No plan to save threatened animal species
THERE are no plans to save most Victorian animals and plants that are at risk of becoming extinct.
This is despite new data revealing more animals are becoming threatened.
The latest list of threatened animals, released by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, found one animal had become extinct in the wild in the past five years and more than 50 had advanced into more serious categories of threat.
The eastern barred bandicoot is now extinct in the wild, after being listed as critically endangered on the 2007 list.
The spokesman for Environment Minister Ryan Smith, James Martin, said there were 275 action statements for 681 threatened species or communities.
He said the bandicoot was extinct in the wild but it had been found “in some areas that have been fenced to protect them but this is not classified as ‘in the wild’.”
Greens MP Greg Barber said each threatened species needed an action statement to outline how it could be saved. “More than a third of the plants, animals, communities and processes that were listed a quarter of a century ago still do not have action statements,” Mr Barber said.
“An action statement is the most basic description why the plant or animal is threatened and what needs to be done to save it.
“It can be used by all levels of government that make decisions about planning, burning, logging, reserves and roads.”
Mr Martin said the advisory list provided information on the conservation status of threatened animals but there were no direct legal consequences or requirements flowing from an animal being included.
Only animals on an official “threatened list” under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act were required to have an action statement.
Of the mammals on the latest list, nine were extinct, nine were regionally extinct and one was extinct in the wild. Another 13 were either critically endangered or endangered in some way.
Michelle Ainsworth
Sunday Herald Sun
Originally Published at http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/no-plan-to-save-threatened-animal-species/story-e6frf7kx-1226619834591