Australian Conservation Foundation’s analysis finds amount of habitat approved to be razed double previous year’s as it calls for stronger protections
Almost 26,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was green-lit for destruction in 2024 – more than double the previous year – according to analysis that environmentalists are using to pressure Anthony Albanese to revive his stalled nature watchdog.
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.
That area, which the ACF says is equivalent in size to 92 Sydney CBDs, was up from 10,426 hectares of habitat in 2023.
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.
Darcie Carruthers, a nature campaigner with ACF, said the “absolutely shocking” findings highlighted the urgent need for Labor to deliver its promised federal environment protection authority.
Labor was on the brink of securing a deal to pass laws to establish the federal EPA in the final sitting week of 2024 before the prime minister intervened to shelve the plan amid lobbying from the mining industry and the Western Australian government.
While Albanese has publicly said he intends to revisit the laws when parliament returns in February, Labor, Greens and Coalition sources doubt he will proceed to avoid a political fight in WA on the eve of the federal election.
The proposed federal EPA – the second tranche of Labor’s nature positive plan – would have power to halt projects and be backed up with tougher penalties for breaches of environmental law, including court-ordered fines of up to $780m or jail terms of up to seven years.
“We know that Anthony Albanese bowed to the interests of mining and business and scuppered these nature laws late last year, despite having strong support for them in the parliament,” Carruthers said.
“[If the laws don’t pass] the status quo will continue and Australia’s extinction crisis will only get worse.
“We need these strong new nature laws to make sure that the impacts of projects on nature are being properly assessed.”
Separate ACF analysis found 354,630 hectares of habitat were approved for destruction between 2011 and 2024 – a period that included almost a decade of Coalition rule.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, defended Labor’s record, citing its $550m investment to protect threatened plants and animals and tackle native species, moves to shield an extra 70m hectares of ocean and bush from development and launch an audit into environmental offsets.
“After a decade of neglect under the Liberals, Labor is doing more than ever to better protect nature and our threatened plants and animals,” she said.
Plibersek did not respond directly when asked if she was hopeful the laws to create the federal EPA would pass when parliament returns, but insisted the government was committed to “fixing” Australia’s John Howard-era environmental protection regime.
