WWF welcomes $250 million for Australian protected areas

Aimed at protecting another 30 million hectares of land, WWF Australia has welcomed Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's commitment of $250 million for protected areas as a critical step towards protecting 30% of Australia's land and preventing extinctions.

The investment follows Australia's commitment in 2022 to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030 as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Darren Grover, WWF-Australia's Head of Regenerative Country notes "this is a vital contribution to preserving Australia's wildlife and wild places. We can't overstate just how important protected areas are for many threatened species that are barely hanging on.

"To deliver a world class protected area network, this initial investment must be well targeted and prioritised to add to the National Reserve System and support new Indigenous Protected Areas.

"It will also take a lot more than $250 million to effectively manage these areas."

In partnership with the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, The Nature Conservancy and Pew Charitable Trusts, WWF has called for the Australian Government to establish a $5 billion fund for the purchase of land of high biodiversity importance to create new protected areas that are ecologically representative, well-connected, and equitably managed.

Grover added "it is not only how much land we protect, but what gets protected that is critical to halting extinctions.

"29 of Australia's 89 bioregions and 205 of our 419 subregions are still poorly represented in our protected area network.

"If we don't move quickly to close this gap some of these ecosystems and the wildlife they protect could disappear forever on our watch.

"WWF stands ready to work with the government to ensure our protected area network includes a broad selection of representative habitats right across Australia."

Grover also called on the government to deliver on its promise to reform Australia's nature laws adding "Protected areas won't stop our extinction crisis on their own. They must be accompanied by strong nature laws that protect wildlife and habitat outside of protected areas.

"We are extremely concerned about the proposed legislation being tabled in Parliament next week to weaken nature protection laws. This is an alarming backwards step and another example of the problem with our existing laws. We need an urgent overhaul of Australia's nature laws in the first 12 months of the next Parliament."

Image. WWF Australia release platypus into Royal National Park. Credit: R Freeman/ UNSW