Updated Reporting of Woody Vegetation Clearing

in the Queensland and NSW Rangelands: 1988-2010

This project is supported by Ninti One Limited, through funding from the Australian Government.

Gary Bastin, ACRIS Management UnitCSIRO, PO Box 2111, Alice Springs NT 0871

Grant Hodgins; Peter Scarth, Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts,GPO Box 2454, Brisbane, QLD 4001

Tony Gill; Andrew Taylor, Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Department of Premier and CabinetPO Box 717, Dubbo, NSW 2830

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment.

While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication.

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Updated Reporting of Woody Vegetation Clearing

in the Queensland and NSW Rangelands: 1988-2010

Gary Bastin1, Grant Hodgins2, Peter Scarth2, Tony Gill3 and Andrew Taylor3

1 ACRIS Management Unit, CSIRO, PO Box 2111, Alice Springs NT 08712 Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA),

GPO Box 2454, Brisbane, QLD 40013 Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet

PO Box 717, Dubbo, NSW 2830

The Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) Governments regularly report the extent of clearing of woody vegetation based on analysis of Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery1. This brief report presents clearing data for sub-regions of rangeland bioregions in both jurisdictions up to 2010 and, in doing so, updates and provides greater detail on information presented (to 2005) in Rangelands 2008 – Taking the pulse (Bastin et al. 2008) (see pages 90-93).

Key points

The Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) allows reporting of clearing extent in Queensland’s rangelands between 1988 and 2010. NSW uses the SLATS method to report change in woody cover for its rangelands. Widespread clearing increases agricultural production but is a threat to biodiversity.

Clearing was a significant cause of change in extent of woody vegetation in Queensland between 1988 and 2010. 56,302 km2 (4.1%) of Queensland’s rangelands were cleared during this period.

Sub-regions of the Mulga Lands, Brigalow Belts North and South, and Desert Uplands bioregions (IBRA2) in Queensland were most extensively cleared (between 23% and 43% of area of the sub-IBRA).

Clearing was generally more extensive prior to 2000 except in much of the Mulga Lands bioregion where the majority of clearing occurred in the first decade of this century.

Clearing was comparatively less extensive in the NSW rangelands: 2,775 km2 were cleared between 1988 and 2010. More than half of this clearing occurred in the Cobar Peneplain bioregion (1,540 km2). The area cleared in the NSW rangelands (reported in two-year blocks) has been broadly similar throughout the 22-year period.

1 Queensland: see www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/slats/ for state-wide and regional reportsNSW reports available at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/vegetation/reports.htm 2 Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (see www.environment.gov.au/topics/land/national-reserve-system/science-maps-and-data/australias-bioregions-ibra, accessed 9 December 2013). Most of the 52 IBRAs completely or partly within the rangelands are split into sub-regions (equal sub-IBRA).

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Method

The Queensland Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS, www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/slats/; accessed 23 July 2012) produces a time-integrated clearing history for all of Queensland that specifies when a Landsat TM pixel was first cleared (starting in 1988) and, if so, when it may have been subsequently recleared (methods described in Danaher et al. 2010). This image was intersected with a map of Queensland sub-IBRAs (version 6.1) to determine the extent of clearing and reclearing in each rangeland sub-IBRA between 1988 and 2010, and major periods of clearing activity.

The NSW Government uses the SLATS method to generate a similar history of woody vegetation change. Their statistics include reductions in the extent of woody cover due to clearing for agricultural, forestry or infrastructure purposes plus fire. Change due to fire is not reported here.

Extent and time of clearing

Queensland

A total area of 56,302 km2 was cleared in the Queensland rangelands between 1988 and 2010 (Figs. 1 and 2). Area of clearing was largest in the Mulga Lands bioregion with 22,199 km2 cleared. The proportion of bioregion area cleared was highest in the Brigalow Belts South and North (17.7% and 16.4% of area cleared respectively). Clearing was generally more extensive in the Queensland rangelands prior to 2000 (36,566 km2 cleared) although it was a more recent phenomenon in much of the Mulga Lands bioregion where 12,104 km2 was cleared in the first decade of this century, contributing more than half of the total 22,199 km2 cleared in the rangelands during this period. Clearing extent decreased substantially after 2006 (Fig. 3).

