The analysis identifies 24 deforestation fronts worldwide where a total of 43 million hectares of forest was destroyed in the period from 2004 until 2017. statistics, Australia's Indigenous land and forest estate, Forestry regional profiles - data visualisation, Australia's native forest types - data visualisation, Australias State of the Forests Report 2018, an analysis by the CRC for Developing Northern Australia, Boundary maps for the eleven Regional Forestry Hubs, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website. Five reasons investors should adopt an active versus passive ESG approach, Climate change is changing the outlook for energy utilities, Bank Australia sets interim 2030 net zero target, UniSuper updates progress on net zero target, Science-Based Targets an indicator of future climate action: Federated Hermes, Woolworths commits to ambitious GHG emissions cuts, Wilderness Society links deforestation to beef production, supply chain risk, Coca Cola, WWF-Australia, farmers mark 10 years of Project Catalyst, Global Canopy Programme appoints executive director, NCD launches Soft Commodities Forest-risk Assessment Tool, CDP, We Mean Business partner for Road to Paris. Forest destruction was already bad enough for the region to be declared a global deforestation front, then the 2019-20 bushfires burned about 12.6 million hectares in eastern Australia, he said. "People do see their local favourite patch of bush being bulldozed for a housing or industrial estate, or a road That turns out to be a small percentage of the total destruction in Eastern Australia. The analysis is done via satellite imagery and cannot pick up subtle differences happening at ground level, according to WWF forestry expert Martin Taylor. If we want to protect Australia's remarkable biodiversity, including its most iconic animals, we must protect habitat. Explore interactive charts and maps that summarize key statistics about forests in {area}. Thats why WWF-Australia has launched Regenerate Australia, the largest wildlife and nature regeneration program in the nations history. For species like the koala, we know the biggest problem is the destruction of their forest homes. Such claims are based on classifying young regrowth, often only knee-high, from previous clearing, as forest. As the only developed country with a deforestation front, it's no surprise Australias mammal extinction rates are the highest in the world. This time our 1-kilometre-wide piece of land would stretch from Hobart to the southern suburbs or Brisbane. The categories are: Indigenous owned and managed; Indigenous managed; Indigenous co-managed; having Other special rights (Note: Indigenous is used here to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people): PNG [0.8 MB], PDF [2.3 MB]. This map shows the location of Australia's commercial hardwood and softwood plantations and the boundaries of National Plantation Inventory (NPI) regions: PNG [0.7 MB], PDF [1.4 MB]. Data on this page are from Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018 (SOFR), with data up to or as at 2016. Carbon once stored in trees and soil goes back into the atmosphere. First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we According to the report, expansion of commercial agriculture and tree plantations are the biggest drivers of deforestation around the world. Except where otherwise explicitly authorised, any material on this website which may be construed as electoral material or an electoral matter under any State or Commonwealth Law is authorised by M. Brennan on behalf of The Wilderness Society Ltd, 132 Davey Street, Hobart Tasmania 7000. Australia's illegal logging prohibition laws Native forests are categorised in Australia's National Forest Inventory into eight national forest types named after their key genus or structural form: Acacia, Callitris, Casuarina, Eucalypt, Mangrove, Melaleuca, Rainforest, and Other native forest (which includes a range of minor native forest types that are named after their dominant genera, including Agonis, Atalaya, Banksia, Hakea, Grevillea, Heterodendron, Leptospermum, Lophostemon and Syncarpia). It is also sufficiently broad to encompass areas of trees that are sometimes described as woodlands. Forest policy in Australia is developed and implemented at the national, state and territory levels. Eastern Australia is now a recognised global deforestation hotspot, alongside places including the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo. Australian beef industry linked to destruction of forests home to The issue is that a mature forest can be cleared in one place, and an equivalent area of 2-metre saplings may have regrown in another. Australian's have a huge appetite for shopping. Agriculture was the biggest driver of land clearing in Tasmania. Bulldozing trees worsens climate changecarbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when the fallen trees are left to burn or rot. To satisfy investors, boards need to take succession planning more seriously. In the 13 years from 2004 to 2017, an area of forest six times the size of Tasmania, more than 43 million hectares, was lost in the 24 deforestation fronts. ESG forms an integral part of our process when looking at resource companies within