Let’s protect wildlife and the environment

March 3 is World Wildlife Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the world’s wild animals and plants. Most importantly, it is a day devoted to raising awareness about the need to protect them. This year’s theme is “Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation”, aimed to highlight the importance of all conservation efforts, from NGOs and local communities to governments. 

Wildlife conservation is a global issue, and partnerships are essential to address the various challenges it faces. Animals, plants, and ecosystems across the globe are facing extinction due to habitat destruction and degradation, human-caused climate change, competition with introduced species, and over-exploitation led by industries and hunting. These complex issues cannot be solved by one organisation or government alone. They require the efforts of all stakeholders – including you – working together to ensure real protection.

Your voice is important in holding the government accountable

Non-government groups, charities, local communities, and individuals like yourself, are vital in holding the government accountable for wildlife protection. Without pressure from these groups, governments’ will continue to put profits before animals and plants.

The imminent extinction of NSW koalas has been largely ignored by the NSW Government

In 2019, the NSW Government inquiry into koala populations and habitat resulted in a report (PDF) with 42 recommendations. All of these recommendations are vital to the survival and protection of koalas in the state, yet the NSW Government supported just 11 (PDF) of those recommendations. Further, they continue to allow the logging of native forests, including areas that were devastated by the 2020 fires. 

Kangaroos continue to be slaughtered in the millions for commercial gain

Kangaroos are an iconic species for Australia – but this status awards them no protection. Across Australia, millions of kangaroos are being brutally gunned down for their meat and skins by the commercial industry. In addition, licences to harm are also granted to those who classify kangaroos as “pests”, when in reality, they are just trying to survive in a shrinking environment.

In 2021, the final report (PDF) of the inquiry into the health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in NSW included 23 recommendations. Of these, the NSW Government has supported only two. Despite clearly outlining the threats kangaroo slaughter is having on the different species population levels, culling practices have been accepted in full.

Let’s dive into the key threats wildlife are facing today and the ways we can all help the animals and planet.

The destruction and degradation of habitat, human-caused climate change, competition with introduced species, and over-exploitation are placing many species at increasing risk of extinction.

Right now we are facing a global extinction crisis. Scientists predict that over 1 million species, both animals and plants, are at risk of extinction in the coming decades. 

Australia’s species extinction rate

Australia is home to over 500,000 animal and plant species, many of which are unlike any found anywhere else in the world. In just 200 years, over 100 animal and plant species have become extinct. Thousands more are threatened or at risk of extinction. The most recent animal listed as endangered is the beloved koala. In NSW, QLD and the ACT, the koala's status of "vulnerable" has been updated to endangered due to threats from land clearing, climate change, and disease. Despite the known risks and causes, the government continues to allow the environment and animals to be destroyed.

Species extinction is natural, but humans are accelerating the rate at which it occurs

Over millions of years, the world has changed dramatically. Continents have broken apart, oceans and bodies of water have appeared and disappeared, and mountains have formed and eroded. With these changes in the environment come changes in animal and plant life. This means that species extinction is a natural process. What isn’t natural, however, is the alarming rate at which species are currently disappearing

We are experiencing a mass extinction event caused by humans. Experts estimate that the rate of extinction is 1,000 to 10,0000 times higher than expected natural extinction rates - and humans are at the centre of the issues.

Species extinction matters for human survival

Biodiversity is incredibly important for ecosystems to function properly. This includes nutrient and water cycles, soil formation, resistance against introduced species and diseases, plant pollination, climate regulation, and pollution control. If too many elements are removed, changed, or added within these different ecosystems, the environment will be heavily impacted. As a result, so too will humans.

On top of these environmental concerns, we should also care about individuals. All life has intrinsic value. This is a value that is not attributed by humans. Intrinsic values are an animal's or plant's own value, with no financial or other benefits. Morally, we should seek out ways to live in harmony with other species and find ways to thrive together.

Animal agriculture causes species extinction

The major threats to biodiversity include habitat destruction and degradation, pollution, over-exploitation, competition with introduced species, and human-caused climate change - all of which are entwined with animal agriculture.

Habitat destruction and habitat degradation

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is when a physical environment is modified, reduced, eliminated or fragmented. These impacts mean species who previously lived in areas can no longer survive there. This includes clearing trees, diverting rivers and creeks, creating dams, fencing off areas, and building roads or other developments.

