2023–24 SLATS Report
Statewide breakdown
Key findings—clearing activity
- Clearing activity in Category X (unregulated) areas accounted for 75% (206,889ha) of the total clearing activity in Queensland, a 19% decrease from 2022–23 (254,647ha). Most of this resulted in full removal of the woody vegetation (190,480ha or 92% of all Category X clearing activity).
- About 22% (61,405ha) of the statewide clearing activity was in Category B (regulated remnant) areas—a 13% decrease from 2022–23 (70,799ha). About 62% (or 38,341ha) of the Category B clearing activity resulted in full removal of the woody vegetation.
- About 2% (4,876ha) of the statewide clearing activity was in Category C (high-value regrowth vegetation), a similar figure to 2022–23 (4,728ha). Less than 1% (1,249ha) was in Category R (regrowth watercourse area)—a 28% decrease from 2022–23 (1,725ha)
- About 1% (3,678ha) of the statewide clearing activity was in areas that have endangered regional ecosystems present, a 21% increase from 2022–23 (3,040ha). About 4% (10,075ha) of the clearing activity was in areas that have of concern regional ecosystems, and 20% (53,620ha) was in areas that have least concern regional ecosystems present, both decreases from 2022–23.
- Of the state’s 13 bioregions, the Brigalow Belt (53% or 145,844ha) and Mulga Lands (21% or 57,359ha) together accounted for nearly three-quarters (74%) of the state’s woody vegetation clearing activity. This is consistent with the past four SLATS reports.
- Clearing activity in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment areas accounted for 43% (117,005ha) of the state’s total clearing. This is a decrease of 21% from 2022–23 (147,705ha). About 82% (95,707ha) of the clearing activity in GBR catchments resulted in the full removal of the woody vegetation.
- About 86% (235,935ha) of the statewide clearing activity was attributed to the pasture landcover replacement class. Of this, about 90% (213,154ha) was full clearing. A further 5% (14,759ha) of the clearing activity was attributed to forestry and about 60% (8,894ha) of this was partial clearing. Mine activity resulted in around 3% (7,025ha) of the state’s clearing activity, while infrastructure (3,178ha), crop (3,037ha) and settlement (994ha) landcover replacement classes each contributed 1% or less to the state’s total clearing activity.
- About 73% (199,589ha) of the total clearing activity occurred in locations estimated to have sparse or very sparse woody vegetation (i.e. vegetation with less than 50% crown cover). Clearing activity in the mid-dense vegetation class (i.e. 50–80% crown cover) accounted for most of the remaining areas mapped in the monitoring period (about 26% or 70,856ha).
- About 67% (183,286ha) of the clearing activity is estimated to be in woody vegetation less than 5 metres (m) in height, while about 8% (22,398ha) was in vegetation between 5–10m high. A further 25% (68,822ha) was in vegetation greater than 10m high.
Key findings—regrowth
- The Brigalow Belt bioregion had 51% (31,486ha) of the new regrowth mapped for the state in 2023–24. The Southeast Queensland and Mulga Lands bioregions had the next greatest areas of new regrowth mapped, contributing 13% (7,740ha) and 12% (7,402ha), respectively.
- About 86% (52,856ha) of the new regrowth mapped in 2023–24 was attributed to the pasture landcover class. A further 8% (4,795 ha) was mapped as crop, largely due to tree-crop orchards in around Bundaberg in Southeast Queensland. Around 5% (3,108ha) was attributed to forestry. New regrowth associated with mine was about 1% (878ha) of the total—this is regrowth associated with mine rehabilitation areas.
- Of the new regrowth mapped, about 79% (48,768ha) was categorised as either sparse or very sparse woody vegetation. Of the remainder, most of it was mid-dense woody vegetation (about 21% or 12,873ha).
On this page
Regulated vegetation management map categories
Clearing activity—regulated vegetation management map category 2023–24
Area of clearing activity in regulated vegetation management map categories.
Regulated vegetation management maps show the different vegetation categories that are present on a parcel of land. This information helps land managers determine the type of approval needed for vegetation clearing. The categories are as follows:
- Category A—vegetation that is subject to compliance notices, offsets and voluntary declarations
- Category B—remnant vegetation shown on a regional ecosystem or remnant map as an endangered regional ecosystem, an of concern regional ecosystem or a least concern regional ecosystem
- Category C—high-value regrowth vegetation
- Category R—regrowth watercourse area
- Category X—vegetation that is not generally regulated by the vegetation management laws.
For further information refer to General guide to the vegetation clearing codes 3.4 MB).
Vegetation management class
Clearing activity—vegetation management class 2023–24
Area of clearing activity in vegetation management classes.
The vegetation management class refers to the current regulated extent of a regional ecosystem. The categories are endangered, of concern and least concern. No VM class refers to areas with no vegetation management class due to no regulated vegetation being present. For reporting here, the highest vegetation management class is used, regardless of the proportion present in regional ecosystem mapping. For example, where a mapped regional ecosystem contains least concern regional ecosystems as the dominant ecosystems, and an endangered regional ecosystem as subdominant, this will be reported as clearing in areas containing endangered regional ecosystems.
