Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Tuesday that Australia will set aside at least 30% of its land mass for conservation in order to protect plants and animals on the island continent known for species found nowhere else in the world.
According to a five-year environmental report card released by the government in July, Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent and has one of the worst rates of species decline among the world’s richest countries.
The 10-year plan will be reviewed in 2027
According to the report, the number of species added to the list of threatened species or in a higher category of risk increased by 8% on average since the previous report in 2016.
“The need for action to protect our plants, animals, and ecosystems from extinction has never been greater,” Plibersek said in a statement.
Plibersek stated that by prioritizing 110 species and 20 locations, conservation areas will be increased by 50 million hectares. The 10-year plan will be reviewed in 2027.
The Australian government has pledged A$224.5 million to help protect Australia’s threatened native plants and animals
The federal Labor government, which was recently elected, has pledged A$224.5 million ($146 million) to help protect Australia’s threatened native plants and animals.
Australia, the world’s sixth largest country by land area, is home to unique animals such as koalas and platypus, though their numbers have been declining due to extreme weather events and human encroachment into their habitats.
Koalas along much of Australia’s east coast were listed as endangered in February after nature experts estimated that the country had lost 30% of its koalas in the previous four years.
Australia has recently been battered by frequent extreme weather events, including the devastating bushfires in the east in 2019 and 2020, which killed 33 people, and billions of animals, and burned an area nearly half the size of Germany.
Australia has more than 1,900 listed threatened species
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia applauded the government’s conservation efforts, but urged officials to go even further and invest in time-bound recovery plans for all threatened species.
“Australia has more than 1,900 listed threatened species. This plan picks 110 winners. It’s unclear how it will help our other ‘non-priority’ threatened species,” said Rachel Lowry, WWF-Australia’s chief conservation officer.
