Australia is the world's smallest continent with a land area of 149,450,000 km2 completely surrounded by ocean.
It is not by accident that the vast majority of its est. 25.6 million strong population live along its fringes - that's where most of the forests and rivers are.
What you see on this map represented approximately 3 per cent of the world’s forests in 2016 and, globally Australia was the country with the seventh largest forest area.
It is estimated that when British-Europeans first came to Australia in 1788, forests covered one-third of the continent - a total of around 49,811,685km2.
This had fallen to less than one-fifth or 19 per cent by 2006. At that time more than 16,500 plant and 3,800 animal species had been identified as forest-dependent.
Ten years later Australia had only 134 million hectares of forest remaining, covering 17 per cent of its land area.
In the 228 years between 1788 and 2016 under the policies, legislation and regulations of successive federal, state and territory governments a total of 24,405,185km2 of predominately tall trees had disappeared under the forester's and farmer's axe, never to return.
The eating of Australia's future continues to this day as projections suggest that by 2030, another 3 million hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia.
That's on top of the tree cover lost in the 2019-20 bushfire season when over 5 million hectares of forest and grassland burned - with 100 per cent of tree canopy lost in some areas of the vast firegrounds.
Combined forest burnt in New South Wales and Victoria this fire season has been estimated in one study as 21 per cent of Australia's entire remaining forest cover.
Yet despite what has been lost and the uncertainty surrounding what might regrow due to the continuing stressful heating and drying of the Australian continent caused by climate change, the forestry industry is pushing hard to expand its activities further into state forests, nature reserves and national parks.
The relentless, selfish greed of this industry needs to be called out for what it is - a collective madness.
If you would like to see the federal government and east coast state governments reign in this madness, please express your views to your local state & federal members of parliament and to the following:
The Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia, PO Box 6022 House of Representatives Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600
The Hon. Sussan Ley MP, Minister for the Environment, PO Box 6022, House of Representatives, Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600
The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP, Premier of New South Wales,
GPO Box 5341, SYDNEY, NSW 2001
willoughby@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon. Matt Kean MP, NSW Minister for Energy and the Environment,
52 Martin Place, SYDNEY, NSW 2000
hornsby@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, Premier of Queensland,
PO Box 15185, CITY EAST, QLD 4002
thepremier@premiers.qld.gov.au
The Hon Leeanne Enoch MP, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef,
GPO Box 5078 BRISBANE, QLD 4001
environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au
The Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria,
Office of the Premier, Level 1, 1 Treasury Place, EAST MELBOURNE, Victoria 3002
daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au
The Hon. Lily D'Ambrosio MP, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change,
Level 16 8 Nicholson Street, EAST MELBOURNE, Victoria 3002
lily.dambrosio@parliament.vic.gov.au
The Hon Peter Gutwein MP, Premier of Tasmania,
Ground Floor, Public Building, 53 St John Street, LAUNCESTON, Tasmania 7250 peter.gutwein@dpac.tas.gov.au
Roger Janesh MP, Minister for Environment and Parks,
GPO Box 44 HOBART, Tasmania 7001
roger.jaensch@parliament.tas.gov.au
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