ABSTRACT
Land clearing, done primarily to increase food production and exploit forest products, has provided great benefit for humankind. The area cleared has increased inexorably since the mid-twentieth century. The commercial rewards have come at a high cost to biodiversity loss, animal welfare, climate change, land degradation and emerging infectious diseases like Ebola, SARS-CoV-2, HIV and Hendra. The consequences have cost trillions of dollars. Some land-use practices undertaken by previous generations, without knowledge of their consequences, are now recognised for the damage they can cause. This chapter examines the One Welfare impact of land clearing and its interconnectedness with wildlife, habitat, biodiversity, land title, legislative control, gender balance and historic drivers. The discussion draws on Australian examples but the principles are international. A humaneness assessment model is used to evaluate wildlife suffering of animals directly impacted by rural and peri-urban clearing. The historic narrative shows how we arrived in the position we are in and discusses opportunities to move beyond the current issues to a sustainable future.
