CANBERRA, Monday 27 October 2025 — More than 100 Australian scientists and researchers have called on the Labor Government to address deforestation in the new nature law reforms, warning that the impacts under the current Act “compound the damage caused by repeated mass bleaching events driven by climate change” to the Great Barrier Reef.

Environment Minister Murray Watt will soon table the draft bill to reform Australia’s broken nature law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Leading environmental groups Greenpeace Australia Pacific, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, and the Australian Conservation Foundation coordinated the open letter with 112 leading Australian scientists, calling for the reforms to close loopholes in the Act that allow for rampant and unchecked deforestation, especially in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.

Read the letter here.

Elle Lawless, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:

“Now is the time to act decisively for nature, and design a nature-first nature law that will do what it is set out to do: protect our environment. Toxic runoff from deforestation in the Great Barrier Reef catchment is poisoning the reef and suffocating the precious and fragile marine ecosystem. The Great Barrier Reef is a global icon, and we need a strong, robust EPBC Act that will safeguard and protect it. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation our country and our environment has and, done right, has the power to make serious and desperately needed positive changes to protect nature.”

Professor James Watson FQA, from UQ’s School of the Environment, said:

“Australia’s State of the Environment report, released by the federal government in 2021, shows that our oceans, rivers and wetlands are in serious decline. That report, and the Samuel review of the EPBC, make the point that there is a desperate need for stronger national nature laws that help protect these precious places for generations to come.

“Australia’s top environmental academics and experts have been sounding the alarm for decades: the large-scale destruction of Australia’s native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands is the single biggest threat to our biodiversity. It’s driving an extinction crisis unlike anywhere else on Earth — and it’s threatening the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s seven natural wonders, right before our eyes.”

Continued mass deforestation threatens the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status. In 2026, the World Heritage Committee will review Australia’s progress in protecting the reef and may consider placing it on the World Heritage in Danger list if major threats like deforestation are not addressed.

Recent figures from the Queensland Government show deforestation in Queensland is the worst in the nation and worsening under the current national environment law. Deforestation in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for almost half (44%) of the state’s total clearing, an increase on the previous year.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling for the EPBC reforms to meet four key tests:

1. Stronger upfront nature protection to guide better decisions on big projects, including National Environmental Standards.
2. An independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce the laws and make decisions about controversial projects at arm’s length from politics.
3. Closing deforestation loopholes that allow for harmful industries to carry out mass bulldozing across Australia.
4. Consideration of the climate impacts on nature from coal and gas mines when assessing projects for approvals.

“We will continue to engage with the government constructively in the reform process but also hold decision-makers to account over these critical tests,” Lawless said.

—ENDS—

Leading scientists call for EPBC reforms to strengthen Great Barrier Reef protection

22 October 2025

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Sent via email

To the Prime Minister, Federal Environment Minister, and Members of the Albanese Government,

As researchers who study, document and work to recover Australia’s plants and animals, insects and ecosystems, we are keenly aware of the value of nature to Australians and the world.

Australia has one of the worst rates of deforestation globally. For every 100 hectares of native woodland cleared, about 2000 birds, 15,000 reptiles and 500 native mammals will die. As scientists and experts, we have sounded the alarm for more than 30 years that the large-scale destruction of native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands was the single biggest threat to the nation’s biodiversity. That is still the case today, and it is driving an extinction crisis.

New figures show that Queensland continues to lead the nation in deforestation. The latest statewide landcover and trees study (SLATS) report shows that annually 44% of all deforestation in Queensland occurs in the Great Barrier Reef catchment areas, where over 140,000 hectares are bulldozed each year.

Deforestation in Great Barrier Reef catchments is devastating one of Australia’s most iconic natural wonders. When forests and bushland are bulldozed, erosion causes debris to wash into waterways, sending sediment, nutrients and pesticides into the Reef waters. This smothers coral, fuels crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, and reduces water quality. These impacts compound the damage caused by repeated mass bleaching events driven by climate change.

The Great Barrier Reef sustains precious marine life, supports local and global biodiversity, and underpins tourism economies and coastal communities that rely on its survival. Continued mass deforestation threatens these values and could jeopardise the Reef’s World Heritage status. In 2026 the World Heritage Committee will review Australia’s progress in protecting the Reef and may consider placing it on the World Heritage in Danger list, if key threats to the Reef, including deforestation, are not addressed.

This mass deforestation happens due to a loophole in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, our national nature law. Exemptions allow deforestation to continue largely unregulated by the EPBC Act through a grandfathering clause from 2000 known as “continuous use”. Without meaningful reform, deforestation will continue to drive massive biodiversity loss. This loophole must be closed as part of the proposed EPBC Act reforms. The law is meant to safeguard our wildlife and our most precious places like the Great Barrier Reef. Please support closing major deforestation loopholes in the EPBC Act as an urgent and priority issue for the Federal Government.

Sincerely,

Professor James Watson, University of Queensland

Dr. Michelle Ward

Mandy Cheung

Mr Lachlan Cross

Timothy Ravasi

Gillian Rowan

Dr Graham R. Fulton, The University of Queensland

Dr Alison Peel

Dr James Richardson University of Queensland

Luke Emerson, University of Newcastle

Dr Hilary Pearl

Dr Tina Parkhurst

Dr Kerry Bridle

Dr Tracy Schultz, Senior Research Fellow, University of Queensland

Dr. Zachary Amir

Prof David M Watson, Gulbali Institute, CSU

Naomi Ploos van Amstel, PhD candidate

David Schoeman

Associate Professor Simone Blomberg, University of Queensland

Professor Euan Ritchie, Deakin University

Dr Ian Baird, Conservation Biologist

Paul Elton (ANU)

