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.”
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“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.”
The number of species added to the list of threatened species or in a higher category of threat grew 8 per cent from the previous report in 2016 and would rise sharply as a result of the bush fires that hit in 2019-2020.
Spending of around A$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) a year is required to revive threatened species, the report said, adding that the previous government’s targeted spending for threatened species was A$49.6 million.
Australia’s average land temperatures have increased by 1.4 degrees Celsius since the early 20th century.
“Sea levels continue to rise faster than the global average and threaten coastal communities,” the report said, adding that “Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent” and “our inability to adequately manage pressures will continue to result in species extinctions”.
Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Deakin University Euan Ritchie said in a statement the report confirmed the “grim reality of Australia’s utter failure of environmental and conservation stewardship.”
“These events are all symptomatic of governments and society not acting on the science and evidence to sufficiently address key threats to biodiversity and promote a more sustainable future,” he said.
If we ignore the warnings of this report then iconic species like koalas … will disappear forever on our watch
While coral reef health is declining because of marine heatwaves, the report also highlighted the threat of ocean acidification, caused by absorption of carbon dioxide from the air, which it said was nearing a tipping point that would cause the decline of coral juveniles that are key to reef recovery.
“The findings of this report are heartbreaking, and the leadership failures that have led to loss at this scale devastating,” said WWF-Australia acting chief executive Rachel Lowry.
“If we ignore the warnings of this report then iconic species like koalas across eastern Australia, or our largest gliding mammal, the greater glider, will disappear forever on our watch.”
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WWF-Australia said the report should be a “turning point” that led to greater investment and stronger laws to protect Australia’s wildlife and wilderness.
Lowry urged the new government to act quickly, condemning existing environmental legislation for “failing miserably” to protect threatened species.
“When we allow losses at this scale, we don’t just lose a piece of Australia’s identity, we lose the opportunity to ensure a healthy, thriving economy alongside some of the world’s most precious natural assets,” she said.
One of the report’s authors, Emma Johnson, deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Sydney, told ABC Radio that Australia had a “biodiversity crisis” and a “climate crisis”, both of which needed urgent action from the government and the community.
Johnson said the decision by the former government to delay the release of the report by seven months had delayed “action by seven months”.
The “devastating” new report showed coasts and marine environments were deteriorating, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said.
“The well-being of Australians is wrapped up with the health of our oceans, and the marine wildlife found there, but sadly our oceans are suffering from overheating, overuse and under-protection,” said the society’s chief executive, Darren Kindleysides.
“We need to do more now, or we put at risk everything we rely on our oceans for – our health, well-being, livelihoods and our culture.”
Scientists and environmental groups said the report was a wake-up call for the new Labor government to step up carbon emissions reductions to curb climate change, overhaul laws to protect habitat and invest more money to protect species.
“There is no more time to waste,” said Jim Radford, a research fellow at La Trobe University.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg
