Researchers say real impact of deforestation being hidden in Australia’s official figures by ‘sleight of hand’

A new study argues that the logging of old-growth trees in a lush forest is not equivalent to the planting of seedlings in drier regions with sparse vegetation. Photograph: Chris Putnam/Future Publishing/Getty Images

At face value, the amount of forest in Australia is officially increasing, and has been since 2008.

But if an old-growth tree is felled in a forest and seedlings grow elsewhere, is the official account ecologically sound? Not according to new analysis, which suggests that the way Australia calculates forest cover obfuscates the impacts of ongoing deforestation.