'Global deforestation hotspot': 3m hectares of Australian forest to be lost in 15 years

Threatened species, pressure on Great Barrier Reef and climate change all worsened by full-blown land-clearing crisis

Australia is in the midst of a full-blown land-clearing crisis. Projections suggest that in the two decades to 2030, 3m hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia.

The crisis is driven primarily by a booming livestock industry but is ushered in by governments that fail to introduce restrictions and refuse to apply existing restrictions.