Almost 26,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was greenlit for destruction in 2024 – more than double the previous year.
A new Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) report has revealed a huge increase in the scale of habitat approved to be cleared under federal environmental protection laws in the past 12 months.
The ACF’s latest annual “extinction wrapped” report found 25,769 hectares of threatened species habitat is set to be bulldozed as a result of 48 project applications rubber-stamped in 2024.
More than 3,000 hectares of koala habitat is set to be razed, including in excess of 1,400 hectares to clear the path for one section of the inland rail project through New South Wales.
The ACF’s report focuses on the impact to individual species, meaning that if a 100-hectare area was home to three native species, it would be counted as 300 hectares of lost habitat in the overall tally.
The vulnerable-listed Pilbara leaf nosed-bat (1,910 hectares), endangered northern quoll (1,605 hectares), vulnerable superb parrot (1,604 hectares) and vulnerable ghost bat (1,583 hectares) are also set to lose large swathes of habitat, the report found.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said “After a decade of neglect under the Liberals, Labor is doing more than ever to better protect nature and our threatened plants and animals”.