80 Australian Geographic
2015
–2016non-remnant – has regrown aft er being previously cleared remnant – never before cleared66% 34% 78% 22% 81% 19%estimated area of Australia’s
landmass covered by ‘forest’ at the
time of fi rst European colonisation30% in the late 18th century.
Queensland clearing rates
Let it grow
About 17% of the country’s land
area is now covered by forests.Ninety-eight per cent,
or 1.32 million square kilometres
(sq.km), of Australia’s total forest
area of 1.34 million sq.km are
native forests and 19,500sq.km
are commercial plantations.
This map shows where
these occur.
210,000
sq.kmWA
237,000
sq.kmNT
2016
–20172017
–20183900sq.km 3560sq.km 3920sq.km
TOTAL TOTAL TOTALFACT
Australia has 3%
of the world’s forest
area on about 5%
of the planet’s
land area.518,000
sq.kmQLD
204,000
sq.kmNSW
37,000
sq.kmTAS
82,000
sq.kmVIC
51,000
sq.kmSA