Degraded Land in Australia: Understanding the Impact and Solutions

Extinctions and biodiversity loss

Australia has one of the world’s highest recent extinction rates, and it's accelorating.

A comprehensive analysis led by scientists in the Threatened Species Recovery Hub identified roughly 100 species - plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals – have been lost since European colonisation – an extraordinary and still-unfolding legacy of habitat destruction, introduced species and other threats. Those losses erode ecological function, cultural values and the resilience of ecosystems – and they make urgent restoration work essential.

Drivers of land degradation in Australia

Agriculture and pastoralism

Australia has suffered from extensive land clearing since colonialists first arrived in the late 1700s. Waves of clearing – for cropping, grazing and settlement – fundamentally transformed fertile coastal and near-coastal landscapes. Land clearing accelerated in different periods, including the 1830s, 1890s, 1910s and mid-20th century, as agriculture mechanised and expanded. While these changes improved food production, they also drove the large-scale removal of native forests to make way for cattle and grain, with severe consequences for Australia’s unique biodiversity.

Colonisation and First Peoples’ displacement

European settlement displaced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from their traditional lands. This disruption of millennia-old traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) – including controlled burning, waterway stewardship, and seasonal harvesting – removed a system that had maintained ecological balance for tens of thousands of years. Combined with land clearing and new land management practices, the loss of access to Country intensified degradation and biodiversity loss.

The gold rush

The gold rushes of the 1850s and 60s compounded this damage. Rich forested slopes in Victoria and Queensland were rapidly stripped for timber, mining and settlement as populations swelled and infrastructure spread. Gold exports transformed the colonies and generated immense wealth, but they also triggered relentless clearing, habitat fragmentation and soil degradation. The ecological legacy of this era is still visible today – many of the once-expansive forests now survive only in isolated patches or protected reserves.

Invasive species and altered fire regimes

Introduced herbivores, predators and weeds, together with changed fire frequencies, have amplified the loss of native species and the degradation of land.

Bushfires and climate change

Climate change has intensified Australia’s fire seasons, producing hotter, drier conditions and more destructive bushfires, such as Australia's devastating 2019-2020 bushfires. These fires burn already fragile landscapes, fragment habitats further, and accelerate species loss. In areas where ecosystems are reduced to small remnants, a single severe fire can wipe out entire local populations.

Without urgent restoration to reconnect and strengthen these landscapes, local extinctions risk cascading into regional and even total losses.

The message is clear: Australia’s land needs urgent attention, and the time to act is now.

Why active restoration matters

When landscapes are fragmented, many species cannot move between remnant patches – especially as heat waves, droughts, and fire events become more frequent.

Restoration that reconnects habitat, controls invasive species, and reintroduces locally indigenous plants helps species move, find refugia, and rebuild food webs.

Incorporating First Peoples’ knowledge into restoration adds another layer of resilience. TEK informs fire management, water use, soil stewardship, and species selection – strengthening ecosystems in ways modern science alone cannot replicate. By combining ecological restoration with traditional knowledge, landscapes can regain their health, biodiversity, and resilience more rapidly.

Restoration is now essential – not only to heal habitats but also to allow species to move across landscapes as climate extremes intensify.

How Land Life restores degraded land in Australia

Since 2019, Land Life has restored more than 7,000 hectares of degraded land across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. We’ve planted over 3 million native trees and expect these projects to sequester 1.4+ million tonnes of CO₂ – with these figures set to rise sharply in the years ahead.

Our restoration projects prioritise 100% local indigenous species. To date, 22% of all trees planted are classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, ensuring both climate and biodiversity gains. By combining global innovation with trusted on-ground partnerships, we are bringing resilience back to Australia’s landscapes.

Working with community and partners

Australia’s land degradation is one of our greatest environmental challenges – but with the right partnerships, it's also one of our greatest opportunities for renewal.

Land Life's nature restoration projects are funded by local and international customers seeking to invest in high-integrity nature-based carbon removal, and implemented by our local team in collaboration with trusted partners.

We work closely with our main restoration partner, Cassinia EnvironmentalOpens in a new tab., which brings 22+ years of on-ground expertise. Land Life is also a major partner in the Victorian Government’s ambitious BushBank program, with Cassinia the lead delivery partner.

By combining Cassinia’s deep local knowledge with Land Life’s 11+ years of global innovation, we deliver reforestation projects that restore ecosystems, protect biodiversity and remove carbon with integrity.

Land Life also works closely with Traditional Owners and has built strong partnerships with Aboriginal Land Corporations such as Djaara and the Wirangu Nauo.

On South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, Land Life is undertaking a significant restoration project on a 2,000-hectare property. This area, once home to the Wirangu and Nauo peoples for over 65,000 years, has experienced extensive ecological degradation due to historical land clearing and the displacement of its traditional custodians. Working in partnership with the Wirangu Nauo, we aim to restore vital ecosystems, including the critically endangered Drooping Sheoak woodlands, which have been reduced by 95% across the Eyre Peninsula.

Other Land Life partners include Trust for NatureOpens in a new tab., Bush Heritage AustraliaOpens in a new tab., Seeding Victoria, and academic collaborators from the University of MelbourneOpens in a new tab. and CSIROOpens in a new tab..

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