Report Details Land Clearing in Great Barrier Reef Catchments Alongside New Federal Rules and Funding

A report released today states that 856,744 hectares of forest and woodland were cleared in Great Barrier Reef catchments between 2018 and 2023, with 84 per cent of that clearing done for cattle grazing. The report, titled A Muddy Mess: Land Clearing and the Great Barrier Reef, was authored by Lyndon Schneiders, director of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation.

It estimates that 400,000 dump trucks worth of mud reach the reef each year through rivers including the Burdekin and Fitzroy.

Schneiders said 40 per cent of all land clearing in Queensland occurs in catchments that feed the reef. 9 million tonnes of sediment recorded in the last reported year. The clearing period examined ended before new federal environmental protection laws took effect.

Since those laws came into force, the federal Environment Department has given advice to 270 landholders who contacted it about clearing proposals. Schneiders said the current system requires each landholder to assess impacts individually, even though combined effects matter for water quality. He called for the government to map no-go zones and use its new regulatory powers.

Federal and state governments have pledged and spent more than $2 billion on reef health since 2014. The latest Reef Report Card rated government sediment-reduction efforts as poor. The Great Barrier Reef tourism industry supports 77,000 jobs and contributes $90 billion annually to the economy, according to the report.

Between the report’s completion and publication, the Queensland government committed an additional $330 million to reef water quality programs. State Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the state is working with farmers, councils, property owners and natural resource management groups to reduce catchment pollution. 8 billion already spent had done little to slow sediment flows.