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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Alex Crowe

WWF ranks ACT top of threatened species conservation list, Eden-Monaro rates third worst

A conservation plan is underway to protect the swift parrot in the ACT. Picture by Nevil Lazarus.

The ACT has achieved top grades in a report comparing threatened species conservation across Australia, with the highest proportion of species with federal funding and protected habitat.

The World Wildlife Fund highlighted the plight of the swift parrot, among 123 animals and plants listed as threatened in the ACT.

Habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species and bushfires were among its main threats.

However, the ACT has taken steps to protect its habitat through the conservation of woodland, including critically endangered yellow box and blakely's red gum woodland.

Tasmania and the Northern Territory ranked second and third for threatened species protection among jurisdictions, with their policies for habitat conservation pushing them up the list.

A comparison of federal electorates rated Eden-Monaro as the third worst nationally, with 161 animals and plants listed as threatened in the area.

The national report used the proportion of species with recovery plans, federal funding, protected habitat and an improved threatened status to compare areas.

Australia as a whole received the worst possible ranking.

Michelle Ward, a conservation scientist with WWF, said the report card exposed the extent to which Australia was failing threatened species.

"I think people will be shocked by the plight of species in their area and the scale of the extinction crisis we are facing," Dr Ward said.

Among federal electorates, Durack, which takes in the northern wheat belt of Western Australia, as well as the pastoral and mining regions of the Pilbara and Kimberley, faired the worst.

Dr Ward said Durack had the lowest proportion of adequate habitat protection and the lowest proportion of species with dedicated funding.

A review of the Commonwealth's principal environment protection legislation, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, is currently underway, after a 2020 review by Professor Graham Samuel found it in need of fundamental reform.

Tracy Rout, a conservation analyst with WWF, said without an immediate change in how the nation addresses its species crisis, Australia would leave a tragic legacy of extinction for future generations.

"MPs have a responsibility for stewardship of the threatened species living in their electorate and we hope these scores highlight the need for MPs to advocate for greater protection of threatened species federally," she said.

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