Queensland
In Queensland, about 95% of the pre-clearing extent of intertidal wetlands (between the high tide and low tide mark) remains. We have monitored changes in the extent of intertidal wetlands in Queensland since 2001.
The estimated historical loss of intertidal wetlands are unevenly distributed across drainage divisions and basins:
- 82% remains in the North East Coast non-Great Barrier Reef (non-GBR) division
- 88% remains in the North East Coast Great Barrier Reef (GBR) division
- close to 100% remains in the Gulf division.
From 2001 to 2019, ongoing losses continued, with the highest loss during 2001–2005, totalling 356ha, a rate of 89ha/yr. The highest rate of intertidal wetland loss was recorded during 2001–2005 (0.03%), mainly in the North East Coast (GBR) drainage division.
The 2017–2019 overall loss equated to 0.019% of the 2019 extent, with about 20ha of intertidal wetland extent was lost statewide.
- North East Coast (GBR) accounted for 2ha.
- North East Coast (non-GBR) for 12ha.
- Losses in the non-GBR division are mainly associated with infrastructure development in Southeast Queensland.
The estimated historic loss of intertidal wetlands has occurred mainly due to draining, development and bunding associated with converting intertidal to freshwater wetlands.
In addition to the drainage divisions, the ‘other’ category represented in the data includes islands within Queensland waters and discrepancies in the basin coverages and coastline.
Disclaimer: The State of the Environment Report 2024 (SoE2024) wetlands statistics are not comparable with previous SoE Report figures. The SoE2020 statistics are based on the most recently available wetlands and other updated data. The different versions of the wetlands mapping (e.g. 2016 – v4; 2020 – v5; 2024 – v6) and other datasets are not comparable due to many factors, such as updated source data and improved data capture methods. Therefore, differences between SoE reports do not reflect an actual wetland extent change on the ground. You can only compare statistics within each SoE Report.
