Australia: Million hectares of endangered species' habitat cleared without federal approval
Land-clearing in Queensland
A new analysis by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia has found that over 1.19 million hectares of threatened species’ habitat was cleared for agriculture in New South Wales and Queensland without proper environmental assessment.
Data for land-clearing in both states suggests the department is failing to ensure developers and farming operations are following environmental laws, according to the analysis.
Under theEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, anyone undertaking activities likely to have a significant impact on nationally listed threatened species and habitats is required to seek federal approval.
WWF Australia’s analysis used publicly available geospatial data held by state and federal governments to analyse land-clearing in the two states in the period from 2004-2017.
The analysis examined known clearing for each year, its ascribed purpose and whether it occurred in known or likely threatened species habitat. It was then cross-checked with the federal environment department’s referrals database to determine which clearing activities had been lodged for assessment.
WWF’s study found that while 87.4 per centof the land was cleared for agriculture without EPBC referral, only 1,499 hectare or 0.12per centof the land was cleared for agriculture with referral.1.19m hectares of known or likely threatened species habitat was cleared in the 13-year period.
Thereportmade several recommendations, including better outreach to assist farmers in understanding their obligations under both state and federal laws and the establishment of a $1bn trust fund to help farmers to protect the environment.
In its submission to the audit office, WWF said it was concerned about “pervasive failures” to refer actions that could affect threatened species and a corresponding lack of enforcement action to redress or prevent these failures.