☮ ♥ ♬ 🧑‍💻<p>Day 14 🐨🌳🔥🚜🐄🌾</p><p>“Nearly 2m hectares of <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/forests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>forests</span></a> suitable for endangered koalas have been destroyed since the iconic species was declared a <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/ThreatenedSpecies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ThreatenedSpecies</span></a> in 2011, according to analysis for Guardian Australia.</p><p>The scale of <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/habitat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>habitat</span></a> <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/destruction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>destruction</span></a> in <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Queensland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Queensland</span></a> and <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/NewSouthWales" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewSouthWales</span></a> – states in which the koala is formally recognised as being at risk of <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/extinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>extinction</span></a> – has continued despite political promises it would be protected.</p><p>Analysis by the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/AustralianConservationFoundation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AustralianConservationFoundation</span></a> using state and federal government <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/data" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>data</span></a> found 1,964,200 hectares of <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/koala" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>koala</span></a> habitat were cleared between 2012 and 2021, the latest year for which there was complete data.</p><p>The total amount of destroyed forest and bush covered an area larger than greater Sydney, taking in the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/BlueMountains" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BlueMountains</span></a>, the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Illawarra" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Illawarra</span></a>, the southern highlands and the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Goulburn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Goulburn</span></a> and <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Shoalhaven" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Shoalhaven</span></a> regions.</p><p>It is more than 10 times larger than the area the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/NSW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NSW</span></a> government is assessing for a possible “great koala national park”. But most of the cleared area – 81% – was in Queensland.</p><p>About three-quarters of the lost forest is estimated to have been cleared for agriculture, to create <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/cattle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cattle</span></a> pasture and <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/crop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>crop</span></a> fields. The analysis found 13% was removed by the <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/forestry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>forestry</span></a> industry and 5% for development of infrastructure, including <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a>. Just 4% was likely due to natural causes, such as bushfire and drought.”</p><p>There’s a reason the Minister for the Environment has been kept quiet. </p><p><a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Auspol</span></a> / <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Labor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Labor</span></a> / <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Straya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Straya</span></a> / <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/ClimateExtinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateExtinction</span></a> &lt;<a href="https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/12/koala-habitat-destroyed-since-2011-analysis" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/australia-news</span><span class="invisible">/2025/apr/12/koala-habitat-destroyed-since-2011-analysis</span></a>&gt;</p>