Eight animals and five plants were added to the federal threatened species list in the past month, all because of habitat loss or degradation.
The new fauna listings are three freshwater fish, three lizards, one frog and one turtle. The flora listings are one rainforest tree, two flowering shrubs, a daisy and an orchid species.
The pig-nosed turtle is among the species added to the threatened species list.Credit: Gerald Schneider
Australian Conservation Foundation nature campaigner Darcie Carruthers said one of the lizards, the Hunter Valley delma, was only named a species in 2022 and is now endangered.
“More than 90 per cent of the lizard’s known range in the NSW Hunter Valley has been damaged by open-cut mining and agriculture,” Carruthers said.
“There are at least 20 coal mines within the species’ known habitat range.”
One rainforest tree, the Coffs Harbour Fontainea, is critically endangered and found in two pockets of bushland within the boundaries of a road bypass project.
The threatened species list is updated sporadically throughout the year, often in batches. Last year 144 animals, plants and ecosystems were added to the list, which ACF says is five times more than the yearly average and twice as many as in 2009, the previous record year.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said Labor was determined to better protect plants and animals, including by putting native species on the threatened species list.
“Labor is investing more money in the environment than any government in Australian history, including cracking down on the feral animals and weeds killing our native species, as part of a $550 million investment,” Plibersek said.
“We’re also fixing the Liberal Party’s broken environmental laws, including establishing Australia’s first national Environment Protection Agency – a tough cop on the beat with strong powers and penalties.”
