Don Driscoll and colleagues write in The Conversation (21.3.17) that the federal government’s charity drive for threatened Australian animal species shows it’s unwilling to invest what’s needed to prevent extinction.
‘Southern cassowaries, orange-bellied parrots, Leadbeater’s possums, and Australia’s only purple wattle are among the threatened species the government is seeking conservation investment for under its recently released threatened species prospectus. The prospectus seeks business and philanthropic support in partnership with the government and community groups to raise around A$14 million each year.
‘The government has proposed 51 projects, costing from A$45,000 to A$6 million. At first glance the prospectus is a positive initiative.
‘But it also highlights that the current government is unwilling to invest what’s needed to assure the conservation of our threatened plants, animals and other organisms.’
- Government needs to front up billions, not millions, to save Australia’s threatened species »
- By slashing environment spending, the government is slashing opportunities »
- Australia’s draft ‘Strategy for nature’ doesn’t cut it. Here are nine ways to fix it »
- Why we are measuring the health of Australian vegetation poorly »
- Feral cat cull: why the 2 million target is on scientifically shaky ground »
- An end to endings: how to stop more Australian species going extinct »
- ‘Revolutionary change’ needed to stop unprecedented global extinction crisis »
- ‘Not adequate’: experts rate Australian political response to extinction crisis »
- Fixing Australia’s extinction crisis means thinking bigger than individual species »
- We must rip up our environmental laws to address the extinction crisis »
- Letter by 240 leading scientists calls on Scott Morrison to stem extinction crisis »
- What is a ‘mass extinction’ and are we in one now? »
- Extinction crisis: native mammals are disappearing in Northern Australia, but few people are watching »
- We identified the 63 animals most likely to go extinct by 2041. We can’t give up on them yet »
- Wildlife recovery spending after Australia’s last megafires was one-thirteenth the $2.7 billion needed »
Australia’s threatened species plan has failed on several counts. Without change, more extinctions are assured
Euan Ritchie and Ayesha Tulloch write in The Conversation (1.7.21) about the federal government’s plans for protecting Australia’s threatened species, suggesting that the approach is short-sighted and insufficient.
‘Australia is globally renowned for its abysmal conservation record – in roughly 230 years we’ve overseen the extinction of more mammal species than any other nation. The federal government’s Threatened Species Strategy was meant to address this confronting situation.
‘The final report on the five-year strategy has just been published. In it, Threatened Species Commissioner Dr Sally Box acknowledges while the plan had some important wins, it fell short in several areas, writing: “…there is much more work to do to ensure our native plants and animals thrive into the future, and this will require an ongoing collective effort.”
‘Clearly, Australia must urgently chart a course towards better environmental and biodiversity outcomes. That means reflecting honestly on our successes and failures so far.’
- Australia’s threatened species plan has failed on several counts. Without change, more extinctions are assured »
- A season in hell: bushfires push at least 20 threatened species closer to extinction »
- A billion animals: some of the species most at risk from Australia’s bushfire crisis »
- When introduced species are cute and loveable, culling them is a tricky proposition »
- National parks are for native wildlife, not feral horses: federal court »
- Scientists fear Coalition’s push to deregulate environmental approvals will lead to extinction crisis »
- It’s not too late to save them: 5 ways to improve the government’s plan to protect threatened wildlife »
- The 50 beautiful Australian plants at greatest risk of extinction – and how to save them »
- Australia’s threatened species protections are being rewritten. But what’s really needed is money and legal teeth »
- Coalition proposes to scrap recovery plans for 200 endangered species and habitats »
- Australia’s threatened species plan sends in the ambulances but ignores glaring dangers »
- Humans are driving animals and plants to the edge. But are we really heading into a mass extinction? »
- National parks are not enough – we need landholders to protect threatened species on their property »
- Australia’s next government must tackle our collapsing ecosystems and extinction crisis »
- ‘Tragic legacy of extinction’: Australia graded F in biodiversity by WWF »
- Labor’s plan to save threatened species is an improvement – but it’s still well short of what we need »