In the forests of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of Far North Queensland (FNQ), one of Australia’s unique animals, the Lemuroid Ringtail Possum, is disappearing so quickly that it has jumped from being a species of Least Concern to being classified as Critically Endangered.
The release of a Commonwealth response to the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 sets a positive tone but leaves much of the detail on future reform yet to be determined.
Heritage Agreements are the cornerstone of private land conservation in South Australia and provide critical protection for many of the state’s native species.
The SA Government has an important opportunity to strengthen their support for Heritage Agreements – and the landholders that manage them – to deliver better outcomes for South Australian biodiversity.
ALCA recommends that the sustainability of environmental protection outcomes should be prioritised as the foundation of the Basin’s Strategic Plan, and the Basin’s governance arrangements reviewed prior to its implementation.
ALCA’s submission highlights three key themes:
• We must prevent environmental collapse if we wish to safeguard our productivity and avoid social and economic regression.
• Investment in the green economy – including nature-based solutions to climate change – is an opportunity to grow our sustainable economic output and productivity.
• Ensure that the operating environment facing nature sector employers is, at the very least, agnostic rather than discriminatory.
The Annual Report paints a clear picture of the impact that we are delivering for our members, the private land conservation sector, the community and for nature.
