Almost 90 football fields of woody habitat were bulldozed every day in NSW – despite pledges to rein it in

Land clearing at Yarrowitch in the NSW northern tablelands in 2024. More than 80% of the land cleared in 2024 was for agriculture, while the remainder was for infrastructure and native forestry. Photograph: Australian Conservation Foundation

Almost 90 football fields’ worth of woody habitat were bulldozed in New South Wales every day in 2024, according to new government data which shows the state has failed to rein in high rates of clearing.

Clearing of vegetation across the state increased by 16% in 2024, reaching 81,293 hectares (200,879 acres) in total – an area more than 275 times the size of the Sydney CBD. The increase was due to a sharp jump in clearing of non-woody vegetation, up 70% on the previous year.