Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) Woody Vegetation Change Report 

The Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) monitors woody vegetation extent and changes in Queensland using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery as its primary tool. This dataset provides annual summaries of woody vegetation clearing and regrowth from the 2018–19 reporting period onward, aligning with an updated Sentinel-2-based methodology introduced in 2018.

The data is presented as annual time series summaries, with each year’s data corresponding to a nominal August-to-August reporting period. Summary statistics are provided at the state-wide scale, as well as for administrative boundaries, natural resource management regions and divisions, and other authoritative datasets.

This multi-year dataset includes data from the 2018–19 onwards SLATS reporting periods. It supersedes and is not directly comparable with SLATS data published for reporting periods up to and including 2017–18, due to a methodological change. Note that regrowth was not reported in 2018–19; values for regrowth in that year are represented as zero in the dataset. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

SLATS supports the Vegetation Management Framework in Queensland and a range of biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, and natural disaster policies, planning and initiatives. 

This dataset is derived from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and processed using the post-2018 SLATS methodology. Annual changes in woody vegetation extent are detected and summarised spatially and statistically. A detailed explanation of the change detection approach is available in the SLATS methodology documentation.