Australia’s ‘utter failure’ on conservation, environment exposed in ‘disturbing’ government report
- The government report card found not a single indicator of ecological well-being had improved and warned that more species were headed for extinction
- One of the five-yearly report’s authors said Australia was facing a dual biodiversity and climate crisis, both of which required urgent action
Some animals such as the blue-tailed skink are now only known to exist in captivity, while the central rock-rat and Christmas Island flying fox are among mammals considered most at risk of extinction in the next 20 years, largely due to introduced predator species. The sandalwood tree is also in decline.
The report, which found not a single indicator of Australia’s ecological well-being had improved since 2016, said increasing temperatures, changing fire and rainfall trends, rising sea levels and ocean acidification were all having significant effects that would persist.
“The State of the Environment Report is a shocking document – it tells a story of crisis and decline in Australia’s environment,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement, adding that the new Labor government would make the environment a priority. “I won’t be putting my head in the sand.”
“The report is indeed very disturbing reading,” Plibersek said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It says that our environment is in a poor state and its getting worse and if we don’t change the laws and the systems that we have to protect it, that decline will continue.”