An area the size of Timor Leste was deforested to make way for beef cattle pastures in Queensland in five years, according to a report.
A joint Queensland Conservation Council and Wilderness Society probe has found that 2.1 million hectares of woody vegetation were cleared in the five years to 2019.
More than three-quarters of the deforestation, or about 1.53 million hectares, occurred on beef properties, said their report.
"Queensland outpaces all other Australian jurisdictions combined in annual bulldozing of forests primarily for beef and is the primary reason why eastern Australia is listed as a global deforestation front," said the report, released on Tuesday.
"Despite tightening of laws in 2018, the latest state government data shows substantial increases in clearing of both remnant (primary or mature) and regrowing (secondary or immature) forests and woodlands."
About a quarter of the deforestation occurred in ecosystems deemed endangered due to past clearing, the report said, which were likely habitats for 388 plants and animals, including endangered koalas.
Queensland Conservation Council campaigner Natalie Frost said the clearing was due to loopholes in vegetation management laws, which needed reform.
"Unless the government closes these loopholes and invests in incentives for landholders to manage the land in ways that work for nature and their businesses, we're going to continue to see swathes of Queensland's forests and bushland bulldozed for beef," she said.
Beef is a major industry in Queensland, where 44 per cent of Australia's cattle were raised in 2021, according to Meat and Livestock Australia figures.
The state also accounted for half the nation's 1.9 million tonnes of beef production and 54 per cent of beef exports that year.
The report said while 334 beef property owners were responsible for half of all deforestation in the five years to 2019, about 36 per cent of the livestock production during the period didn't involve any land clearing.
"There is a growing wave of producers who farm in a way that protects nature, while also improving the future productivity of their land," Ms Frost said in a statement.
"We'd like to see those sustainable farming practices urgently embraced by the whole industry."
Wilderness Society's Hannah Shuch called for supermarkets and fast food chains to commit to sourcing beef from producers who don't contribute to deforestation.
"Aussies are horrified when they find out that their burgers and snags were produced from bulldozing vast swathes of forests and bushlands that kills koalas, trashes rivers and the Great Barrier Reef and contributes to dangerous climate change," she said.
