“Australian Wildlife Conservancy welcomes the federal government’s new 10-year Threatened Species Strategy. The government’s renewed commitment and investment in conservation is a positive step towards protecting Australia’s precious biodiversity,” says Tim Allard, Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).
The Morrison Government has released a ten-year blueprint for protecting Australia’s biodiversity, establishing a national prioritisation framework for threatened species that targets a broader range of species, focusses on key native habitat, and drives the development of new technologies.
The Threatened Species Strategy 2021-2031 draws on the lessons of the 2019-20 Bushfires to identify and adapt to sudden threats from an increase in natural disasters, calls for a more coordinated approach to culling feral pest animals and weeds that are pushing species to extinction and plans for the deployment of new monitoring technologies including drones and environmental DNA.
Mr Allard says the trajectory for threatened species is on a rapid decline and the government needs to ensure the forthcoming 5-year Action Plans outline clear and committed actions on the ground.
“Goals and commitments to protecting and recovering Australia’s 1,800 threatened species need to be defined up front and actioned accordingly.”
