Australia is a true natural beauty, filled with luscious rainforests, thundering waterfalls, sandy beaches and dusty deserts. Although it covers less than ten per cent of the Earth’s surface, our Great Southern Land is home to more than 70 per cent of global biodiversity. Among our 700,000 native species, 50 per cent of plants and 75 per cent of mammals are found nowhere else on Earth. Better yet, an astonishing 70 per cent of Australian species are still waiting to be discovered.
We’d be turning a blind eye if we didn’t address the challenges facing our environment right now. Natural disasters, pollution and habitat destruction are some of the top culprits driving biodiversity loss in Australia at higher rates than ever before. While this may sound grim, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Australia was recently recognised as the seventh-best country in the world for its commitment to protecting our natural environment. This ranking comes from the inaugural Nature Conservation Index (NCI), which evaluated 180 countries based on 25 factors across four key biodiversity and conservation pillars: land management, biodiversity sensitivity, capacity and governance, and future trends.
Where Australia stood out was in the ‘land management’ category, ranking seventh globally for its efforts in habitat protection and sustainable agricultural practices. Currently, more than 22.1 per cent of our country’s land is protected within the National Reserve System, with almost half of this area allocated for agricultural use. While forests cover 17.4 per cent of this land, only a quarter of the original native vegetation remains intact, leaving room for biodiversity recovery.
Australia also secured an impressive third place overall in the ‘capacity and government’ pillar, which looks at factors like political stability, control of corruption and conservation legislation.
Our overall score in the ‘threats to biodiversity’ pillar is what set us back in the rankings, with Australia ranking 152nd out of 180 countries. Over the past two centuries, Australia has recorded the highest global rate of mammal extinctions. Currently, more than 1,900 of our species and ecological communities are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, infrastructure development, invasive species and the unsustainable use of natural resources. We’d hate to see this number cross the 2,000 mark any time soon.
Looking ahead, Australia ranked 58th worldwide in the ‘future trends’ pillar for its climate change mitigation efforts. We’re hopeful that the Nature Conservation Index will steer Australians towards making better choices for our planet and boosting sustainable development worldwide. You can find the full index here.
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