It was the first big promise at the climate summit in Glasgow: more than a hundred countries decided to end deforestation by 2030. That is a big step, because 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation. The Australian delegation also signed the plan.
But according to a new analysis commissioned by the Australian newspaper The Guardian there is uncertainty about the scale of deforestation in Australia. The state government records much less deforestation than the state government of Queensland, where most trees are felled. That could mean that deforestation is much more common in Australia than previously thought.
Bulldozersporen
Martin Taylor, a lecturer in conservation policy at the University of Queensland, has compared state government figures with those in Canberra. “I’ve found at least 53 spots where the state says deforestation has occurred, but the national government says the forest has not been affected,” Taylor said from his Brisbane office. “That’s strange, of course. That’s why I grabbed the satellite photos and they clearly show that large parts of the forest have disappeared. You can even see the tracks of the bulldozers from space.”
Nature organizations have been warning for years about the large-scale felling of trees in Australia. According to them, especially in the east of the country, deforestation is just as large as in the Amazon region and Borneo. According to the World nature Fund Australia is the only developed country on a list of countries with the most deforestation.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has reacted cautiously positively to the Australian government’s intention to end deforestation. According to Dermot O’Gorman, director of the WWF in Australia, there is still a lot to gain. “At least 370,000 hectares of forest were bulldozed in Australia in 2018”, responds he. That is three quarters of a million football fields. “This plan must therefore be followed up quickly with rapid joint action.”
Koalas in danger
The trees that are felled in Australia mainly make way for intensive livestock farming. There are 24 million cows in Australia, almost as much as the population. In Queensland, 73 percent of deforestation is related to livestock for beef production. This has consequences for greenhouse gas emissions. Tree felling releases CO2 and cows emit methane gas.
In addition, the disappearance of forest has major consequences for vulnerable animals that depend on this area. Koalas are especially hard hit by the loss of habitat. The cuddly, typically Australian animals need a relatively large eucalyptus forest to survive. The loss of living space is one of the main reasons the iconic critter is now endangered.
The koala population has declined by 30 percent in the past three years. In addition to the felling of forests, this also has to do with the devastating forest fires of two years ago. Millions of hectares of forest, including three billion animals, went up in flames. In addition, large populations of koalas have the disease chlamydia, which makes them seriously ill and infertile. According to research ordered by the state government of New South Wales, the koala will become extinct before 2050 without major action.
cheating countries
The national government has not yet responded to the investigation which shows that there is a difference between the figures of the state of Queensland and those of the government. As far as researcher Taylor is concerned, the national measurement method leaves much to be desired. “It’s a mystery to me. How can the state say trees have been cut when the national government says the forest is intact? Then there’s something seriously wrong with the Australian government’s model.”
Australia is not the only country where calculation methods are sometimes used creatively. This week the . published Washington Post a study showing that many countries cheat to get the best possible result. According to the researchers, there is a global gap of at least 8.5 billion to 13.3 billion tons of unreported emissions per year. This means that the earth may be warming much faster than is currently thought.
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