Tasmania’s Wildlife and Parks at crisis point

Tasmanian National Parks are under-funded and undervalued leading to a crisis in their protection and management, says Greens Deputy Leader, Christine Milne.

“It is not good enough to splash photos of wilderness and wild animals on airport walls and TV ads, milking the environment for all its worth, while refusing to look after the animals and ecosystems on display.”

“Both inside and outside our Parks, native species are battling infectious illnesses which a healthy immune system should be able to overcome. The fact that our wild animals are succumbing to these infections suggests an immune system collapse and it is incumbent on the government to asses the state of the environment to establish whether chemical contamination is a driver.”

“Experts have found high levels of pollutants in our diseased devils, echidnas and platypus to name just a few, and they are fearful of finding more chemicals in more species if given the funds and support of the state government.”

“But how is this going to happen when government funding for our Parks and Wildlife service has been cut to the bone?”

“The government says monitoring of the situation has been improved, and it has implemented an emergency disease hotline, but what use is any of this without people looking, without the rangers on the ground?”

“Currently our parks have one ranger for every 30,000 hectares, compared with one for every 5000 in Victoria.”

“Without rangers, our diseased species are in danger of edging their way to extinction unnoticed. It’s madness, the government says it is employing one person, a wildlife health officer, to manage the situation while axing the department, slashing funding and reducing the people on the ground who can make a real difference.”

“I recently released a report detailing the government’s use of our parks as a cash cow for the Treasury. It showed how tourist needs are receiving the lion’s share of funding while conservation and habitat management are being treated as the poor, insignificant cousin.”

“The crisis of Tasmanian wildlife disease highlights an urgent need for effective habitat management. It will be too late for many of our native species unless the Bartlett government increases funding for research and management, and gives serious thought to the presence of pollutants in some of the world’s most valuable wilderness areas.”
Senator Christine Milne