The federal government has outlined its plan to arrest Australia's disturbing environmental decline with a plan to prevent any further extinctions and pull imperilled species back from the brink.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is in Sydney to release a 10-year action plan to save some of the species in danger of vanishing forever.
It initially targets 110 priority plants and animals, and 20 places of extraordinary natural value including Kangaroo and Norfolk islands and Kakadu.
It's hoped that aiding the recovery of those species, and building resilience into those places, will also boost the fortunes of other threatened species.
The plan comes less than three months after Ms Plibersek released the five-yearly State of the Environment report, which laid bare what's already been lost and what could follow.
It found the environment is sick and getting sicker with almost every ecosystem ailing. It said Australia was the mammal extinction capital of the world.
And it warned some of the nation's flagship species could vanish without profound changes to environmental safeguards.
Ms Plibersek has promised to radically rework the nation's environmental protection laws, while acting to prevent any further losses.
But the release of the threatened species action plan came with a sting - news that 15 more species and three ecological communities have joined the threatened list.
The plan's ambitions include the prevention of any further extinctions and the recovery of imperilled species, including through the protection and conservation of at least 30 per cent of Australia's land mass.
Independent scientists were responsible for choosing the 110 priority species, including koalas, wombats, multiple species of possum, the red-tailed black cockatoo, the Australian sea lion and the brush-tailed rock-wallaby.
Fish, frogs, reptiles and 30 plants are also on the list, and the list of 20 priority places includes the Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps, Kakadu and West Arnhem, Tasmania's giant kelp forests and Kangaroo and Norfolk islands.
"Our current approach has not been working. If we keep doing what we've been doing, we'll keep getting the same results. Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world," the minister said on Tuesday.
"The need for action has never been greater. By prioritising 110 species and 20 places, the plan will drive action where it is needed most and will deliver flow-on benefits to other threatened plants and animals in the same habitats."
New species added to the threatened list include the parma wallaby, a small rock-dwelling species found along the Great Dividing Range and the western beautiful firetail, which took a huge hit in the Kangaroo Island bushfires.
The three new threatened ecological communities include the Mount Kaputar land snail and slug community, which is now listed as endangered.
Only known to be found at Mt Kaputar in northern NSW, the community features the iconic Kaputar giant pink slug.
It is threatened by feral pigs, climate change and was extensively affected by the 2019 bushfires.
Australian Associated Press
