2015
Update as at April 2016
Australia is home to some of the world's most unique animals and plants. More than 80 per cent of our mammals and 90 per cent of our trees, ferns and shrubs occur nowhere else on earth.
Since European settlement, over 130 of our known species have become extinct: lost to us and to the world forever. Now is the time to work together and act to stop the decline.
The Australian Government’s long-term goal is to recover our threatened plants and animals. Our Threatened Species Strategy outlines a national approach to achieve this.
Saving our threatened plants and animals requires teamwork. This strategy shows how all Australians can join the fight against extinction.
Working smarter and harder
The Australian Government’s national approach to threatened species protection is based on science, action and partnership.
We use and support the best science available to make sure the actions we choose are most likely to make a difference, including investing $30 million through the National Environmental Science Programme.
We are supporting communities to take practical action, streamlining our regulatory framework, setting targets, and monitoring results.
We are creating partnerships with governments, recovery teams, landholders, Indigenous Australians, businesses, Landcare groups and the broader community to save our plants and animals.
We have appointed a Threatened Species Commissioner and have already invested more than $200 million in projects with threatened species outcomes.
The Australian Government has a five-year Action Plan, with on-ground actions and measurable targets to turn around the decline of our threatened species.
Leveraging existing and new investment, the Action Plan’s areas are:
- Tackling feral cats
- Creating safe havens for species most at risk
- Improving habitat
- Intervening in emergencies to avert extinctions.
Success depends on strong partnerships. We all have a role to play in the fight against extinction.
Clear targets with regular benchmarks allow us to measure our progress.
Species Endemic to Australia - 94% of Frogs, 93% of Reptiles, 92% of Plants, 87% of Mammals, 45% of Birds, 24% of Fish
Tackling feral cats and their impacts by 2020
- 2 million feral cats culled across Australia
- Feral cats eradicated from 5 new islands
- 10 new feral cat free mainland exclosures established
- 10 million hectares of feral cat action, using the best techniques for each location
- Best practice feral cat action implemented across 2 million hectares of Commonwealth land.
20 mammals by 2020
- 20 priority mammals to have improved population trajectories by 2020, with actions underway to meet each of these within three years.
The 20 mammals identified for action are:
- Numbat
- Mala
- Mountain pygmy-possum
- Greater bilby
- Golden bandicoot
- Brush-tailed rabbit-rat
- Eastern bettong
- Western quoll
- Kangaroo Island dunnart
- Eastern barred bandicoot
- Leadbeater’s possum
- Central rock-rat
- Gilbert’s potoroo
- Western ringtail possum
- Black-footed rock-wallaby
- Eastern quoll
- Woylie
- Northern hopping mouse
- Christmas Island flying-fox
- Mahogany glider.
Focusing our effort – principles for prioritisation
Prioritising resources ensures the greatest benefit from each dollar invested.
The Australian Government’s principles for prioritisation identify and compare where our investments can make the most difference. They include whether or not the species is listed as nationally threatened, unique, important to the environment and the community, and whether the action is supported by science, is likely to succeed, offers value for money and can achieve multiple positive outcomes.
20 birds by 2020
- 20 priority birds to have improved population trajectories by 2020, with actions underway to meet each of these within three years
The 20 birds identified for action are:
- Norfolk Island green parrot
- Mallee emu-wren
- Plains wanderer
- Alligator Rivers yellow chat
- Night parrot
- Helmeted honeyeater
- Norfolk Island boobook owl
- Hooded plover
- Eastern bristlebird
- Regent honeyeater
- Orange-bellied parrot
- Western ground parrot
- Southern cassowary
- Swift parrot
- Australasian bittern
- White-throated grasswren
- Golden-shouldered parrot
- Malleefowl
- Eastern curlew
- Red-tailed black cockatoo (south-eastern).
Protecting Australia’s plants by 2020
- 100 per cent of Australia’s known threatened plant species stored in one or more of Australia’s conservation seed banks
- Recovery actions underway for at least 50 plants and at least 60 threatened ecological community sites
- At least 30 priority plant species have improved trajectories
- At least 80 per cent of projects funded through the 20 Million Trees and Green Army Programmes support recovery of threatened plants and animals.
The 30 plants identified for action are:
- Small purple pea
- Little mountain palm
- Vincentia banksia
- Caley’s grevillea
- Magenta lilly pilly
- Fairy bells
- Mongarlowe mallee
- Central Australian cabbage palm
- Kakadu hibiscus
- Ormeau bottle tree
- Ant plant
- Purple wattle
- Mossman fairy orchid
- Bulberin nut
- Silver daisy bush
- Whibley’s wattle
- Fleurieu leek orchid
- Blue top sun orchid
- Shy susan
- Southport heath
- Morrisby’s gum
- Spiny rice flower
- Turnip copperburr
- Silver gum
- Button wrinklewort
- Matchstick banksia
- Fitzgerald’s mulla-mulla
- Scaly-leaved featherflower
- Black grevillea
- Glossy-leafed hammer-orchid.
Improving recovery practices by 2020
- The Australian Government, states and territories agree to operate under the common assessment methodology for species listing
- Effective and up-to-date recovery plans, conservation advices and threat abatement plans in place for all priority species and threats
- Database of all recovery teams publicly available
- Best practice guidelines for recovery team governance publicly available
- Method established to allow recovery teams to report annually on recovery actions and outcomes.
The Action Plan has built-in monitoring and reporting. Regular measurement will show whether investments are improving the status of threatened species and encourage learning from what has been done.