At the level of sub-regions, 42.7% (1,989 km2) of the Upper Belyando Floodout (BBN8) sub-IBRA was cleared between 1988 and 2010 (mostly pre-2000, Table 1). Three Mulga Land sub-IBRAs had >30% of their area (13,733 km2) cleared in the same period. A further ten sub-IBRAs in the eastern rangelands had between 10% and 30% of their area cleared, comprising 24,153 km2. Extent of clearing for all rangeland sub-IBRAs is tabulated in Appendix 1.

Some 3,418 km2 of the Queensland rangelands have been cleared twice since 1988, mainly in the BBS12, ML2, ML1, BBN7, MGD8 and BBS1 sub-IBRAs (listed in decreasing order of area recleared – area recleared ranged from 183 to 579 km2).

New South Wales

In the NSW rangelands, 2,775 km2 were cleared between 1988 and 2010 (Fig. 1) with 1,373 km2 of this area treated between 1988 and 2000. Clearing was most extensive in the Cobar Peneplain: 825 km2 cleared prior to 2000 and 715 km2 treated subsequently, representing 2.1% of bioregion area cleared between 1988 and 2010. Clearing of NSW rangeland sub-IBRAs has been relatively minor compared with Queensland (Table 1 and Appendix 2). The Nymagee sub-IBRA of the Cobar Peneplain (CP4) was most extensively cleared (724 km2). Proportional to sub-IBRA area, the Moonie – Barwon Interfluve sub-IBRA (BBS20) had 6.5% of its area cleared.

Of the total area cleared, 47 km2 was cleared a second time, mainly in the Cobar Peneplain (35 km2 recleared). At sub-IBRA level, 20 km2 of the Nymagee (CP4) and 10 km2 of the South Olary Plain, Murray Basin Sands (MDD1, Murray Darling Depression bioregion) were cleared a second time.

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Figure 1. Extent of clearing in Queensland and NSW rangeland bioregions between 1988 and 2010.

Data: Qld DSITIA, NSW OEH. Map: ACRIS Management Unit.5

Cleared between 1988 and 2010

CYP

GUP EIU

DEU

BBN

BBS

MGD

MII

GFU

CHC

CHC

SSD

BHC

MUL

MUL

DRP

CP

MDDRIV

IBRAsBBN Brigalow Belt NorthBBS Brigalow Belt SouthBHC Broken Hill ComplexCHC Channel CountryCP Cobar PeneplainCYP Cape York PeninsulaDEU Desert UplandsDRP Darling Riverine PlainsEIU Einasleigh UplandsGFU Gulf Fall & UplandsGUP Gulf PlainsMDD Murray Darling DepressionMGD Mitchell Grass PlainsMII Mount Isa InlierMUL Mulga LandsRIV RiverinaSSD Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields

IBRA boundary

Figure 2. Extent of clearing in Queensland rangeland sub-IBRAs between 1988 and 2010 for bioregions extensively cleared during this period.Data: Qld DSITIA. Map: ACRIS Management Unit.

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sub-IBRA legend

Cleared between 1988 and 2010

Inset area

IBRA boundary

sub-IBRA boundary

Table 1. The percentage area of Queensland and NSW rangeland sub-IBRAs cleared between 1988 and 2010 where ≥1% of area was cleared. Bolded figures emphasise sub-IBRAs with >10% area cleared. The cleared area (km2) of all sub-IBRAs is tabulated in Appendix 1. Where reclearing has occurred, the sum of percentages cleared 1988-2000 and 2000-2010 exceeds the total percentage cleared 1988-2010.

