Queensland graziers have illegally cleared the equivalent of seven football fields of protected greater glider habitat, the federal Environment Department has found.

Key points: Seven hectares of greater glider habitat were illegally cleared on Meadowbank cattle station in north Queensland

Seven hectares of greater glider habitat were illegally cleared on Meadowbank cattle station in north Queensland Owners Glen and Laurel Cameron must set aside another 7 hectares for the vulnerable species

Owners Glen and Laurel Cameron must set aside another 7 hectares for the vulnerable species The Australian Conservation Foundation says it is doing the work of the regulator by uncovering illegal clearing cases

The department has forced Glen and Laurel Cameron, the owners of Meadowbank station south-west of Cairns in the state's far north, to make up for the destruction of woodlands by setting aside another seven hectares for the vulnerable marsupial.

The property now has a 113-hectare zone marked "not to be cleared".

Under Commonwealth approval the owners can clear another 1,358 hectares — about 10 times the size of the Brisbane CBD — for cattle forage and grain crops.

Environmental officials visited the site in November to investigate after the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) alerted them to evidence of clearing, including satellite images.

ACF policy analyst James Trezise said it was a good outcome but highlighted a "broken system" of federal environmental regulation "where organisations are going out and doing the work of government in investigating non-compliance".

"We're pleased that the department has acted on the serious concerns that ACF has raised around Meadowbank station," Mr Trezise said.

"It's pleasing to see an increase in the amount of bushland that is being protected, but the lack of any penalties for an alleged breach of federal approval conditions is concerning.

"It fails to send an appropriate signal to others — that 'if you do this type of activity, if you breach your conditions, if you clear habitat critical for the survival of a nationally-threatened species, that there'll be a sufficient enough penalty and we'll come after you'.

"We haven't really seen that in this case — it's been a very softly, softly approach from the department."

A greater glider lives for up to 15 years. ( ABC Open: Trish Mathers )

Revised clearing permit allows for 'proper management'

Clearing of the larger site was approved in 2018, despite warnings from the department's own officials that habitat critical to the greater glider would likely be destroyed.

The greater glider eats eucalyptus leaves, lives for up to 15 years, is the largest gliding marsupial and is able to glide more than 100 metres.

Meadowbank is towards the northern end of the gliders' range.

A spokesman for the department said its office of compliance had "determined that the approval holder did not comply with condition 2 of the approval" under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC).

That condition now states the Camerons "must not clear any of the 113 hectares of greater glider habitat".

The departmental spokesman said the revised clearing permit "increases the protection for the greater glider and its habitat and allows for the proper management of the area, including prescribed burns".

"The compliance outcome is consistent with the department's published compliance policy," the spokesman said.

Part of an area put aside for greater gliders was burnt off, the ACF said. ( Supplied: Australian Conservation Foundation )

'Deeply disappointing'

Mr Trezise said the ACF's concerns about Federal Government funding of environmental investigations had prompted it to set up its own investigations team, which included former Government "environmental regulators and investigators".

"We've gone and analysed the data, done field visits and collected evidence … and it's taking us to go and do that work, as opposed to the federal environmental regulator, which is deeply disappointing," Mr Trezise said.

Mr Cameron, who had previously denied any breaches of the approval, did not respond to a request for comment from the ABC.

Supporters of clearing on the property included then-deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, who urged "no unnecessary intervention" under the EPBC Act.

The Camerons originally proposed clearing 6,533 hectares — more than 40 times the size of the Brisbane CBD — to grow crops to feed cattle, including for the live export trade.