A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk at the Insect Ecology Research Chapter workshop at the Ecological Society of Australia’s annual conference in Brisbane. I talked about how policy and popular media influence insect conservation in Australia; as an example, I
A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk at the Insect Ecology Research Chapter workshop at the Ecological Society of Australia’s annual conference in Brisbane. I talked about how policy and popular media influence insect conservation in Australia; as an example, I discussed this research by Toby Smith and me showing how introduced honey bees dominate mainstream media coverage of pollinators in Australia.
I also collated data on which insect species are officially listed as threatened species in Australia. In Australia, we have a national list (under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) of flora and fauna species that are considered threatened at a national scale. In addition, each individual state and territory has its own threatened species list under various state legislation.
These lists are regulatory and provide a legal basis for initiating conservation programs…but listing doesn’t guarantee that conservation effort and funds will be allocated for a listed species. The lists also need to be taken with caution: if a species is not on the list, it doesn’t mean it’s not under threat. Also, species don’t automatically get listed when we know their populations are declining. The listing process can be long and convoluted, and proposals or recommendations for listing (by individuals or the relevant Threatened Species Committee) don’t automatically translate into an official listing (e.g. find out more about the TS Committee and listing process for New South Wales here).
Despite this, these lists are still great tools to rais