Sub-IBRA Sub-IBRA area (km2)

Percentage of sub-IBRA area clearedQueensland NSW

1988-2000 2000-2010 1988-2010 1988-2000 2000-2010 1988-2010BBN8 4,663 38.9 4.8 42.7ML4 6,604 25.2 11.4 35.5ML2 15,605 16.3 20.5 34.3ML1 19,905 19.8 12.0 30.3BBN7 17,573 22.3 5.7 27.1BBS12 22,427 18.6 8.1 24.7BBS1 10,229 20.3 4.5 23.7DEU4 14,338 15.2 7.9 22.7ML6 12,905 7.4 14.3 21.0BBN13 10,091 14.3 3.5 17.0ML3 12,079 6.3 8.9 14.8BBN9 3,701 8.1 3.4 11.4DRP1 4,148 8.9 2.3 11.1DEU3 10,070 8.3 3.3 10.7MGD8 40,117 6.7 2.9 9.2DRP2 5,860 5.0 2.4 7.2DEU1 15,802 4.7 2.4 7.0BBS10 16,407 4.1 3.2 6.9BBS20 757 1.4 5.1 6.5BBN3 7,480 4.1 1.4 5.4DEU2 28,643 3.7 1.6 5.3ML5 21,689 2.0 3.4 5.3BBN4 958 1.6 3.6 5.1ML8 42,204 1.3 3.1 4.4BBN6 2,328 2.6 1.8 4.4CP4 20,611 1.7 1.8 3.5BBN5 3,971 1.5 2.1 3.4ML11 8,570 0.2 3.1 3.3ML7 6,441 0.7 2.5 3.2BBS9 2,773 1.2 1.4 2.6ML9 11,335 1.3 1.5 2.6CP3 20,014 1.5 1.1 2.5BBN2 7,867 2.0 0.3 2.2BBS28 54 1.5 0.5 2.0BBS28 2,918 1.0 1.0 1.9EIU6 6,583 0.8 0.9 1.7MGD7 68,869 1.2 0.5 1.6BBN1 797 1.3 0.3 1.5EIU3 16,732 1.1 0.3 1.4CP2 17,735 0.7 0.6 1.3MDD1 42,436 0.6 0.7 1.3CYP2 4,098 1.1 0.2 1.3GUP8 24,500 0.7 0.5 1.2DRP8 1,471 0.4 0.6 1.0Bioregion codes: BBN – Brigalow Belt North, BBS – Brigalow Belt South, CP – Cobar Peneplain, CYP – Cape York Peninsula, DEU – Desert Uplands, DRP – Darling Riverine Plains, EIU – Einasleigh Uplands, GUP – Gulf Plains, MDD – Murray Darling Depression, MGD – Mitchell Grass Plains, ML – Mulga Lands.

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Figure 3. Area (km2) of Queensland’s rangelands cleared in the year prior to the year of imagery labelled on the X axis.

Data: Qld DSITIA. Graph: ACRIS Management Unit.

The overall rate of clearing in NSW rangelands has changed relatively little over the period (Fig. 4). Data from NSW Office of Environment and Heritage report clearing in two-yearly blocks; the mean area cleared per two-year period was 252 km2, ranging from a little over 100 km2 cleared in 1992-1994 to approximately 400 km2 cleared in each of 1988-1990 and 2000-2002.

Figure 4. Area (km2) of NSW rangelands cleared during two-yearly periods between 1988 and 2010.

Data: NSW OEH. Graph: ACRIS Management Unit.

Discussion

Native vegetation in the rangelands has primarily been cleared to increase forage production for livestock, although cropping also occurs closer to the rangeland boundary. In the Queensland rangelands, extensive clearing is now largely a historical phenomenon. A lesser total area was cleared in western NSW compared with the Queensland rangelands for the period reported (1988-2010). Whereas the annual area cleared in Queensland in recent years has declined, biennial

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3500

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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1988-1990 1990-1992 1992-1994 1994-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2002 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-2008 2008-2010

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Clearing era

amounts of clearing in the NSW rangelands have fluctuated since 1988. Legislation governing vegetation management applies in both Queensland and NSW (see www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/land/vegetation-management, accessed 9 December 2013 and www.environment.nsw.gov.au/vegetation/, accessed 22 October 2013).

