We've crunched the numbers on recent land clearing applications and found record levels of deforestation being approved by the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government.
Imagine if Darwin's entire urban footprint – every street, every suburb, every park – simply vanished overnight. Now double that. That's exactly what the Northern Territory has lost in native vegetation during the first half of 2025.
Our analysis has revealed the CLP government has approved the destruction of almost 26,000 hectares of native bush in just six months. To put this into a perspective that hits home – it's twice the size of Darwin itself, or equivalent to clearing the Sydney CBD 90 times over.
The government is on track to approve the destruction of more than 45,000 hectares of native vegetation by the end of the year.
Lack of oversight and accountability
The Pastoral Land Board, chaired by former cotton lobbyist Paul Burke, approved the permits under the Pastoral Land Act. Pastoral leases cover approximately 45% of the NT’s landmass.
The system is at crisis point in the Northern Territory, with a board stacked with pastoral and farming interests routinely approving the bulldozing of a natural icon on a massive scale without rigorous environmental scrutiny.
“It’s horrifying that more than 24,000 hectares of vegetation could be approved for bulldozing without even being considered by Australia’s Federal Environment Minister," Environment Centre NT Executive Direct Kirsty Howey said.
"The CLP is unleashing an environmental catastrophe, approving more deforestation in six months than has been approved in any one year in the last decade.”
Savanna on a path towards collapse
The permits were approved in the same week that three of the nation’s leading ecologists warned that the Territory’s tropical savannas and wildlife populations are on a path towards collapse.
Daly River at risk from Claravale bulldozing
On 13 June, the board also approved a permit to clear 3271.3 hectares of vegetation at Claravale Station, which includes one of only six confirmed maternity roosts for ghost bats in the whole of the Territory.
We're urging Australia's new Environment Minister, Murray Watt, to call in this land clearing for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999.
Above: Tropical savanna at Claravale Station
Still time to save habitat around Cutta Cutta Caves
We've also made a submission about plans to bulldoze precious foraging and breeding habitat for threatened species only four kilometres from the beautiful Cutta Cutta caves.
A quasi-government entity, the NT Land Corporation, plans to bulldoze almost 1000 hectares of habitat, but little is known about the NT Land Corporation and how it works.
If approved, the bulldozing could cause pollution to seep into the Tindall Limestone Aquifer, which feeds crystal-clear springs at Mataranka and Bitter Springs.
Who knows how many rare Ghost Bats, Gouldian finches, Water Monitors and Black Footed Tree Rats will perish when this Country is bulldozed.
Australia's Environment Minister needs to step in
The Northern Territory contains species richness to rival the Amazon Basin, and yet no NT land clearing application has ever been referred for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act.