Today the Greens mark National Threatened Species Day, a yearly reminder of why we do the work we do to protect the environment that nurtures us, places that should be home to an abundance of remarkable species.
Sadly, more and more species are being driven towards the precipice by the actions of our government. Just as the flowering blue gums herald the return of the ever-dwindling numbers of swift parrots to breed, we continue to fight state-sanctioned habitat destruction in the form of native forest logging.
Our waterways are groaning under the pressures of industrial fish farming, risking the existence of the Maugean skate, a species that has called Macquarie Harbour home since the age of the dinosaurs. And the iconic red handfish clings to life in a small pocket of Fredrick Henry Bay, while the salmon industry seeks to expand into neighbouring Storm Bay.
Despite the warnings laid bare recently in the State of the Environment Report decisions are still being made at federal and state level that puts industry first and nature last. The approval of the Robbins Island wind farm puts at risk the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot along with the last disease-free population of Tasmanian devils. Not to mention the tens-of-thousands of migratory shorebirds that visit Pilitika / Robbins Island.
All over our Lutruwita / Tasmania there are threats to fragile populations of wildlife and today the Greens commit to redoubling our efforts to fight for their future.
Tasmania’s wildlife is unique and special, we have done so much damage to their habitat and therefore their future, we call on the Liberal government to implement every recommendation of the State of the Environment Report, which means we must learn more about the threats, secure habitat in formal reserves and manage the waste from our activities so it doesn’t foul our land and waterways.
From the forests of giant kelp, the saltmashes, rainforests, heathlands, lakes and rivers, mountains, beaches and bays – the Greens celebrate all the creatures that need these places to be healthy and thriving – may every species come back from the brink and be no longer threatened.
