating the figures.

"I'm currently investigating the inclusion of thinning, fodder harvesting and other management activities in Labor's published clearing rates data, a practice that is inappropriate and inaccurate," he said.

"The reforms to Queensland's vegetation management framework in 2013 by the former LNP Government were balance and responsible, if people actually take the time to understand them.

"The focus on koala habitat is a good example, because no changes were made to essential habitat mapping for koalas, or any other native species, as part of the 2013 vegetation management reforms."

Mr Maudsley said landholders who applied for clearing permits had already felt the effects of increased departmental scrutiny.

"High Value Agriculture permits have consultants involved in approving a process that has been held up," he said.

"We have been knee-capped and handicapped by that, but it is a matter of working through a process with Government and private consultants."

Mr Seelig said while the Government's approach had helped to deter farmers from clearing under High Value Agriculture permits, it had not stopped them from clearing using self-accessible codes.

"Two years ago, the High Value Agriculture permits were the largest single cause of new large-scale clearing," Mr Seelig said.

Chains pulled by bulldozers are often used to clear large areas of land. ( Supplied: Green Collar )

"Today we have a situation where it's more about the self-accessible codes, and more particularly the codes of thinning.

"With thinning you can almost completely clear an area as long as every so often you leave a thin line of trees."

However, Mr Maudsley said the number of trees needed to be retained under the thinning codes were set by the Government-run Queensland Herbarium, and therefore farmers were clearing within the law.

"Thinning is about taking tree populations back to sustainable levels where they are not threatened by their own existence," he said.

"A more stable population of trees is more desirable in the long term, and self-accessible code thinning doesn't alter the remnant status of the regional eco-system."

Farmers are still required to notify authorities of the amount of land they "thin", however Mr Seelig said the process was "open to abuse".