Dire climate impacts, more weeds than native plants in the wild, colossal land clearing, habitat destruction, a growing threatened species list and increased extinction risks for those already on it. Australia's latest State of the Environment report reads like an intensive care ward, especially for our mammals which are at the forefront of our extinction crisis.
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While we identify proudly with Blinky Bill, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and sporting teams like the Wallabies and Socceroos, the uncomfortable truth is that Australia has already lost eight wallaby species to extinction and 16 more are at risk. On a recent 90km drive between Canberra and Goulburn, I counted 15 foxes as road kill and just one lonely wombat. This is the sad reality for our native mammals. One hundred years ago the same stretch of road would have had koalas, bandicoots, quolls, bettongs and wallabies. And not long before that, even bilbies. But no more. Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinctions in the world. Thirty-two Australian mammals are already extinct and another seven are expected to go over the next two decades. Overall, feral cats and foxes are their biggest threats. But they are also menaced by habitat degradation, climate change, bushfires, disease, genetic inbreeding, cane toads, weeds, urban dogs ... etc. On the flipside, mammals also demonstrate that recovery is possible with intensive management. Interventions such as feral-free islands, construction of large predator proof fenced areas, and ending the destruction of their habitat have all proven to work.
So what does the federal government need to do to protect and recover our mammals and remaining biodiversity? First, it must end appalling and unnecessary land clearing and native forest logging. Australia is a rich country with enough cleared land for all our needs and exports. But six times the area of Greater Sydney was lost to land clearing between 2000 and 2017 - 93 per cent of that was without any federal assessment. That's 1.8 million MCGs of habitat cleared with no national-level accountability or review.
Second, the government must strengthen and rigorously enforce national environmental regulations. At the National Press Club on Tuesday, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek promised the establishment of an Environment Protection Agency. But the EPBC Act also needs to be strengthened and rigorously and comprehensively enforced. The Environment Protection Agency will also need to be independent with real teeth. And Ministerial discretionary powers that allow scientific advice to be ignored and damaging developments to go ahead must be curbed. Australians demand and expect independent supervision and high regulatory standards in the aviation, pharmaceuticals and financial sectors. So why not for the environment? Our health, prosperity and national identity depend on it.
Third, investment in invasive species control and eradication needs to increase substantially. Feral animals and plants are running rampant in Australia. Safe bio controls using gene-shear technology have huge potential. Feral cats, for example, could be made to go extinct using a virus that makes them infertile. Blackberries and Buffle grass could be eradicated. Existing Indigenous Ranger programs in remote Australia need to be expanded into south-eastern and regional Australia. This would also allow for a significant boost in cultural burning which protects and recovers biodiversity and reduces bushfire risks.
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Fourth, the government must get serious about climate action. It must end approval of all new coal and gas projects, phase out fossil fuel subsidies and ramp up other measures to transition to a renewables economy. The ACT government just banned the sale of new fossil-fuel powered cars from 2035. France has moved to ban fossil fuel advertising. We need more policies like these.
Finally, the tight fiscal environment cannot be used as an excuse for inaction. Ending Australia's $11.6 billion per annum fossil fuel subsidies can more than fund new and expanded conservation initiatives. And many measures, like ending unprofitable logging of native forests, would improve the budget bottom lines.
It is almost too late for Blinky Bill. He's in the intensive care ward. It's time to get serious about saving him and all the unique animals and plants that define us.
- Gregory Andrews was Australia's first-appointed Threatened Species Commissioner and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Canberra's Institute of Applied Ecology.
