A radical shift in our relationship with the environment is needed and it is time we intervene in the extinction crisis, experts say.
A review led by Charles Darwin University found negative trends in Australian biodiversity loss - caused by invasive species, interrupted First Nations land and sea management, altered fire regimes, and changed water flows - could rapidly worsen unless policymakers act with haste.
CDU Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods researcher, Australian National University Honourary Professor, and lead author Professor Sarah Legge said there was a desperate need for increased investment, policy reform and expanded conservation management.
University of Melbourne researcher Dr Libby Rumpff said a radical shift in our relationship with the environment was needed to reduce the high risks of extinction.
“Predictions of ecosystem collapse and escalating extinction rates of Australian endemic species could become reality if biodiversity threats aren’t adequately controlled. Effective recovery requires society to reframe its relationship with the environment.”
“These losses in biodiversity are symptomatic of shortcomings in resourcing, law, policy, and management,” Professor Woinarski said.
Professors Legge, Woinarski and Garnett are members of The Biodiversity Council, which brings together leading Australian experts to raise awareness of Australia’s biodiversity crisis and to promote evidence-based solutions.
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https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7870
Loss of terrestrial biodiversity in Australia: Magnitude, causation, and response
Abstract Australia’s biota is species rich, with high rates of endemism. This natural legacy has rapidly diminished since European colonization. The impacts of invasive species, habitat loss, altered fire regimes, and changed water flows are now compounded by climate change, particularly through extreme drought, heat, wildfire, and flooding. Extinction rates, already far exceeding the global average for mammals, are predicted to escalate across all taxa, and ecosystems are collapsing. These losses are symptomatic of shortcomings in resourcing, law, policy, and management. Informed by examples of advances in conservation practice from invasive species control, Indigenous land management, and citizen science, we describe interventions needed to enhance future resilience. Many characteristics of Australian biodiversity loss are globally relevant, with recovery requiring society to reframe its relationship with the environment.