Protecting our biodiversity is up to all of us.

The Biodiversity Council has commended the decision of the NSW Government to resume aerial culling of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park. The resumption of aerial culling is vital to reduce the devastating impact that the skyrocketing feral horse population is having on delicate alpine ecosystems. 

According to major new decision of the Federal Court, the federal government can ignore the risk that fossil fuel projects pose to protected plants, animals and places, when deciding whether or not to approve fossil fuel projects. The Biodiversity Council respects the court’s decision, but says it is absurd to continue approving coal mines in Australia from a scientific, ecological, and human survival perspective, and that this ruling highlights the need for a major overhaul of environmental law and policy.

The State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2023 Report was released today at a global meeting of plant conservation experts. The report assesses the state of the world’s plants and countries' efforts to conserve their plant diversity. Australia has been identified as the country with the highest proportion of unique plant species on earth.  The findings show that Australia’s plants are more unique than in any other country but that our conservation efforts are well behind those of other developed nations like New Zealand.

There are a range of factors contributing to the delay in the delivery of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, but a notable contributor has been the cessation of water-buybacks from willing sellers to restore water to the environment. Enabling the purchase of water entitlements from willing sellers is the most effective and efficient mechanism to restore water to the environment and get the basin plan back on track. In addition, this will assist in reaching the overall target of 3,200 GL of water recovered for the environment.

Our national legislation only provides protection to species that have declined to the point that they are threatened with extinction. This leaves many species and places of cultural importance without significant protection and makes it difficult for Traditional Custodians to fulfil their cultural obligations to care for Country. The Biodiversity Council is calling for current law reforms to include protection for culturally significant species, such as humpback whales, and places.