Where the density of woody vegetation restricts pasture growth and limits pastoral production, future alternative income streams might emerge through managing revegetation for conservation and publicly recognised ecosystem services (Puig et al. 2011, Greiner et al. 2009), and the carbon market (e.g. Bray and Golden 2009). Whatever the management outcomes, the SLATS program provides spatially extensive and robust data for monitoring woody cover dynamics in both the Queensland and NSW rangelands.

Further information

Land cover change in Queensland 2009-10 published by the Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts (available at www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/slats/)

NSW Annual Report on Native Vegetation 2010 published by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (available at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/vegetation/reports.htm)

References

Bastin, G. & the ACRIS Management Committee (2008). Rangelands 2008 – Taking the Pulse. Published on behalf of the ACRIS Management Committee by the National Land and Water Resources Audit, Canberra. Available at: www.environment.gov.au/land/rangelands/acris/index.html

Bray, S.G. and Golden, R. (2009). Scenario analysis of alternative vegetation management options on the greenhouse gas budget of two grazing businesses in north-eastern Australia. Rangeland Journal 31, 137–142.

Danaher, T., Scarth, P., Armston, J., Collet, L., Kitchen, J. and Gillingham, S. (2010). Remote sensing of tree-grass systems: The Eastern Australian Woodlands. In: Ecosystem Function in Savannas: Measurement and Modelling at Landscape to Global Scales, Eds. M.J. Hill and N.P. Hanan. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Greiner, R., Gordon, I. and Cocklin, C. (2009). Ecosystem services from tropical savannas: economic opportunities through payments for environmental services. Rangeland Journal 31, 51-59. doi: 10.1071/RJ08067

Puig, C.J., Greiner, R., Huchery, C., Perkins, I., Bowen, L., Collier, N. and Garnett, S.T. (2011). Beyond cattle: potential futures of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Rangeland Journal 33, 181–194. doi: 10.1071/RJ10043

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Appendix 1: sub-IBRA area cleared in the Queensland rangelands

sub-IBRA code

sub IBRA name sub-IBRAarea (km2)

Area cleared (km2) Area cleared (%)1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

BBN1 Townsville Plains 797 10.1 2.2 12.3 1.3 0.3 1.5BBN2 Bogie River Hills 7,867 156.5 21.3 176.4 2.0 0.3 2.2BBN3 Cape River Hills 7,480 308.5 104.5 400.4 4.1 1.4 5.4BBN4 Beucazon Hills 958 15.7 34.2 48.8 1.6 3.6 5.1BBN5 Wyarra Hills 3,971 61.0 81.9 136.0 1.5 2.1 3.4BBN6 Northern Bowen Basin 2,328 59.9 42.9 101.8 2.6 1.8 4.4BBN7 Belyando Downs 17,573 3,910.4 995.3 4,754.0 22.3 5.7 27.1BBN8 Upper Belyando Floodout 4,663 1,811.7 222.7 1,988.8 38.9 4.8 42.7BBN9 Anakie Inlier 3,701 300.3 127.4 420.8 8.1 3.4 11.4BBN13 South Drummond Basin 10,091 1,440.6 355.0 1,715.2 14.3 3.5 17.0Brigalow Belt North 59,429 8,074.7 1,987.4 9,754.5 13.6 3.3 16.4BBS1 Claude River Downs 10,229 2,075.6 461.9 2,428.4 20.3 4.5 23.7BBS9 Buckland Basalts 2,773 34.4 38.1 71.6 1.2 1.4 2.6BBS10 Carnarvon Ranges 16,407 670.4 528.7 1,131.7 4.1 3.2 6.9BBS12 Southern Downs 22,427 4,176.8 1,816.3 5,550.5 18.6 8.1 24.7BBS28 Narrandool 54 0.8 0.3 1.1 1.5 0.5 2.0Brigalow Belt South 51,890 6,958.0 2,845.3 9,183.3 13.4 5.5 17.7CHC1 Toko Plains 4,939 0.0 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC2 Sturt Stony Desert 46,992 3.0 0.1 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC3 Goneaway Tablelands 53,838 131.2 167.9 285.5 0.2 0.3 0.5CHC4 Diamantina-Eyre 24,435 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC5 Cooper Plains 20,360 5.4 2.7 8.2 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC7 Lake Pure 17,382 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC8 Noccundra Slopes 24,714 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC9 Tibooburra Downs 4,142 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC11 Bulloo 6,190 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0CHC12 Bulloo Dunefields 3,267 0.1 0.5 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0Channel Country 206,259 140.5 172.6 299.8 0.1 0.1 0.1CYP1 Coen - Yambo Inlier 23,043 5.5 19.0 24.4 0.0 0.1 0.1CYP2 Starke Coastal Lowlands 4,098 43.5 10.0 51.5 1.1 0.2 1.3CYP3 Cape York - Torres Strait 667 0.7 0.2 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.1CYP4 Jardine - Pascoe

