posted on 2023-05-24, 05:41authored byCraigie, ID, Grech, A, Pressey, RL, Vanessa AdamsVanessa Adams, Hockings, M, Taylor, M, Barnes, M
Australia has a long history of establishing protected areas and they are now the cornerstones of its national and regional conservation strategies, covering over 13% of the country. There are large regional variations in levels of coverage, with most large protected areas placed far from dense human populations and away from productive agricultural land. Most of the recent growth in coverage has been driven by Indigenous Protected Areas and private protected areas, a trend that is likely to increase in the future. It is difficult to say how effective protected areas are in conserving biodiversity due to shortcomings in monitoring and evaluation, but the data that exist show that biodiversity outcomes are variable and that management effectiveness could be substantially improved. Threats to the protected area system are currently increasing with strong government pressure to allow extractive industries, such as mining, logging and grazing, and damaging recreational uses such as hunting to occur on land that is currently protected. If this trend continues, the future holds a great deal of uncertainty for Australia’s protected areas.
History
Publication title
Austral Ark: The State of Wildlife in Australia and New Zealand
Editors
A Stow, N Maclean, GI Holwell
Pagination
560-851
ISBN
9781107033542
Department/School
School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Place of publication
Singapore
Extent
29
Rights statement
Copyright 2015 Cambridge University Press
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Environmental policy, legislation and standards not elsewhere classified