SYDNEY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Nearly all land cleared for cattle grazing in the Australian state of Queensland between 2018 and 2022 occurred in areas home to threatened wildlife, raising global concerns about biodiversity and supply chain sustainability, a new report said on Tuesday.
According to data from the Queensland government's Statewide Landcover and Trees Study, close to 99 percent of deforestation linked to beef production took place in habitats of vulnerable species, including koalas, gliders, and turtles.
The report, published by Australia's Wilderness Society, said in the 2021-22 period alone, land clearing affected 271 threatened species, 28 of which are critically endangered.
The findings also showed that most of the clearing qualifies as "deforestation" under international standards set by the United Nations and European Union (EU), which puts Australian beef exports at risk of breaching new global trade regulations, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation.
Notably, just 10 percent of land parcels were responsible for all cattle-related clearing in 2021-22, underscoring the industrial scale of the activity, geospatial analysts said.
"This research confirms that species like koalas and Fitzroy River turtles are losing their habitat for beef production at an industrial scale," said Hannah Schuch, Queensland campaigns manager at the Wilderness Society.
Over the past four years, nearly 400,000 hectares of habitat critical to greater gliders -- nocturnal, tree-dwelling marsupials native to eastern Australia -- have been cleared to make way for cattle grazing, Schuch said.
With biodiversity in crisis and global regulations tightening, the Wilderness Society urges the beef industry to eliminate deforestation by 2025, calling on major retailers to lead with deforestation-free commitments, according to the report. ■
