Land clearing rates in Queensland on par with Brazil, new study finds – ABC

Updated 

Queensland has been rated as a “contemporary hot spot” for land clearing and is on par with places like Brazil, a new study has found.

The paper published today has found the parts of Queensland that have been cleared the most in the past, are also being cleared the most now.

Remote areas including the Cape York Peninsula are also being cleared.

Dr April Reside from the University of Queensland (UQ) said drastic changes are needed to save species and protect habitat.

“Land clearing in Queensland is the highest that it has been in the last 10 years,” Dr Reside said.

“We have 95 threatened species of animal, 12 threatened species of plant that are impacted by land clearing.”

Dr Reside said practices such as thinning, where up to 75 per cent of vegetation in an area can be cleared, is regulated by the landowner.

“It…