For further information refer to Biodiversity status and vegetation management class.
For further breakdowns of SLATS data in the context of the vegetation management framework, refer to the SLATS vegetation management analysis.
Bioregions
Clearing activity—bioregion 2023–24
Area of clearing activity in bioregions.
Regrowth—bioregion 2023–24
Area of new regrowth in bioregions.
- Regrowth includes new woody vegetation areas which have regrown sufficiently to be reliably added to the SLATS woody extent.
For further detailed breakdowns for each of the bioregions see breakdowns by bioregion.
Great Barrier Reef catchments
Clearing activity in Great Barrier Reef catchments 2018–19 to 2023–24
Area of clearing activity in Great Barrier Reef catchments.
Regrowth in Great Barrier Reef catchments 2019–20 to 2023–24
Area of new regrowth in Great Barrier Reef catchments.
- Regrowth includes new woody vegetation areas which have regrown sufficiently to be reliably added to the SLATS woody extent. Regrowth was not reported in 2018–19.
Landcover replacement class
Clearing activity—landcover replacement class 2023–24
Area of clearing activity in landcover replacement classes.
The landcover replacement class is determined as part of the SLATS mapping process. It provides an indication of the purpose for which the vegetation was cleared. Read more about this in SLATS methodology.
- Pasture is clearing activity associated with grazing and other general agricultural land management practices—this class includes clearing for pasture, internal property tracks, fence lines or fire breaks.
- Crop is clearing activity for cropping or horticulture.
- Forestry is clearing activity for timber harvesting in state or privately owned native or exotic (e.g. pine) forests or plantations (where it can be reliably attributed using authoritative data or other ancillary data sources).
- Mine is clearing activity for mining activities (including coal seam gas infrastructure).
- Infrastructure is clearing activity for utilities such as roads, railways, water storage, pipelines and powerlines.
- Settlement is clearing activity for urban development.
- Other refers to partial (minor) clearing activity that is not able to be reliably attributed to a landcover replacement class due to the low level of modification associated with these clearing events.
Regrowth—landcover class 2023–24
Area of new regrowth in landcover classes.
The landcover class is determined as part of the SLATS mapping process. It provides an indication of the purpose for which the land is used where the regrowth occurs. Read more about SLATS methodology.
- Pasture is new regrowth in areas associated with grazing and related land management practices.
- Crop is new regrowth in woody crops and horticulture, including fodder crops and tree fruits and nuts.
- Forestry is new regrowth in state or privately owned native or exotic (e.g. pine) forests or plantations (where it can be reliably attributed using authoritative data or other ancillary data sources).
- Mine is new regrowth in mining areas (e.g. rehabilitation areas).
- Infrastructure is new regrowth associated with utilities such as roads, railways, water storage, pipelines and powerlines.
- Settlement is new regrowth in urban areas and can include gardens and parklands.
Density
Clearing activity—density 2023–24
Area of clearing activity for density classes.
Density classes are as follows:
- Dense vegetation has a Foliage Projective Cover (FPC) of 70–100% (>80% crown cover)
- Mid-dense vegetation has a FPC of 30–70% (50–80% crown cover)
- Sparse vegetation has a FPC of 10–30% (20–50% crown cover)
- Very sparse/isolated vegetation has a FPC of <10% (0.25–20% crown cover)
- NDC (i.e. no density class) refers to small areas that have not been assigned a density class due to cloud or other contamination in the satellite imagery.
Regrowth—density 2023–24
Area of new regrowth for density classes.
Density classes are as follows:
- Dense vegetation has a Foliage Projective Cover (FPC) of 70–100% (>80% crown cover)
- Mid-dense vegetation has a FPC of 30–70% (50–80% crown cover)
- Sparse vegetation has a FPC of 10–30% (20–50% crown cover)
- Very sparse/isolated vegetation has a FPC of <10% (0.25–20% crown cover)
- NDC (i.e. no density class) refers to small areas that have not been assigned a density class due to cloud or other contamination in the satellite imagery.
Height
Clearing activity—height 2023–24
Area of clearing activity for height classes.
Vegetation height is derived from the 2020, 10m spatial resolution global canopy height data set published by Lang et al. (2023). Height classes are adapted from Scarth et al. (2019) and are as follows:
- 0–5m (heath, shrublands and low woodlands)
- 5–10m (tall shrublands, low woodlands and low forests)
- 10–30m (woodlands and forests)
- >30m (tall woodlands and tall forests)
- NHC (i.e. no height class) refers to small areas that have not been assigned a density class due to no data being available for that location in the Lang et al. (2023) data set.
References
Lang, N., Jetz, W., Schindler, K. and Wegner, J.D. (2023). A high-resolution canopy height model of the Earth. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 7, 1778–1789.
Scarth, P., Armston, J., Lucas, R., & Bunting, P. (2019). A Structural Classification of Australian Vegetation Using ICESat/GLAS, ALOS PALSAR, and Landsat Sensor Data. Remote Sensing, 11(2), 147.