An Australian cattle industry lobby group has released its definition of deforestation, in an attempt to seek exemptions for agricultural lands from upcoming EU rules.

On Monday, Cattle Australia (CA) published the Land Management Commitment (LMC), arguing that lands that have been legally cleared under Australian law should be exempt from the EU’s deforestation law.

Since its adoption in June last year, the deforestation law has sparked discussions among global industry groups and governments. In May, Australia claimed that an additional two years would be necessary to prepare regulators and producers.

According to CA, EU rules are “unfair” since international deforestation definitions are “not aligned with Australian legislation”.

Australia is estimated to export more than A$100 billion-worth of beef annually, with environmental groups accusing the sector of being among the driving forces behind deforestation in the country.

CA, which represents the interests of all 52,000 Australian grass-fed beef producers, has been working on the LMC document for most of 2024, with the group releasing a draft in July for consultation.

KEY DEFINITIONS

Under the CA’s LMC, developed with local stakeholders, deforestation is defined as:

“The illegal clearing of trees on land, used for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, that violates vegetation management laws and where trees exceed forest thresholds.”

The document also provides a definition of a forest:

“An area, incorporating all living and non-living components, dominated by trees having usually a single stem and a mature or potentially mature stand height exceeding two metres, and with existing or potential crown cover of overstorey strata about equal to or greater than 20%.”

Forests do not include land that is predominantly under agricultural use, CA’s document stated, claiming that, in Australia, grass-fed beef production predominantly takes place on agricultural lands.

Chris Parker, CEO of CA, said Australian producers already abide by some of the strictest vegetation management laws in the world.

“Australia has more than 136 existing vegetation laws embedded in state, territory, and federal legislation that protects the environment and biodiversity, representative of the complexity of the 89 bioregions within the Australian landscape,” he said.

“As custodians of more than 50% of the country’s land mass, the Australian grass-fed beef industry grazes on 325 million hectares of native vegetation and over 46 mln ha of modified pastures.”

CA devised a decision tool to help producers assess whether their production takes place on agricultural land or within lands defined as forests under Australia’s National Forest Inventory.

Source: Cattle Australia

RECOMMENDATIONS

The document also included four recommendations that CA said could improve the industry’s sustainability:

• The Australian government should manage an accurate and annually updated national dataset to demonstrate satellite mapping of agricultural land use and biodiversity
• An alignment between national and international standards must be ensured to support producers in maintaining access to both domestic and international markets
• Producers must be supported in measuring and reporting on biodiversity impacts through improving access to low to no-cost tools and resources
• Sustainable development plans must be developed to safeguard food security, regional economies, communities, and local ecosystems

“These definitions and recommendations are simply a means to ensure we maintain our world-leading reputation and can respond to the changing market access requirements,” Parker stated.

Demand for deforestation-free products from the supply chain is progressively increasing also in Australia.

Last month, Australian supermarket giant Woolworths Group announced it would stop selling beef and other commodities linked to deforestation by the end of next year, in accordance with Science-Based Targets Initiative, with environmental groups welcoming the announcement.

By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com

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