Page 1420 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
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The international Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services predicts that a million species will be threatened with extinction globally over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, it is Australia that has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world.
Australia’s wildlife has suffered an extraordinary rate of extinction—approximately 10 per cent of the 273 endemic mammals over the last 200 years. A further 21 per cent of Australia’s endemic mammals are now assessed as threatened. Likewise 2.2 per cent of Australia’s birds are now extinct, with a further 11.8 per cent that are threatened.
This is happening right now, in our own city. In the ACT there are currently 53 species and three ecological communities listed as threatened under the Nature Conservation Act. This means that they have been assessed as likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future. Six of these species are endemic and found nowhere else. Their very existence is in our hands.
Key threats to nature, as highlighted earlier, are loss of habitat and invasive species, known as biosecurity threats. These two threats have caused a vast majority of Australia’s biodiversity loss, with climate change escalating the scale and impact of these existing threats.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, to which Australia is a signatory, lists the spread of invasive species as a major driver of biodiversity loss. Predation by introduced predators, including foxes and cats, has resulted in the extinction of a critical weight range of fauna across Australia. Research in Canberra has highlighted that, even with extensive fox control, the recovery of keystone species like bettongs is compromised by fox predation. Additionally, a Canberra research project estimated that free roaming but owned Canberra cats predated on 61,000 native birds, 2,000 native mammals, 30,000 native reptiles and 6,000 native frogs each year. That is why we have consulted with the community on options to address the impact of cats. Later this year we will be finalising this work and presenting the ACT cat plan.
A similar story exists for invasive plants and their impact on threatened plants and ecosystems. But it is much more than a biodiversity issue. This is threatening our lives and livelihoods. Australia’s biosecurity system is a trade and economic asset. It underpins $59 billion in agricultural production, $45 billion of agricultural exports and $38 billion in inbound tourism. National biosecurity efforts also protect human health, social amenity and help maintain Australia’s environmental assets—the latter estimated to be worth over $6 trillion in 2016.
Responding to the biosecurity risks, the ACT government invests in excess of $4 million annually to manage invasive species. This is not because we want to; it is because we have to. Targeting new and emerging species and species impacting high-value assets assists in the recovery of biodiversity. We are also working towards a new consolidated biosecurity bill and revising the ACT’s invasive plants strategy and methods of reporting on the outcomes of our invasive species control programs.
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