SPECIES UNDER THREAT OF EXTINCTION

The United Nations recently put out a report stating that one million of the world’s species are endangered, an alarming statistic.

Based on a review of about 15,000 scientific and government sources and compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries, the global report is the first comprehensive look in 15 years at the state of the planet’s biodiversity. This report includes, for the first time, indigenous and local knowledge as well as scientific studies. The authors say they found overwhelming evidence that human activities are behind nature’s decline.

Australia is one of the few mega biodiverse countries in the world. We have more species than just about every country and yet, Australia has the worst extinction rate of mammals in the world, and one in three of our native species are at risk of extinction.

Since European settlement and the consequential introduction of feral pest, Australia’s wildlife has been decimated. Australia’s native plants and animals adapted to life on an isolated continent over millions of years. These new pressures from invasive species caused a major impact on our country’s soil and waterways and on its native plants and animals.

“We need a complete overhaul of our legislative system and our society’s mindset, we are losing our beautiful and unique animals at one of the fastest rates in the world.”

Aussie Ark President, Tim Faulkner

Our world is losing biodiversity and the destruction of biodiversity, at all levels, poses a significant threat. Solving this issue is going to take countries deciding to set aside more room for nature, in the form of sanctuaries. It’s going to take addressing climate change head on. It’s going to take policies that more strongly police the import of invasive species. It means protecting indigenous communities, protecting our wildlife, protecting our ecosystems, protecting our oceans. It’s going to take innovation.

These frightening statistics are the reason why conservation facilities like Aussie Ark are crucial to the survival of keystone Australian species. Our project is creating long term futures for Australia’s threatened wildlife. Aussie Ark provides sanctuary for some of Australia’s most iconic and most threatened species.

However, our sanctuaries also protect a diversity of threatened and vulnerable plants and animals that currently exist in the region, including 50 species of mammals, 278 species of birds, 42 species of reptiles and 18 species of frogs.

These sanctuaries are effectively breathing new life into an ecologically deprived environment.