PRESENTATION OUTLINE
In 2008, 18 per cent of all domestic overnight trips in Australia included a nature activity, such as visiting a national park, botanical gardens or wildlife park, bushwalking, or whale watching, scuba diving and snorkelling. Visitors to Australia are also attracted to the natural environment: 65 per cent of tourists that visited Australia in 2008 participated in one or more of the above nature activities. Nature-based visitors also stay almost twice the length of time on average as other international visitors.
Many aspects of Australia’s natural environment, such as the desert, the Great Barrier Reef, and distinctive native species such as the koala, kangaroos and eucalypts are central to Australians’ national identities.
It is estimated that about 30 billion species have lived since multicellular life evolved, but only about 0.01% of that number live on Earth today.
Australia is home to between 600,000 and 700,000 species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. About 84 per cent of plants, 83 per cent of mammals, and 45 per cent of birds are only found in Australia.
Changes to the landscape and native habitat as a result of human activity have put many of these unique species at risk. Over the last two hundred years many species of plants and animals have become extinct.
Over-population
The greatest threat to biodiversity is the size and rate of growth of human population. Everyday, more people need more space, consume more resources and generate more waste as world population continues to grow at an alarming rate.
Human population growth is reducing biodiversity in the following ways:
* We cause habitat change through agricultural, urban and industrial development, and the exploitation of natural resources.
* We pollute soil, water and air.
* We overharvest resources which reduces both population sizes and genetic diversity of commercial species.
Deforestation
One of the main threats to Australia’s biodiversity is habitat loss, and land-clearing is happening at a staggering rate. Projections suggest that 3m hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia by 2030, thanks to a thriving livestock industry and governments that refuse to step in.
Droughts
Climate change is making Australia’s droughts worse.
“In general climate change is exacerbating drought, mainly because in a warmer world we experience more evaporation from the surface, and we project for that to continue in the future states”states Andrew.
1.Extinctions of species have been occurring since the first life forms evolved. It is
estimated that about 30 billion species have lived since multicellular life evolved, but only about 0.01% of that number live on Earth today.
Many ecosystems have been lost during the past 200 years.
* Loss of species is a major threat to biodiversity in Australia. Species of animals and plants under threat may be listed in one of the following categories:
* Extinct in the wild
* Critically endangered
* Endangered
* Vulnerable
* Conservation dependent
2.The main factor in the loss of biodiversity is the increased rate of population growth.This has led to habitat change through land clearing and urbanisation, hunting and exploitation. The introduction of new species is also a threat to Australia's biodiversity.
Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2010-2030 (referred to as 'the Strategy') is a guiding framework for conserving our nation's biodiversity over the coming decades.
The vision of this Strategy is that Australia's biodiversity is healthy and resilient to threats, and valued both in its own right and for its essential contribution to our existence.
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of all life forms. There are three levels of biodiversity:
* genetic diversity—the variety of genetic information contained in individual plants, animals and micro-organisms
* species diversity—the variety of species
* ecosystem diversity—the variety of habitats and ecological communities
Biodiversity occurs in all environments on Earth - terrestrial, aquatic and marine.
Biodiversity is not static; it is constantly changing. It can be increased by genetic change and evolutionary processes, and it can be reduced by threats which lead to population decline and extinction. Biodiversity in Australia is currently declining because of the impacts of a range of threats.
