Australia Works At Protecting Its Local Species By Allotting 30 Percent Of Land Mass For Them

Telegraph

Australia is most known for its beautiful beaches and pristine land. Varieties of species reside there, untouched and protected from the dangers of human intervention. However, with growth and technology also comes the expansion of commercial areas.

The whole world has been cutting down trees to give way to new buildings and establishments. This means that many animals have been uprooted and have lost homes along the way. Fortunately, Australia has found a way to save these creatures, and we hope that the rest of the world follow suit.

Australia has joined the United States and several other countries as they work hard to preserve the environment and save their animals. The country’s officials have made a commitment to preserve a total of 30 percent of the continent’s landmass and make sure it stays in a natural state for conservation  purposes.


This wonderful news was announced just recently and it came from Environment Minster Tanya Plibersek. She said that this was part of a program called the Threatened Species Action Plan: Towards Zero Extinctions.

They are able to execute this by prioritizing 110 species and 20 places. With it, the plan will drive action in areas that need it the most. More importantly, this will provide knock-on benefits to other threatened plants and animals who share the same habitats.

The said plan is part of the country’s counterpart to the “30×30” initiative that has become popular with other countries. This came out of the COP26 commitments to preserve at least 30 percent of lands and waters by the year 2030.

What gives this so much potential is the fact that Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the planet. In fact, many of their animals, particularly the mammals, are only found in this continent.

“The Threatened Species Action Plan strengthens our commitment to stopping the extinction of Australia’s plants and animals. These are the strongest targets we’ve ever seen,” Plibersek shared. 

“The Threatened Species Action Plan strengthens our commitment to stopping the extinction of Australia’s plants and animals,” said Plibersek. “Based on input from researchers and experts from the community, this plan identifies 20 priority places and 110 priority species and will guide recovery actions that will benefit a broad range of threatened species and their habitats.”

“Our native wildlife continues to be threatened by climate change, by natural disasters, by feral predators, and by human activity. The Black Summer bushfires in particular have seen devastating results for many species. We are determined to give wildlife a better chance. Listing species as threatened under national environment law is a critical step in protecting the species and habitats in need of urgent help. Our current approach has not been working. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll keep getting the same results. Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world. The need for action has never been greater,” she also added.

The plan was announced with the other 20 listings of species and 3 of ecosystems on their threatened list, and AUD$224 million (around USD$146 million) in total funding to protect them.


A whopping 50 million hectares are expected to be given as part of the plan. The said plan also makes a 5-year review mandatory to make it even more effective. The goal is to save the species that they have and to make sure that their efforts are sustained in the future.

Also just recently, Australian conservationists seen impressive results with certain goals that they made, particularly with the protection or restoration of island ecosystems such as Macquarie Island. This was home to almost 300,000 rabbits that were eradicated. They wanted to restore its natural ecosystem. Another example would be Lord Howe Island which had a similar story. This time, the problem they had was with the rats that lived there. Both areas have now become a part of the UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites.

As for the extreme northern area of Queensland, environmentally sensitive areas are continuously returned to indigenous hands. These lands will be  managed as national parks. At this point in time, these kinds of transfers have totaled to almost 4.7 million hectares.

A lot can be said about the efforts Australia has made to protect its beautiful land, and the world can expect great success because of their hard work and their commitment to making their country a natural and safe habitat for their creatures.

 

 

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