We need bold action and national leadership to address our growing extinction crisis.
In response to the release of Australia’s Strategy for Nature 2019-2030, endorsed by federal and state environment ministers today, James Trezise, Nature Policy Analyst at the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), said:
“We need bold action and national leadership to address our growing extinction crisis.
“The strategy released today contains high level goals, but its measures of progress lack detail, so it will be hard to tell how we are going towards these goals.
“In a positive move the strategy sets an accountability framework, with ongoing working groups and four-yearly reporting, and should drive collaboration between federal agencies, the states and territories on nature conservation – all welcome moves.
“Disappointingly the strategy doesn’t set a national goal to end extinction, but it does acknowledge the scale of our biodiversity crisis and the role of science in finding solutions.
“On the downside, the strategy is thin on implementation mechanisms and doesn’t commit to reforms or resourcing conservation action – these are needed to drive the level of transformative change needed to address our extinction crisis.”
Last week more than 240 of Australia’s leading conservation signed an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison urging him to establish strong national environment laws to stem Australia’s species extinction crisis.
