Clearing of native vegetation in Queensland: An analysis of finalised prosecutions over a 10-year period (2007–2018)

In addition to feral pests and climate change, land clearing has been one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in Australia. Historically, the State of Queensland has led the nation in terms of rates of clearing and the resultant species loss. In the 1990s, laws restricting clearing on both freehold and leasehold land were introduced by the State government. The approach has been controversial, to say the least, and the legal framework continues to be amended on an almost annual basis. This article presents an analysis of finalised prosecutions brought by the regulator over a 10-year period (2007– 2018). The results indicate that while the total amount of fines have been steadily increasing, the numbers of prosecutions since 2013 have dropped remarkably.