Sandstones14,428 1.5 5.4 6.9 0.0 0.0 0.0

CYP5 Battle Camp Sandstones 5,070 1.9 2.6 4.4 0.0 0.1 0.1CYP6 Laura Lowlands 17,908 45.7 24.9 69.5 0.3 0.1 0.4CYP7 Weipa Plateau 28,483 93.2 116.9 205.3 0.3 0.4 0.7CYP8 (Northern) Holroyd Plain 24,758 7.5 15.7 23.2 0.0 0.1 0.1CYP9 Coastal Plains 2,641 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0Cape York Peninsula 121,096 199.7 195.0 386.5 0.2 0.2 0.3DEU1 Prairie - Torrens Creeks

Alluvials15,802 738.0 372.2 1,099.2 4.7 2.4 7.0

DEU2 Alice Tableland 28,643 1,064.9 459.7 1,504.7 3.7 1.6 5.3DEU3 Cape-Campaspe Plains 10,070 832.4 335.3 1,072.9 8.3 3.3 10.7DEU4 Jericho 14,338 2,178.6 1,127.7 3,251.3 15.2 7.9 22.7Desert Uplands 68,853 4,813.9 2,294.9 6,928.1 7.0 3.3 10.1DRP1 Culgoa-Bokhara 4,148 370.4 97.3 460.4 8.9 2.3 11.1DRP2 Warrambool-Moonie 5,860 290.9 137.7 420.1 5.0 2.4 7.2Darling Riverine Plains 10,008 661.3 235.0 880.5 6.6 2.3 8.8EIU1 Georgetown - Croydon 10,417 7.2 5.0 12.1 0.1 0.0 0.1EIU2 Kidston 29,315 27.5 62.1 88.6 0.1 0.2 0.3EIU3 Hodgkinson Basin 16,732 186.7 51.2 234.3 1.1 0.3 1.4

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sub-IBRA code

sub IBRA name sub-IBRAarea (km2)

Area cleared (km2) Area cleared (%)1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

EIU4 Broken River 31,535 132.4 98.6 229.0 0.4 0.3 0.7EIU5 Undara - Toomba Basalts 20,774 101.4 31.8 133.1 0.5 0.2 0.6EIU6 Herberton - Wairuna 6,583 52.0 60.4 109.4 0.8 0.9 1.7Einasleigh Uplands 115,356 507.2 309.1 806.5 0.4 0.3 0.7GFU1 McArthur - South

Nicholson Basins5,892 1.8 0.2 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Gulf Fall & Uplands 5,892 1.8 0.2 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0GUP1 Karumba Plains 10,730 1.1 0.4 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0GUP2 Armraynald Plains 15,894 11.6 1.1 12.6 0.1 0.0 0.1GUP3 Woondoola Plains 23,583 33.6 9.2 34.3 0.1 0.0 0.1GUP4 Mitchell - Gilbert Fans 52,243 36.1 46.3 82.2 0.1 0.1 0.2GUP5 Claraville Plains 37,942 118.0 98.2 213.8 0.3 0.3 0.6GUP6 Holroyd Plain - Red

