The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is to develop a 10-year strategy to protect Australia’s threatened species.
Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley said the strategy was expected to draw heavily on research following this year’s bushfires and would include a significant focus on the threats posed by feral pests and predators.
Ms Ley said consultation on the new strategy would begin in October.
“The Government is committed to the recovery of threatened species through a national strategy delivering practical on-ground action and the development of new science-based tools and technology,” Ms Ley said.
“Over the coming months we will work with scientists, land managers, traditional owners, farmers, Local and State Governments, communities and environmental groups on designing high-level strategies by the end of the year,” she said.
She said Australia faced an enormous challenge in addressing threats to native animals and plants.
“The cumulative impacts of introduced species over two centuries of European settlement, our changed land use and our changing climate are all taking a toll,” she said.
“Feral cats alone are killing close to six million animals every day.
“Threatened species are not just in the bush, they are in our backyards, they are in our parks and we all have a role to play in protecting them.”
The Minister said the new strategy would build on the first Commonwealth Threatened Species Strategy and work in the National Environmental Science Program.
She said more information on the strategy and the ways people can engage with it would be available on the Department’s website in coming weeks.