A study in 2019 found that animal agriculture (both animals and the crops for their feed) currently uses 38.5% of earth’s habitable land. In comparison, just 1% is used for urban and built-up land. In 2017, Australia was placed in the top 10 land clearing nations in the world - most of which was for cattle farming.

What makes this figure even more astounding, is that farm animals only supply 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of the world’s protein. This means that the remaining 11.5% of land used for crops supplies 82% of the world’s calories and 63% of the world’s protein. If we continue to eat animals, the land needed for them and their feed will only increase - meaning more habitats will be destroyed.

A report by WWF-Australia found bulldozing forests and woodland habitats is responsible for killing millions of native mammals, amphibians, and sea creatures, every year. Researchers estimate that if the entire world switched to a vegan diet our total agricultural land use would shrink from 4.1 billion hectares to just 1 billion hectares - a reduction of 75%. This means that billions of hectares of land could be restored and returned to wild animals.

Animal agriculture not only requires land, but it also uses up millions of litres of water - increasing the need for diverting rivers and streams, dams or tapping into groundwater. What we eat equates to approximately 73% of our water footprint - and studies show that by eliminating meat and animal products from our diets, our water footprint can reduce food-related water use by 22 to 70%, with an average of 43%.

Though fences may appear to be safe for wildlife, studies have found that they can disrupt natural wildlife movement patterns, prevent animals from interacting, and can cause injury, distress and death due to starvation, thirst, or exposure.

Habitat degradation

Habitat degradation is when an environment is not functioning properly due to impacts caused by human activities. These impacts can include pollution, the disruption of ecosystem processes, or changes in species dynamics generated by the introduction of species.

Animal agriculture also increases pollution, both in the form of gas and manure, dead or diseased animals, discarded body parts, food waste, shed material, and water waste. This, in turn, pollutes the surrounding environment, further degrading it for other species. Additionally, land clearing increases sediment runoff from farms, which pollutes surrounding waterways.

Human-caused climate change

While climate change is natural, humans are influencing the rate of change through various activities. By removing and damaging carbon sinks, such as forests and the ocean, and increasing greenhouse gases through farming animals and burning fossil fuels, we are having a major influence on the climate and earth’s temperature. Plants and animals adapted and evolved with their environments as changes were slow. Now, however, humans have increased the rate at which the climate is changing, and species aren’t able to evolve. This is one factor leading to increasing extinction rates. Global warming is projected to push over one-third of Earth’s species to extinction by 2050. On top of this, we are experiencing more extreme weather events, from droughts to flooding.

While we should all be riding bikes, turning off lights, and using public transport, by far the most effective way to reduce our personal greenhouse gas emissions is by adopting a plant-based lifestyle. 

Introduced species

When we think of introduced species, a few familiar faces might pop into our minds; rabbits, foxes, cats, camels, and cane toads. This is because they’re who our government continually vilifies. We often forget, however, that the animals we breed to kill and eat are also introduced and the farms they live on are largely responsible for the rapid decrease in species and their habitats.

Farmed animals compete for valuable land and water resources. In fact, native Australian animals are classified as “pests” because they compete with farmed animals. For example, kangaroos are culled in the millions because they eat the grass farmers want to feed cows and sheep. Meanwhile, dingoes and eagles are shot or poisoned because they can prey on lambs or calves.

Culling programs

Across Australia, both native and introduced species who are classified as “pests”, largely because they are competing with farmed animals for resources (land, water, food), are targeted and culled. This can be done through the use of poisons, such as 1080 poison, trapping, bounties, and commercial and recreational hunting. You can learn more about the war on wildlife here.

Over-exploitation 

Over-exploitation is when resources or animals are depleted to a point where they cannot repopulate at the same rate they are being killed, placing the species at risk of extinction. Over-exploitation typically occurs for food and body parts and is said to affect approximately one-third of threatened species. The most obvious example is fish and other aquatic animals who are caught and killed by the trillions, for human consumption. Birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants are also at risk. Hundreds of species are hunted, traded, eaten, and used for medicine, pushing them to the brink of extinction. 

To learn more about the individual impacts animal industries have on the environment, click here.