Building Nature's Safety Net 2008
Building Nature's Safety Net 2008 is the second comprehensive review by WWF of Australia's protected areas on land.
The review measures progress toward biodiversity protection commitments agreed to by Australian, state and territory governments in 2005 compiling the latest data provided to WWF by state and territory parks agencies.
Few of the states and territories except the ACT and Tasmania report that they expect to meet the major targets they have committed to for protecting ecosystem diversity and endangered species by 2010-2015.
72% of Australia's threatened species are declining at last count, but are significantly less likely to be declining in regions with more land area protected.
Australia is the most 'megadiverse' country in the world for vertebrates, but only 10.5 per cent of Australia’s land area is safeguarded in protected areas, less than that of other, poorer megadiverse countries such as Colombia, China, Peru, Malaysia and Venezuela.
All protected areas grew by 1.1% of Australia’s land area from 2004 to 2006.
About $8 million on average was spent annually by the Commonwealth over the last decade in purchasing new protected areas. Experts believe at least $50 million a year over the next five years is needed.
Although Building the National Reserve System was one of the eight core priorities of the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) but the grants programme received only 3.4 per cent of past Trust budgets
The report recommends that the Australian Government needs to invest at least $250 million or one eight of the NHT budget, in building a safety net of protected areas to save Australia’s wildlife and natural ecosystems, that would expand protected areas by 30 million hectares by 2012.
The report also identifies ten notable new protected areas that made significant advances in biodiversity protection.
Building Nature's Safety Net 2008: Progress on Directions for the National Reserve System was launched at Parliament House on 12th March 2008 by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett AM MP.
Download the latest report here
Download the 2006 report here
Telstra is a proud partner of WWF's Building Nature's Safety Net campaign.
