Five new species have been added to the ACT Threatened Native Species List: the Gang-gang Cockatoo (endangered), Key’s Matchstick Grasshopper (endangered), the Mountain Skink (endangered), the Yellow-bellied Glider (vulnerable), and the Pilotbird (vulnerable).
ACT listings for four other species have been changed to align with Commonwealth listings.
The Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon (previously the grassland earless dragon, considered ‘endangered’) is now ‘critically endangered’ in the ACT.
The southern Greater Glider (previously the Greater Glider) and the koala are now ‘endangered’. Before, both were ‘vulnerable’.
The Golden Sun Moth (previously ‘endangered’) has been downgraded to ‘vulnerable’.
The ACT Scientific Committee has prepared Conservation Advice to help these species survive.
The Glossy Black-Cockatoo was nationally assessed as ‘vulnerable’ for the first time last year under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The bird has been considered ‘vulnerable’ in the ACT since 2010. The ACT Scientific Committee revised its Conservation Advice for this species to factor in the new EPBC listing and update its advice.
“These listings are incredibly important, because they bring the ACT onto the same page as the Australian Government and the states,” said Professor Arthur Georges, the Committee’s chair. “This enables a coordinated effort to stem the declines in these threatened species.
“As important is the need for up-to-date listings of our valued native species in decline, some of which have the ACT as their last refuge; the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon being an exemplary case.
“We have a special responsibility to stem and reverse the declines of our threatened species, and these listings place the species firmly on the government’s agenda for formulating and implementing effective action on the ground to avoid further extinctions of our iconic flora and fauna.”
Working with other jurisdictions, the ACT Government will monitor and help threatened native animals recover, environment minister Rebecca Vassarotti said.
She argued that aligning the ACT’s threatened species list with the national listings will lead to stronger national collaboration to protect and conserve plants and animals.
Ms Vassarotti said the ACT government is committed to protecting and conserving our native animals in the territory. She praised the groundwork of ACT conservation teams.
“Our environment is under threat like never before,” Ms Vassarotti said. “This news largely reflects the significant loss of habitat for our native animals during the devastating 2020 bushfires.
“We are in the middle of an extinction crisis, and we have a responsibility to protect our ecosystems and the native wildlife that we’re so lucky to have here in Canberra.
“We will continue the pivotal work we are undertaking in the ACT to ensure that we protect these threatened species before it is too late.”
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