Southeast Australia
The southeast corner of Australia – a continent where nearly half the bird species are found nowhere else on Earth – holds giant eucalyptus forests with some of the tallest trees in the world. As climate change drives a spike in Australia’s forest fires, the carbon sequestered in trees is often just a spark away from being released into the atmosphere. Listen to a region on the edge.
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The eucalyptus forests of southeast Australia are the most carbon-dense in the world in terms of biomass above the ground. The megafires that whipped through Australia in 2019 and 2020 destroyed parts of this subtropical ecosystem, which is particularly vulnerable because of its dry conditions and oil-rich foliage.
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The province of New South Wales in southeast Australia has the highest proportion of the country’s Aboriginal population. One group, the Gumbaynggirr, has recently protested logging in Nambucca State Forest, a coastal old‑growth forest full of owls, koalas and possums that was spared by the recent fires.
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Record‑breaking temperatures, long droughts and strong winds — all related to climate change — have exacerbated forest fires in Australia. These megafires are threatening the eucalyptus forest in the southeast corner of the country, one of the largest carbon‑storing forests in the world. In 2019 and 2020, fires in Australia impacted an area of 37 million hectares (91 million acres) containing more than 450 million metric tons of irrecoverable carbon.
Just 3.3% of Earth’s land contains half of our irrecoverable carbon ecosystems. We must protect these lands in order to prevent a climate disaster. Please join us in taking a stand for nature and each other.