The Australian Government recognises the importance of biodiversity conservation and, in collaboration with states and territories, has set a national framework for biodiversity conservation over the next decade. Australia’s Strategy for Nature guides how governments, the community, industry and scientists manage and protect Australia's plants, animals and ecosystems until 2030. Visit Australia’s Nature Hub to view the Strategy and to see how actions under it are being implemented on the ground.
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of all species on earth. It is the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes, and the terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems of which they are a part.
Biodiversity is both essential for our existence and intrinsically valuable in its own right.
This is because biodiversity provides the fundamental building blocks for the many goods and services a healthy environment provides. These include things that are fundamental to our health, like clean air, fresh water and food products, as well as the many other products such as timber and fibre.
Other important services provided by our biodiversity include recreational, cultural and spiritual nourishment that maintain our personal and social wellbeing. Looking after our biodiversity is therefore an important task for all people.
Over the last 200 years Australia has suffered the largest documented decline in biodiversity of any continent. Despite efforts to manage threats and pressures to biodiversity in Australia, it is still in decline.
The main threats to our biodiversity are:
- loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat
- the spread of invasive species
- unsustainable use of natural resources
- climate change
- inappropriate fire regimes
- changes to the aquatic environment and water flows
Australian environment legislation - EPBC Act
The Australian Government has responsibilities for biodiversity conservation through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) - the Australian Government's key piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places - defined in the Act as matters of national environmental significance.
National Landcare Program
The Australian Government’s National Landcare Program will invest $1 billion over the next four years to help drive sustainable agriculture as well as supporting the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of Australia’s natural environment.
The National Landcare Program merges previous funding initiatives into one simple program that puts Landcare back at the centre of natural resource management.
Across Australia, the National Landcare Program will support sustainable land management practices to deliver long-term benefits to our communities, our environment, our economy and our country.
The objective of the Environmental Stewardship Program was to maintain and improve the quality and extent of targeted high public value environmental assets on private land.
The National Reserve System is a nation-wide network of reserves especially set up to protect Australia's unique natural environment for current and future generations.
Conservation on private land
The Australian Government recognises that conservation of biodiversity on private land is an important way to protect Australia's biodiversity.
State and territory governments and local governments also provide conservation incentives to private land holders.
Conservation incentives encourage or motivate people to participate in conservation activities. Incentives can be financial or non-financial in nature, and are typically offered by governments as part of an environmental program. Some incentives are linked to: management plans, placing covenants on land, conservation agreements, or to other permanent protection tools such as formal reservation.
Australian Government Incentives
- EPBC Act Conservation Agreements are agreements between the Australian Government Environment Minister and another person for the protection and conservation of biodiversity in an area of land or sea.
- The Department of the Environment has responsibility for a number of administrative arrangements relating to taxation concessions that seek to conserve and protect the natural environment.
- Tender based approaches and auctions for conservation payments are a new way to deliver funding to community groups and individuals for conservation works.
Other mechanisms
- Conservation covenants are voluntary agreements made between a landholder and an authorised body (such as a Covenant Scheme Provider) that aims to protect and enhance the natural, cultural and/or scientific values of certain land.
- Revolving Funds are joint Australian Government-state government investments which set aside money for the purpose of purchasing properties with natural or cultural values, placing a conservation covenant on the title and reselling the land to conservation-minded people. The proceeds from the sale of properties are used to buy more properties and sell them with a conservation covenant in place.
- Local government rate rebates and other incentives. Contact your local government for more information.
- Trading and offset schemes.
National Wildlife Corridors Plan
Information about the National Wildlife Corridors Plan is available in the National Library's Australian Governement Web Archive.