Revealed: nearly 2m hectares of koala habitat bulldozed since 2011 – despite political promises to protect species | Australian election 2025

Nearly 2 meters of extincta -endeavor forests have been destroyed since the iconic species have been announced for threatened species in 2011, according to the analysis of Guardian Australia.
Habitation destruction scale in Queensland and New South Wales – The countries where Balala officially recognized it continued to be at risk of extinction – despite the political promises to be protected.
Australian analysis save I found the basis using government and federal government data that 1964200 hectares of Koala’s habitats were cleansed between 2012 and 2021, the last year that there was complete data for it.
The total of the destroyed forests and forests covered a greater area than the Greater Sydney, as it was taken in the blue mountains, Illawarra, the southern highlands, and the regions of Gulborn and Shawalhavin.
It is greater than 10 times than the region in which the New South Wales government evaluates the potential “Koala National Park”. But most of the cleared space – 81 % – was in Queensland.
About three quarters of the lost forest has been disinfected for agriculture, to create livestock pastures and crop fields. The analysis found that 13 % was removed by the forest industry and 5 % for infrastructure development, including mining. It is likely that it is only 4 % due to the natural causes, such as forest fires and dehydration.
Everything near the destruction of forests has occurred on a small scale that does not require consideration under the Federal Environmental Law. Less than 2 % of it was approved by the Federal Minister of Environment.
Activists say it clarifies the National Environmental Protection Law to preserve the environment and preserve biological diversity – which the Albanian government promised to rewrite this term before delaying its plans indefinitely – very defective.
“The beggars believe that with approximately 2 million hectares of KOALA potential habitats within a decade, the federal government will continue to agree
A separate analysis was found by the Foundation that approximately 3000 hectares of potential koala habitats were approved in 2024.
“The diet can do a lot for koala.”
She said: “There are solutions to ensure that people, farmers, kawal and forests that we all depend on can be thrived.”
Gemma Pleesman, a senior activist in Greenpeace Australia Pacific said that the data showed “complete failure” of the federal environmental laws to protect endangered species in Australia. She said: “Every year, Qalas misses more of her home – driven mostly to produce beef – and none of our main parties was able to stop the destruction.”
Koalas was included in Queensland, New South Wales and Australian Capita lands as subject to extinction in 2012. In 2022, the level of threat was raised to his exposure after scientists concluded that the numbers had decreased by half over the past twenty years.
After promoting the newsletter
A newer national project to estimate the best number of koala suggested that there is between 95,000 and 238,000 in the states, where species are at risk and ranged between 129,000 and 286,000 in Victoria and South Australia.
This type faces a set of threats in addition to losing its habitats, including the climate and disease crisis. “The threat was now playing in an actual time,” said Dr. Christine Hosking, a memorization at the University of Queensland, who looked at how to reduce climate emergency from Kuala habitats.
New South Wales and Queensland regions have witnessed significant discounts [in koala numbers] She said, “It was to lengthy drought and heat waves,” she said. [as well as] More than 40 ° C in a row. They simply cannot stay. “
Hosking research shows that with high temperatures in Koala’s home in Queensland and New South Wales in the east, pushing them to already sophisticated areas where they face other risks such as vehicles and dog attacks.
A University of Sydney’s study In February in a few Koala-free population in the country-the country-in the southwest Sydney-I found that urban development has effectively isolated the population, which led to high levels of census that made species more vulnerable to the disease.
“We are losing Kualao for complicated reasons,” said Hosing. “Loss of habitats is a number 1 threat because they are very limited in what they can eat, but then you have ways to attend, chlamydia, and of course climate change.”
Professor Matthew Kraohar, a biologist in conservation and the environment scientist in Kuala at the University of Sydney, said that the diet specialized in Mars – the eucalyptus papers – put it in a conflict with humans.
Eucalyptus trees that grow on soil, more fertile producing higher leaves in nutrients and less in toxins. But these flat and fertile soils are the place where humans love to settle and plant food. “Qalas and people want the same type of Earth.”
He said that the national parks tend to be in a more rugged country, which was not the favorite habitats in Kuala. Many national parks live on private lands.
He said: “We need to ensure that there are sufficient habitats linked to each other, and we need to ensure that growth and agriculture are allowed to happen and we must provide incentives for landowners.”