Deforestation in Australia
Uploaded by Appleman on May 23, 2016
Deforestation is hazardous to the environment, for a multitude of reasons. Deforestation exposes the soil and earth to wind and water erosion. Soil is the world’s largest carbon store (McKeon et al., 2004), and as it erodes it releases its carbon into the atmosphere. Logging also causes carbon emissions. Removing the vegetation removes roots, causing the water table to rise, and as it rises it carries salts with it (ANZECC, 2001; Brough, 2007), causing land degradation by making it more saline (McKeon et al., 2004). The incidence of floods and droughts changes significantly as a result of the loss of vegetation (Deo et al., 2009; McAlpine et al., 2009), which further damages certain environments. Removing forests alters local and regional climates (Deo et al., 2009; McAlpine et al., 2009) by affecting rainfall patterns (Deo et al., 2009), which can in turn lead to an increase in wild fires (Connor, 2009) and dust storms. The loss of forests also creates a loss of biodiversity (DEWHA, 2009), not just in vegetation species, but also in vertebrates and other animals, by removing their homes and food sources. Rainfall variability makes it harder to conserve and preserve the remnants of natural environments (Deo et al., 2009).
In Australia, the continent that has seen the largest losses in biodiversity in the past 200 years (NRM, 2010), the majority of the land opened up by deforestation is turned over to pasture to feed livestock. Surveys have showed that 64% of the land currently used in Australia is used for grazing (ACLUMP, 2009). Between 1998 and 2008, 8.6 million hectares were cleared Queensland, which amounts to 80% of the total for this period (DERM, 2009). 91% of this clearing was purely for livestock (McKeon et al., 2004). There is a growing threat to Queensland’s biodiversity as a result of the pressures of animal grazing and the changes in land use that accompany it (Assessment of Australia’s Terrestrial Biodiversity, 2008).
New vegetation laws were brought in to reduce this clearing in 2006, but in 2007-2008, 123,000 ha/year were cleared, 12,500 ha/year illegally without a permit (DERM, 2009). This level of clearance cannot be maintained, and it is causing severe impacts on the environment. This study seeks to show the impact of the clearance of rainforests in Queensland, and offers a few suggestions for how to stop it and to reverse some of the damage it has caused.
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