land clearing News, Research and Analysis The …

Palm oil development is not just about the economy but also needs to consider social and environmental costs. http://www.shutterstock.com September 11, 2019

Aksel Tmte, University of Oslo

There are studies showing that farmers can have economic benefits from palm oil. However, they can also be impoverished by the commodity.

Michelle Ward, The University of Queensland; April Reside, The University of Queensland; Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland; James Watson, The University of Queensland; Jeremy Simmonds, The University of Queensland; Jonathan Rhodes, The University of Queensland, and Martin Taylor, The University of Queensland

A staggering 7.7 million hectares of critical habitat has been destroyed since environment laws were enacted - and 93% was not referred to the federal government for assessment.

The Amazon is burning at record levels, and land clearing is to blame. The good news: we already know what we need to do to stop it.

Martine Maron, The University of Queensland; Andrea Griffin, University of Newcastle; April Reside, The University of Queensland; Bill Laurance, James Cook University; Don Driscoll, Deakin University; Euan Ritchie, Deakin University, and Steve Turton, CQUniversity Australia

A new petition is urging state and federal governments to rein in Australia's rampant land clearing, which worsens the risk of bushfires and threatens to undo the work of the Emissions Reduction Fund.

Edward Narayan, Western Sydney University

Koalas can cope with the stresses of city life provided we plan urban developments in ways that help meet their basic needs.

Philippa England, Griffith University

Queensland's new land-clearing laws are a huge missed opportunity.

Damian R. Michael, Australian National University and David Lindenmayer, Australian National University

Across large ares of Australia, rocky outcrops are being obliterated to open up more land for farming. But many of these "bush rocks" are refuges for fragile ecosystems.

Anita J Cosgrove, The University of Queensland; April Reside, The University of Queensland; James Watson, The University of Queensland, and Martine Maron, The University of Queensland

Queensland's new draft land-clearing laws aim to put the brakes on years of environmental destruction. But the bill contains several loopholes that are likely to stymie progress.

Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University

Australia's federal environment laws are inadequate to halt Australia's alarming rates of land clearing and species loss. A more robust set of laws are urgently needed.

Noel D Preece, James Cook University and Penny van Oosterzee, James Cook University

The failed attempt to reinstate land clearing regulations in Queensland has prompted 'panic clearing', pushing Australia into the global top-ten deforesters.

Brendan Wintle, University of Melbourne and Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University

The outgoing Threatened Species Commissioner has downplayed the importance of land clearing as a threat to Australia's plants and animals. But it's the biggest threat, and magnifies the others too.

Dede Rohadi, Centre for International Forestry Research

Zero-burning policy could hurt small-holder farmers. The ban on the use of fire for land clearing has raised the costs to prepare their land for planting and to keep it pest-free.

Hugh Finn, Curtin University

More than 50 million birds, mammals and reptiles are thought to be killed each year in New South Wales and Queensland by the removal of native vegetation, and planning laws are failing to protect them.

April Reside, The University of Queensland; Anita J Cosgrove, The University of Queensland; Jennifer Silcock, The University of Queensland; Leonie Seabrook, The University of Queensland, and Megan C Evans, The University of Queensland

Legal vegetation 'thinning' is contributing to high rates of land clearing, potentially causing problems for threatened species and ecosystems.

James Watson, The University of Queensland; James Allan, The University of Queensland, and Sean Maxwell, The University of Queensland

You'd hope we wouldn't flatten the pyramids to build a highway. But that's exactly what's happening to the world's natural heritage sites.

James Watson, The University of Queensland; Eve McDonald-Madden, The University of Queensland; James Allan, The University of Queensland; Kendall Jones, The University of Queensland; Moreno Di Marco, The University of Queensland, and Richard Fuller, The University of Queensland

Since 1992, an area of land two-thirds the size of Australia has been converted to human use.

Euan Ritchie, Deakin University and Brett Murphy, Charles Darwin University

Australia's Great Northern Savannas are the largest and most intact ecosystem of their kind on Earth. But they still face pressure from grazing, mining and agricultural expansion.

Clive McAlpine, The University of Queensland; Jozef Syktus, The University of Queensland, and Leonie Seabrook, The University of Queensland

Here's another reason to stop land clearing: it's making Australia hotter and drier.

Sean Maxwell, The University of Queensland; James Watson, The University of Queensland, and Richard Fuller, The University of Queensland

Climate change gets a lot of the spotlight when it comes to saving wildlife. But bigger threats remain.

Megan C Evans, The University of Queensland

Moves to tighten land-clearing laws in Queensland and New South Wales have been met with outrage from farmers. So how can we get regulation right?

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land clearing News, Research and Analysis The ...