Species
Species conservation lies at the heart of all WWF's work throughout Australia. Twenty per cent of Australia's animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. Climate change, ongoing habitat destruction caused by land clearing, and the enormous risk posed by invasive weeds and feral animals, mean our native plants and animals face a bleak future if action is not taken now.
Leadbeater's possum
© WWF-Canon/Frédy MERCAY
WWF is addressing these major threats to species survival in Australia through broad-ranging campaigns and programs. We work directly with governments to ensure improved policy on species conservation, and our on-ground turtle conservation and shorebirds programs provide a coordinated, national approach to reversing population decline throughout Australia.
Our Threatened Species Network (TSN) partnership with the Australian Government also equips communities to preserve and protect at-risk species. Now in its 17th year, TSN provides $500,000 annually to around 35 community projects conserving threatened species through the TSN Community Grants Program. This hands-on involvement of hundreds of volunteers around Australia has helped protect more than 370 threatened plants, animals and ecological communities.
In the years ahead, WWF-Australia will continue to analyse the effectiveness of long-standing species recovery plans and work with scientists to develop new models for recovery.
Recent Species News
Grey-headed flying fox
The Ku-ring-gai Bat Conservation Society work tirelessly to conserve the grey-headed flying foxes they share their neighborhood with. In 2007 they were granted a Threatened Species Network Community Grant to conduct vital conservation work and find out more about these threatened bats.
World's rarest rhinos make first video trap appearance - then toss camera
JAKARTA--After just a month in operation, specially designed video cameras installed to capture wildlife footage in the jungles of South East Asia have twice recorded remarkable images of the world's rarest rhino accompanied by a calf.
Report values healthy oceans at $US21 trillion
Bonn, May 26, 2008: Oceans offer a vast bounty to humanity in terms of food, climate and coastal protection, medicine and new technologies but these assets are at risk due to very low levels of protection and over-exploitation, a new WWF-Germany study has found.
Coral Sea sharks could be "wiped out"
Healthy but isolated shark populations and other marine species in Australia's Coral Sea are particularly vulnerable and could be wiped out by future fishing operations unless the area receives adequate protection, two new pieces of research released today have warned.
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