2021 State of the Environment Report education video

Our environment, our planet, our home, is under pressure.

Population, climate change, industry and more add to this combined pressure, making it harder for the environment to recover...

...as extreme weather events, invasive species and waste pollution take their toll on the environment.

Every part of our world is connected - from the skies, to the seas, from the plains to the cities and the bush, from humans to insects - and the land can’t take care of any of us if we don’t take care of it.

Bringing together scientific, traditional and local knowledge gives us the tools and opportunity to right our course and heal our home, our Country, if we take action now.

The State of the Environment report outlines the challenges that Australia faces and the state that it’s in. It informs our roadmap out of danger - the Nature Positive Plan.

We have so many opportunities to have a positive impact on our environment and they involve all levels of society. They involve new technologies, rethinking our purchases, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, local efforts and initiatives and more.

It sets out a way for industry, local and federal governments to work together and informs the roles that local communities and even individuals can play in saving our planet.

Helping the environment starts with learning about yourself, your behaviours and your impact on your own local ecosystem.

What sort of footprint do your actions and decisions leave on it? How much do you know about it, how it operates and what state it’s in? Where does your food come from? Your water? The materials in the products you buy? What waste are you producing and what happens to it? Once you understand how you’re personally connected to Country then you can work to strengthen that relationship.

That might mean becoming a part of a circular economy, reducing your consumption by sharing or reusing what you can rather than buying new.

It’s recycling as much of your waste as possible through local initiatives, repairing it or even turning it into something else entirely.

You could explore your local environment and discover what’s putting pressure on it. Are vital waterways being clogged by waste that could be cleaned up? Are our skies being polluted by unnecessary road trips?

Are invasive species hindering growth that could be better managed?

Maybe there are future threats from extreme weather and natural disasters, in which case the best time to prepare and lessen the possible damage is right now.

We’ve seen the power of these events, and the importance of early action.

You can take steps to learn about possible changes and improvements, be it the importance of Cultural Burning or how new building techniques and planning can help against drought, floods and heavy winds.

Technology makes it easy to engage in and work together on citizen science initiatives with your community at home and abroad. For example, monitoring and sharing your local air, soil and water quality helps inform the next steps to improve them.

Working together can also mean organising tree planting campaigns, ride or walk to school days, fundraising, local clean-ups or simply spreading awareness.

You can even write to your local representatives and let them know what you’ve found in your environment and why it matters to you.

When looking for the best way to live in harmony with land, air, and sea, we can’t go past the knowledge of the traditional custodians. Understanding the connection between people and Country has informed the beliefs, customs and practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for tens of thousands of years.

All Australians are working together to get the best understanding of our unique environment and design the tools and behaviour needed to care for it.

Education will always be important when caring for Australia and the planet as a whole. New and better technologies and techniques, both scientific and economic, are being developed and will need to continue to be developed well into the future.

The next generation of leaders and innovators – you - need to be well informed about the state of the environment and how you can help to improve and maintain our beautiful country,
That way land, air, and sea can, in turn, nurture us and our families for generations to come.

For more information about the state of our environment, including information about the climate, extreme events, indigenous knowledge or to explore what others are already doing. Visit soe.dcceew.gov.au