Plateau22,094 14.8 21.6 36.3 0.1 0.1 0.2

GUP7 Doomadgee Plains 16,847 16.4 10.2 26.6 0.1 0.1 0.2GUP8 Donors Plateau 24,500 175.3 126.2 291.3 0.7 0.5 1.2GUP9 Gilberton Plateau 14,032 7.2 53.1 60.2 0.1 0.4 0.4GUP10 Wellesley Islands 1,238 2.0 1.0 3.0 0.2 0.1 0.2Gulf Plains 219,103 416.1 367.3 761.8 0.2 0.2 0.3MGD2 Barkly Tableland 16,633 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0MGD3 Georgina Limestone 20,418 1.4 0.1 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0MGD4 Southwestern Downs 37,651 1.9 4.0 5.8 0.0 0.0 0.0MGD5 Kynuna Plateau 23,363 77.8 7.9 83.9 0.3 0.0 0.4MGD6 Northern Downs 35,194 99.4 45.2 141.0 0.3 0.1 0.4MGD7 Central Downs 68,869 799.4 350.6 1,118.7 1.2 0.5 1.6MGD8 Southern Wooded Downs 40,117 2,696.2 1,148.1 3,683.3 6.7 2.9 9.2Mitchell Grass Downs 242,245 3,676.4 1,556.0 5,034.6 1.5 0.6 2.1MII1 Southwestern Plateaus &

Floodouts14,095 10.1 7.7 17.7 0.1 0.1 0.1

MII2 Thorntonia 7,398 1.6 1.0 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0MII3 Mount Isa Inlier 44,922 32.1 12.2 44.2 0.1 0.0 0.1Mount Isa Inlier 66,415 43.8 20.9 64.5 0.1 0.0 0.1MUL1 West Balonne Plains 19,905 3,937.2 2,384.2 6,031.4 19.8 12.0 30.3MUL2 Eastern Mulga Plains 15,605 2,544.2 3,205.3 5,360.2 16.3 20.5 34.3MUL3 Nebine Plains Block Range 12,079 758.2 1,074.7 1,791.2 6.3 8.9 14.8MUL4 North Eastern Plains 6,604 1,667.3 754.2 2,341.6 25.2 11.4 35.5MUL5 Warrego Plains 21,689 438.9 737.8 1,143.9 2.0 3.4 5.3MUL6 Langlo Plains 12,905 950.2 1,851.3 2,708.4 7.4 14.3 21.0MUL7 Cuttaburra-Paroo 6,441 44.9 162.4 206.9 0.7 2.5 3.2MUL8 West Warrego 42,204 550.7 1,310.6 1,848.8 1.3 3.1 4.4MUL9 Northern Uplands 11,335 151.0 169.0 289.2 1.3 1.5 2.6MUL10 West Bulloo 28,481 9.4 188.5 197.8 0.0 0.7 0.7MUL11 Urisino Sandplains 8,570 19.6 266.2 279.6 0.2 3.1 3.3Mulga Lands 185,818 11,071.6 12,104.2 22,19

9.06.0 6.5 11.9

SSD2 Simpson Desert 22,932 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0SSD3 Dieri 125 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0SSD5 Strzelecki Desert Western

Dunefields4,009 0.8 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0

Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields 27,066 0.8 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0Queensland rangelands 1,379,430 36,566 22,088 56,302 2.7 1.6 4.1

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Appendix 2: sub-IBRA area cleared in the NSW rangelands

sub-IBRA code

sub IBRA name sub-IBRAarea (km2)

Area cleared (km2) Area cleared (%)1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