our investment universe. Educating Australians on the benefits of intact ecosystems. Of this total forest area, determined as at 2016, 132 million hectares (98%) are 'Native forests', 1.95 million hectares are 'Commercial plantations' and 0.47 million hectares are 'Other forest'. Intensive palm oil production is also creating all kinds of environmental fall-out, including air, soil and water pollution, and soil erosion. Deforestation and Forest Degradation | Threats | WWF Opinion. Deforestation and logging in Australia: an assault on wildlife - in Rethinking ethics and code of conduct training, Key sustainability factors impacting business in 2022, From the courtroom to the boardroom: climate change risks and remedies, Why sustainability matters in real estate, Measuring sustainability performance: comparing an SDG score with ESG ratings, Deep impact: the next step in sustainable investing, We must approach public equities with an 'impact' mindset. Deforestationthe reduction or complete removal of native forest and bushlandhas escalated over the recent years to reach globally significant levels. (Supplied: Steven Nowakowski Panoscapes)Mr Davies heads up Rainforest 4: one of several conservation groups raising money to try . 'Reclearing' refers to any forest younger than that.). Australia the only developed nation on world list of deforestation According to Dr Taylor that means a dense forest can be thinned from 95 per cent canopy to 21 per cent canopy, for instance, without registering as having been cleared under the NGA method. Wilderness Society | Forests of lutruwita / Tasmania View an interactive version of this map in ArcGIS Online map viewer. Culture is how an organisation thinks, acts, and interacts. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. Fact check: Is Queensland clearing land as fast as Brazil? Since 2015 the Australian government has committed more than $1.5bn of . We acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website may contain images, names and voices of people who are deceased. Here we are, a developed country, chipping away, whereas every other developed country in the world has stopped doing that, Taylor said. In 2015, WWFs Saving Forests at Risk analysis identified 11 global deforestation fronts including eastern Australia. In the climate crisis, theres economic opportunity for landholders. , Carbon emissions released by land clearing across Australia are equivalent to about a third of the total emissions released by all of the coal-fired power stations in the country. ('Primary' refers to forests 30 years and older. The UN Global Compact Network Australia (UNGCNA) has hired a new executive director, recruiting from the Victorian government. They also provide clean water; protect soil; provide opportunities for recreation and tourism, and scientific and educational pursuits; and support cultural, heritage and aesthetic values. Non-planted forest dominated by introduced species is also included in the Other forest category. If we want to protect Australia's remarkable biodiversity, including its most iconic animals, we must protect habitat. Subscribe to gain unlimited access to news, research and analysis of ESG factors for ASX listed companies and investors. Tens of millions of native animals are killed annually by this scale of clearing. This map shows the distribution of forests in northern Australia, by forest tenure: PNG [1.3 MB], PDF [0.8 MB]. Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries (2022)is the spatial dataset of the boundaries for theRegional Forestry Hubs. The environment minister, Sussan Ley, declined to comment on WWFs new findings as she had not seen the report. It's primarily driven by agriculture (mostly for beef production), mining and urban development. There is no official data on how widespread this may be, however Dr Taylor said he had found numerous instances by trawling through satellite imagery several of which he showed to the ABC. In some regions, forests extend from these wetter, coastal and sub-coastal areas into central, drier parts of the continent. Illegal logging - DAFF Bulldozers drag thick chains through the landscape, snapping trees like matchsticks. In NSW, the Berejiklian government weakened land-clearing rules in 2017 and habitat destruction has since increased. State and territory governments have primary responsibility for forest management. It will take more than a century for central banks and other financial institutions to reach gender balance in leadership, according to the Gender Balance Index 2023. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians, whose land we work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Deforestation puts human health and the health of our planet at risk. In addition to native forests, Australia's National Forest Inventory recognises two other categories of forest. State and territory governments have primary responsibility for forest management. Nearly 50% of our forest cover has been cleared in the last two centuries, making Australia one of the worst developed countries for deforestation. This wood isnt used for anythingits burned or left to rot. Australia has a total of 134 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to 17% of Australia's land area.