New South Wales (NSW) is a global hotspot for deforestation, with the latest government figures showing landowners cleared land equivalent to almost twice the size of the Australian Capital Territory over the five years to 2023. The figures from the annual NSW Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS), out on Friday, show landowners cleared 420,000 hectares of native vegetation from January 2018 to December 2022. More than 45,000 hectares of native vegetation were destroyed in 2022, including 21,131 hectares of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) and 24,121 hectares of non-woody vegetation (grasslands, ferns and ground cover). …In 2023, World Wide Fund for Nature ranked NSW last out of all nine states and territories for protecting and restoring trees. Victoria ranked third, while Tasmania and Queensland were seventh and eighth. …NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said: “This report shows that land clearing in NSW remains too high. The NSW government is committed to turning this around.”