Melissa Billington

Hayden de Villiers

Professor Brett Murphy, Charles Darwin University

Professor Sarah Bekessy

Professor Anthony J. Richardson (University of Queensland)

Prof. Winnifred Louis, University of Queensland

Dr Yung En Chee, The University of Melbourne

Dr Jed Calvert, postdoctoral research fellow in wetland ecology, University of Queensland

A/Prof Daniel C Dunn, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland

Lincoln Kern, Ecologist

Professor Corey Bradshaw, Flinders University

Dr. Viviana Gonzalez, The University of Queensland

Prof. Helen Bostock

Dr Leslie Roberson

Bethany Kiss

Assoc. Prof Diana Fisher, UQ, and co-chair of the IUCN Marsupial and Monotreme Specialist Group

Dr Jacinta Humphrey, RMIT University

Professor Mathew Crowther

Christopher R. Dickman, Professor Emeritus, The University of Sydney

Fiona Hoegh-Guldberg, RMIT University

Dr Bertram Jenkins

Dr Daniela ParraFaundes

Dr Jessica Walsh

Dr. GABRIELLA scata – marine biologist, wildlife protector

Katherine Robertson

Professor Jane Williamson, Macquarie University

William F. Laurance, Distinguished Professor, James Cook University

A/Prof Deb Bower

Dr Leslie Roberson, University of Queensland

Ms Jasmine Hall, Senior Research Assistant in Coastal Wetland Biogeochemistry, Ecology and Management, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University

Dr Kita Ashman, Adjunct Research Associate, Charles Sturt University

Genevieve Newey

Matt Hayward

Jessie Moyses

Natalya Maitz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland

Christina Ritchie

Liana van Woesik, PhD Student, University of Queensland

Benjamin Lucas, PhD Researcher

A/Prof. Carissa Klein, The University of Queensland

Conrad Pratt, PhD Student, University of Queensland

Dr Ascelin Gordon, RMIT University

Professor Nicole Graham, The University of Sydney

Professor Murray Lee, University of Sydney Law School

Dr Tracy Schultz, Snr Research Fellow, University of Queensland

Libby Newton (PhD candidate, Sydney Law School)

Hannah Thomas, University of Queensland

Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Sydney

Dr Anna Hopkins

Lena van Swinderen, PhD candidate at the University of Queensland

Professor Jodie Rummer, James Cook University

Dr Nita Lauren, Lecturer, RMIT University

Dr Christina Zdenek

Madeline Davey

Dr Rachel Killean, Sydney Law School

Dr. Sofía López-Cubillos

Dr Claire Larroux

Dr Alice Twomey, The University of Queensland

Zoe Gralton

Dr Robyn Gulliver

Ryan Borrett, Murdoch University

Adjunct Prof. Paul Lawrence, Griffith University, Brisbane Qld

Professor Susan Park, University of Sydney

Dr Holly Kirk, Curtin University

Deakin Distinguished Professor Marcel Klaassen

Dr Megan Evans, UNSW Canberra

Dr Amanda Irwin, The University of Sydney

Dr Keith Cardwell

Professor Don Driscoll, Deakin University

Susan Bengtson Nash

Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer

Dr Madelyn Mangan, University of Queensland

Dr Isabella Smith

Geoff Lockwood

Dr Paula Peeters, Paperbark Writer

Prof Cynthia Riginos, University of Queensland

Dr. Sankar Subramanian

Associate Professor Zoe Richards

Dr Jessie Wells, The University of Melbourne

Professor Gretta Pecl AM, University of Tasmania

Dr April Reside, The University of Queensland

Oriana Licul-Milevoj (Ecologist)

Dr Yves-Marie Bozec, University of Queensland

Dr Julia Hazel

Dr Judit K. Szabo

Ana Ulloa

Dr Andreas Dietzel

Philip Spark – North West Ecological Services

Jonathan Freeman

Dr/ Mohamed Mohamed Rashad

Close Major Deforestation Loopholes in the EPBC Act

The recent discovery of Grimpoteuthis feitiana, a new species of Dumbo octopus found deep in the Pacific, is a reminder of something both humbling and urgent: we still know so little about the ocean that shapes our lives. This fragile, finned creature, gliding silently more than a kilometer beneath the waves, has lived in these waters long before we mapped them, and its story is only now coming to light.

What moves me most about this discovery is not just the Dumbo octopus itself, but how it bridges science and culture. Its name draws inspiration from the flying apsaras of China’s Dunhuang murals, those graceful, winged figures that seem to dance through air and imagination. It reminds me that the deep sea has always held a place in our collective human story, — not only in myths and art, but in the ways we relate to nature, learn from it, and find meaning within it.

Pasifika connection to the ocean

For us in the Pacific, the ocean is more than a body of water. It is our identity, our culture, our history. Our ancestors read the seas to navigate, to survive, to connect communities scattered across islands. Discoveries like this Dumbo octopus awaken something deeper in me, — a sense that the ocean is alive with stories and wisdom we are only beginning to rediscover. And with that understanding comes a responsibility to protect it.

Each new species like the Dumbo octopus, each glimpse into the deep, is a warning as much as it is a wonder. The creatures of the abyss live slow, deliberate lives in fragile ecosystems, shaped by balance and patience. Deep-sea mining, pollution, and climate change threaten to erase them before we even learn their names. Protecting the Pacific’s oceans is not an abstract act of conservation; it is an act of cultural preservation, of love for our home, and for the unseen life that sustains us all.

Grimpoteuthis feitiana is more than a scientific discovery. It is a reminder that the ocean is still full of life, mystery, and wisdom — and that we have a duty to ensure these depths remain wild, healthy, and alive, for us and for the generations yet to come.

Reflection by Raeed Ali
Pacific Community Mobiliser

The Ocean We’re Still Discovering