Growing $157 billion problem Australia can't afford to fix: 'A lot to be saved'
Stopping dozens of species from going extinct before our children reach adulthood could be impossible without major changes.
The cost of preventing the extinction of just 99 rare species so they can be enjoyed by future generations would cost Australia $15.6 billion per year for 30 years, according to new research by Griffith University. Recovering their populations to the point they could be entirely removed from the threatened species list would likely be $157.7 billion per year.
Clearly, no Australian government is likely to spend anything like that on protecting its native animals, even though it will mean the slow demise of dozens of species. The cost would be more than triple Labor's record defence spending commitment of $55.68 billion over the current financial year.
The nature-saving estimates were released in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF-Australia) as part of an investigation into the cost of the federal government’s plan to reverse the decline of 110 priority species facing extinction. That program has received $12 million to date, which is part of a wider $500m threatened species funding promise.
“That means our estimates are far greater than what the government has committed,” Griffith University scientist Dr Michelle Ward told Yahoo News.
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The animals that money simply can't save
The 99 animals that were the focus of the study are just a fraction of Australia’s total threatened species. The current federal list sits at over 2,000 plants and animals. To begin turning this rapidly escalating problem around, Ward believes increased funding and personal philanthropy are part of the solution.
But sadly, the team found all the money in the world would be unable to stop declines in 16 per cent of the 99 species they analysed. Dominating this list are freshwater fish and amphibians like the swan galaxias and mountain frog.
“That was one of the most shocking results, that there was irreversible damage. They could not be removed from the threatened species list due to extensive historical declines, from pervasive, unmanageable, and ongoing threats like climate change,” Ward said.
We in Australia have some of the most unique mammals, birds, plants and amphibians. I think there's a lot still left to be saved and our unique biodiversity is deserving of that funding.Dr Michelle Ward
Simple solution to fix problem Australia can't afford to fix
WWF-Australia’s Dr Romola Stewart said it was “disappointing” that the Albanese Government had been unable to follow through on its election promise to create new nature protection laws. It’s been close to five years since Professor Graeme Samuel conducted an independent review of Commonwealth laws designed to protect threatened wildlife and found they were “ineffective”, “weak” and “tokenistic”.
“We are accumulating the cost of this indecision and lack of action,” Stewart told Yahoo. “The World Economic Forum found biodiversity loss is one of the most significant risks over the next decade, and around 50 per cent of global GDP is dependent on nature. This is really about setting Australia up for the future.”
Ward believes the key takeaway from their analysis is that its expensive to repair the environment, so strong regulation is urgently needed to stop it being destroyed.
Stewart agrees, “Quite simply, as the numbers show, Australia can’t afford what it costs to repair it,” she said.
What animals is Australia likely to lose in the next 20 years?
Although it's widely known that koalas will likely be extinct in the wild across NSW and much of Queensland unless habitat clearing is drastically reduced, there are many species of fish, frog, bird and mammal set to be wiped out before most people have ever heard of them.
Here is a short list created by Griffith University that highlights the names of imperilled species likely to be extinct across Australia in 20 years:
Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko
Lyons grassland striped skink
New Guinea Painted turtle
Herald Petrel
Norfolk Island Morepork
Grey Range Thick-billed Grasswren
Houtman Abrolhos Painted Buttonquail
Armoured Mist Frog
Neglected frog
Elegant frog
Black-tailed dusky antechinus
Kakadu pebble-mouse
Northern brush-tailed phascogale
Top End Nabarlek
Barrow Cave Gudgeon
Daintree Rainbowfish
Dalhousie catfish
Dalhousie goby
Dalhousie hardyhead
Dalhousie mogurnda
Dargo Galaxias
East Gippsland Galaxias
Flathead galaxies
Hunter Galaxias
Kosciuszko Galaxias
Malanda Rainbowfish
McDowall's Galaxias
Moroka Galaxias
Morwell Galaxias
Running River Rainbowfish
SE Vic Blackfish
Shaw Galaxias
Short-tailed Galaxias
Slender carp gudgeon
SW Vic Blackfish
Tapered Galaxias
West Gippsland Galaxias
Yalmy Galaxias
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