Forty-eight more species, including freshwater crayfish and a frog that has a pocket for its tadpoles, have been added to the threatened species list, showing the urgent need for reform of the national environment law, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.
The new additions are plants, frogs, insects, reptiles and ecological communities.
They include the Bulloak jewel butterfly, Kate’s leaf-tail gecko and 16 species of native spiny crayfish that are found nowhere else in the world.
“Australia has so many unique and amazing species, but too many of them are heading towards extinction because our environment law is so weak it is unable to protect their habitats,” said ACF’s national nature campaigner Jess Abrahams.
“Australia has a woeful track record when it comes to protecting our unique animals and plants. We are a world leader in sending mammals to extinction – and it is mostly because we keep allowing their homes to be bulldozed, logged and overrun.
“ACF welcomes $1.3 million for programs to help the Swift parrot, yet logging is still permitted in Tasmanian forests where record numbers of these critically endangered birds were documented last summer.
“Stopping logging and habitat destruction for roads, real estate and agriculture would have a huge, positive impact.
“Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has set a worthy target of no more extinctions.
“The real test of the government’s long promised environment law reform will be whether the changes address the biggest threats to our precious native plants and animals.
“We urge the government to delay no longer and urgently strengthen our national environment law.”
Header pic by Chris Tzaros
