What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth.
Why is it important? Biodiversity is essential to sustaining the living
networks and systems that provide us all with health,
wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend
on.
Biodiversity provides solutions to the current climate
change crisis. As well as providing carbon storage services,
biodiversity give systems resilience, that is, the capacity
to absorb disturbance and still retain their basic function
and structure.
What is the problem?
Human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth
to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate.
In 2004 the IUCN calculated that
the rate of loss had risen to 100-1,000 times the ‘back
ground’ level of extinctions– a situation comparable
to the five previous "mass
extinctions" – the last of which was when the dinosaurs
were wiped out about 65m years ago. These losses are irreversible,
impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we
rely on everyday.
Can these losses be
prevented?
Yes. We need to focus on the urgency of our challenge for
the future. Now is the time to act.
Is Australia important
for biodiversity?
Yes. Australia is a Global biodiversity hotspot. It has
almost 10% of the world’s known species. It also has 10%
of the world’s threatened species.
About 92% of our vascular plants, 87% of our mammals,
and 45% of our birds are endemic - that is, they are found
no-where else in the world.
How well is Australia
conserving it’s biodiversity?
Australia’s extinction rate is alarming and the biodiversity
crisis is getting worse. Over the last 200 years Australia
has suffered the largest documented decline in biodiversity
of any continent.
Almost half of all worldwide mammal extinctions in the
last 200 years have occurred in Australia.
1,667 species are listed as threatened under National legislation. A
further 103 are listed as extinct. These figures are conservative.
The situation is likely to be much worse.
What is Australia’s commitment to the Convention
on Biological diversity?
In response to an alarming rate of species extinctions,
Australia ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) on 18 June 1993.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international
legally-binding treaty.
In 2002, Australia and other parties adopted the 2010 Biodiversity
Target: to reduce significantly the rate of biodiversity
loss at global, regional and national levels. Australia
has failed to achieve its 2010 Biodiversity Target; to
significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss.
What mechanisms do we have to protect biodiversity
in Australia?
The Australian Government’s primary piece of environmental
legislation is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act).
The EPBC Act provides a legal framework to protect and
manage nationally and internationally important flora,
fauna, and ecological communities as matters of national
environmental significance.
The EPBC Act has recently been reviewed and the Government
is currently considering substantial reform.
Australia's first national biodiversity strategy, the National
Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological
Diversity, was endorsed in 1996. The National Biodiversity
Strategy has recently been reviewed and a new strategy
is expected in 2010.
Numerous State and Territory initiatives aimed at conserving
biological diversity exist, including legislation for the
protection of threatened species and policies such as State
Biodiversity Strategies and native vegetation policies.
However, although numerous policies and programs contribute
to the conservation of biological diversity they have not
been sufficient to address the biodiversity crisis.
Why haven’t these mechanisms
worked? Conservation efforts have been greatly under-resourced.
But isn’t there funding available
for biodiversity conservation in Australia? Yes, but it
is grossly inadequate to address the problem.
Is saving species too
expensive then?
It is disappointing that in a developed, prosperous country
such as Australia, that we should even have to contemplate
abandoning species to extinction when it is usually human
action that have created the problem. Extinction is forever.
There aren’t any second chances once a species is lost.
The disappearance of unique species is a loss that cannot
be calculated and leaves us all much poorer. The loss of
iconic species is not only a cultural tragedy; it also
undermines our own survival. The diversity of the natural
world is being damaged as a result of human activities.
It would be tragic to give up and allow our unique natural
heritage to be lost because of relatively modest costs.
Perhaps more importantly, biodiversity is essential to
sustaining the living networks and systems our lives depend
on. Protecting biodiversity with its vast permanent carbon
stores is also essential to tackling climate change. The
costs of inaction will far outweigh the costs of action.
Substantial investments are required to conserve biodiversity,
but it will bring significant environmental, economic and
social benefits in return.
What has worked?
There are many examples of threatened species recovery
in Australia. Recovery usually results from a combination
of good science to diagnose and address problems, and
coordinated action by committed champions and the community.
Many different biodiversity conservation initiatives
are taking place across the country, however they need
much more support.
What can be done?
The Australian Government needs to commit to the Boobook
Declaration. The Government needs to acknowledge the
importance of biodiversity by increasing investment in
its protection and building the capacity of the Australian
community to take action.
