This factsheet summarises key findings from research published in Conservation Biology by The University of Queensland on the regulation of land clearing events in Queensland and the Northern Territory between 2014-2021.

Key findings

• Legislation is not effectively preventing high rates of land clearing in Queensland or the Northern Territory.

• Two-thirds (65%) of clearing was potentially non-compliant with at least one applicable law. Since multiple laws can apply to one clearing event, most clearing was still compliant with at least one law, but of this, only 19% was explicitly approved, with the remaining permitted by various exemptions.

• Most of the potential non-compliance was associated with the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Of the area to which the EPBC Act was likely relevant, less than one quarter (22%) of the clearing had publicly available evidence of a referral. This indicates that there is a need for the new Commonwealth Environment Protection Authority to improve education and enforcement of the EPBC Act.

• Most exemptions related to reclearing of previously cleared land to maintain agricultural uses, and applied under Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act 1999. Of all the regrowth clearing examined, 82% had not been cleared within the past 15 years and may have provided suitable habitat for threatened species.

• In the Northern Territory, clearing that had undergone assessment was almost always approved. Here, increased compliance alone may do little to curb land clearing rates.

Read the factsheet for a plain language summary of more details including specific findings related to national, Queensland and Northern Territory legislation.

The full research paper is: Thomas, H., Ward, M., Simmonds, J., Taylor, M. and Maron, M. (2024). Poor compliance and exemptions facilitate ongoing deforestation, Conservation Biology, 2024;e14354. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14354