Analysis says Australian government 'aggravating extinction'
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Environmental group analysis has found that native species' habitats being cleared for mining is exacerbating the endangered species crisis.
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The Black-flanked rock-wallaby is an endangered species in Australia (natureaustralia.org)
According to an environment group analysis, the government of Australia is approving the destruction of endangered species habitats more recently, exacerbating warnings of an extinction crisis.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) collated publicly accessible information on federal decisions that authorized the removal of forests and other habitats used by vulnerable species.
It discovered that throughout the decade to the end of 2021, more than 200,000 hectares of vulnerable species habitat were approved for mining. In the five years after 2016, more than half of that total (120,000 hectares) had been approved.
ACF discovered that roughly three-quarters of the clearance permitted under national environmental rules were for new or enlarged mining operations. The koala, which was declared as endangered in New South Wales, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory(ACT) in February, was the most severely impacted species.
More than 25,000 hectares of koala habitat have been approved for removal, according to the charity. One-fifth of it was to make way for a single mine, the Olive Downs metallurgical coal mine in central Queensland, which obtained a $175 million federal government loan last year to help fund its development.
The highly endangered swift parrot, the greater glider (7,400 hectares), the forest red-tailed black cockatoo (1,800 hectares), and the spot-tailed quoll were also severely impacted (1,200 hectares).
An activist with ACF, Jess Abrahams, said the investigation demonstrated that the commonwealth was responsible for "aggravating extinction" while it should be protecting vulnerable species.
Abrahams says that government statistics only provided a partial picture of land clearance across the country since two important businesses – agriculture and native forest logging – were rarely examined under national rules. Under forestry agreements between Canberra and the states, logging is virtually free from the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The activist says that "if we value Australia's unique wildlife and plants we must do more to protect them," including "stronger environment laws to stop the rampant wrecking of habitat revealed by this research, increased funding, and specific plans for threatened species recovery.”
Sussan Ley, a spokesperson for the federal environment minister, said the analysis of the ACF only considers one aspect of the environmental approval process, not taking into account offset requirements to protect threatened species or how much clearing occurred.
According to the spokesperson, the $128.5 million in financing announced last week to "advance environmental law reform" would result in improved management of the cumulative consequences of projects in particular places by shifting from project-specific to region-level evaluation. They also stated that it will pay for a review of national offset programs, as well as improvements to data on vulnerable species.
