Australia Documents Unparalleled Species Loss

The report says such a record of species loss is "unparalleled" elsewhere in the world. There are 2,891 individual ecosystems identified as at risk. Of the 85 identified bioregions across the nation, 94 percent include at least one threatened ecosystem, the government assessment shows.

Land clearing is the greatest threat to Australia's biodiversity, according to the assessment, titled the "Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002." Other threats include salinity, overgrazing, feral pests, poor fire regimes, and firewood collection.

Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Dr. David Kemp said the report shows the need for "urgent action on vegetation clearing." Since the states are responsible for regulating land clearing, Kemp called the report a "warning to the states which have the legislative power to act." The minister said he was "pleased and optimistic" about recent discussions between the Commonwealth and the Queensland, Tasmania and New South Wales governments on vegetation management.

The environment ministry highlighted the audited fact that 9.2 percent of Australia's landscape is protected under the National Reserve System as compared to seven percent in 1996, and this protected area has increased to 10.08 percent since the report was prepared last year.

But Australia's largest conservation organization warned that the island continent is facing an "extinction crisis." John Conner, the campaigns director for the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), said April 23, "Past generations may have sleepwalked through extinctions like that of the Tasmanian Tiger. We are about to do it with our eyes wide open. Unless we and our governments act now, future generations will rightly hold us responsible for the conscious loss of our natural heritage."

Twenty-two Australian mammals have become extinct in the last 200 years, a third of the world's recent extinctions, the audit shows, and a further eight species can now only be found on islands.

At least 1,595 native plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, including some types of gum trees and wattles. Whole bushland ecosystems are at risk, from the Coolibah woodlands of Queensland to Western Australia's heathlands.

Even Northern Australia, previously thought to be relatively untouched, is showing signs of severe degradation, the ACF points out, with native mammal species like bandicoots and wallabies crashing in the Kimberley region and the Top End of the Northern Territory.

The regions identified as threatened by ecosystem loss extend to the Cape York peninsula, to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, and to the Kimberley area of Australia, its wild rivers populated by crocodiles, often called the last frontier.

The report outlines recommendations to stop the losses of native species. Halting land clearing should be a first priority, along with completing the national system of parks and protecting Northern Australia.

"Our governments need to decide right now to take this report seriously, and act on it," said Connor.

"We have been acting like gate crashers at a giant biological party," Connor said. "We've been reveling in the natural abundance of Australia and using it for our economic benefit. But now the hangover is kicking in, and it's time to clean up."

Kemp says the government is making an "unprecedented investment in the sustainable management of our environment and natural resources" through the A$2.7 billion Natural Heritage Trust and the A$1.4 billion National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ). This joint program with the states and territories is delivering "real grassroots results and environmental benefits in partnership with local communities," the minister said.

Under the Natural Heritage Trust, almost 400,000 Australian volunteers have so far participated in over 12,000 projects which have seen 546,900 hectares of native vegetation protected by fencing and/or legal covenant; 127,800 hectares of degraded remnants rehabilitated by fencing, weed control, and replanting; and 98,510 hectares of predominantly cleared land replanted with native vegetation species, the environment ministry says.

But the Australian Conservation Foundation says that while the federal government has spent over one billion dollars on repairing the environment under the Natural Heritage Trust, for every tree planted with this money by community volunteers, 100 more are bulldozed. Australia needs national laws to control land clearing and protect bushlands for future generations to enjoy, urges the conservation organization.

Kemp said raising public awareness of threats to Australia's natural species is key to protecting them. "One of our key challenges is raising awareness of the need to incorporate biodiversity objectives into land and water management practices that protect native plants and animals while maintaining the sustainable productivity of the land," he said.

The new biodiversity assessment will be a valuable tool for regional bodies planning on the ground conservation actions through programs such as the Natural Heritage Trust and NAPSWQ.

The ACF is less optomistic. It is possible to control the biodiversity loss, the organization says, but only if nature conservation is placed high on the agenda of federal, state and territory governments and significant funding is put towards protecting intact bush lands and whole ecosystems.

In newly threatened northern Australia, governments must avoiding the mistakes made in southern Australia, the ACF cautions, by developing a new, ecologically and culturally appropriate approach to land use and regional development in partnership with local people and Traditional Owners.