1988-2000

2000-2010

1988-2010

BBS20 Moonie - Barwon Interfluve 757 10.7 38.3 49.1 1.4 5.1 6.5BBS28 Narrandool 2,918 28.3 28.1 56.4 1.0 1.0 1.9Brigalow Belt South 3,676 39.1 66.4 105.4 1.1 1.8 2.9BHC1 Barrier Range 14,218 0.1 0.1BHC2 Mootwingee Downs 6,307BHC3 Scopes Range 2,608BHC4 Barrier Range Outwash 14,855 3.0 0.1 3.1Broken Hill Complex 37,988 3.1 0.1 3.2CHC10 Core Ranges 1,392CHC11 Bulloo 4,588CHC12 Bulloo Dunefields 2,494 1.0 0.2 1.2CHC13 Central Depression 5,807 0.3 0.3CHC9 Tibooburra Downs 9,074Channel Country 23,355 1.4 0.2 1.6CP1 Boorindal Plains 4,002 10.2 3.4 13.6 0.3 0.1 0.3CP2 Barnato Downs 17,735 129.3 109.9 239.2 0.7 0.6 1.3CP3 Canbelego Downs 20,014 291.2 214.3 505.6 1.5 1.1 2.5CP4 Nymagee 20,611 357.8 365.7 723.5 1.7 1.8 3.5CP5 Lachlan Plains 11,354 36.5 21.2 57.7 0.3 0.2 0.5Cobar Peneplain 73,716 825.0 714.5 1,540 1.1 1.0 2.1DRP1 Culgoa-Bokhara 9,260 4.2 1.0 5.2 0.1DRP2 Warrambool-Moonie 5,815 7.7 23.3 31.0 0.1 0.4 0.5DRP3 Castlereagh-Barwon 42,017 75.2 84.3 159.4 0.2 0.2 0.4DRP4 Bogan-Macquarie 19,294 51.0 22.5 73.4 0.3 0.1 0.4DRP5 Louth Plains 2,766 0.1 0.1DRP6 Wilcannia Plains 5,046DRP7 Menindee 6,539 0.5 1.1 1.5DRP8 Great Darling Anabranch 1,471 5.6 8.4 14.0 0.4 0.6 1.0DRP9 Pooncarie-Darling 1,108 0.6 1.8 2.3 0.1 0.2 0.2Darling Riverine Plains 93,316 144.8 142.3 287.0 0.2 0.2 0.3MDD1 Sth Olary Pln, Murray Basin Sand 42,436 259.5 278.8 538.4 0.6 0.7 1.3MDD6 Darling Depression 36,624 48.9 115.3 164.2 0.1 0.3 0.4Murray Darling Depression 79,060 308.4 394.2 702.6 0.4 0.5 0.9MUL11 Urisino Sandplains 11,469 0.5 7.9 8.4 0.1 0.1MUL12 Warrego Sands 4,795 2.7 24.7 27.4 0.1 0.5 0.6MUL13 Kerribree Basin 3,996 0.7 2.3 3.0 0.1 0.1MUL14 White Cliffs Plateau 10,743 0.2 0.2MUL15 Paroo Overflow 3,012MUL16 Paroo-Darling Sands 5,366 0.4 0.4MUL3 Nebine Plains, Block Range 6,917 26.4 26.1 52.5 0.4 0.4 0.8MUL5 Warrego Plains 3,232 0.1 1.6 1.8 0.1 0.1MUL7 Cuttaburra-Paroo 10,600 1.3 1.3MUL8 West Warrego 5,691 5.3 8.4 13.7 0.1 0.1 0.2Mulga Lands 65,821 35.9 72.7 108.6 0.1 0.1 0.2RIV1 Lachlan 23,775 7.1 2.2 9.3RIV2 Murrumbidgee 27,759 8.1 9.3 17.4 0.1RIV6 Murray Scroll Belt 921Riverina 52,456 15.1 11.6 26.7 0.1SSD5 Strzelecki Dsrt, Westn Duneflds 10,689Total 440,076 1,373 1,402 2,775 0.3 0.3 0.6

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