The Wilds of the city: addressing the biodiversity crisis in our backyard

Abstract

Australia is currently suffering the largest documented decline in biodiversity of any continent, having experienced at least 100 known extinctions since British invasion in 1788 (Cresswell et. al, 2021). In part, this reflects the high rates of endemism among Australian species, and the distinct contribution of Australian species to global biodiversity, with the continent supporting >8% of the world’s species (Legge et. al, 2023). However, it is also the direct result of the failure of various legal reforms to effectively protect biodiversity since their introduction in the mid-twentieth century (Norton & Kidge, 2023). This was confirmed in the most recent State of Environment report (2021), which posited that Australia should expect further species extinctions unless current approaches to manage threats and pressures to biodiversity are significantly reformed. Australia’s present strategies to address biodiversity loss primarily relies on regulatory classifications of ‘critical habitat’ and ‘areas of outstanding biodiversity value’. These are areas that are identified by state or federal governments to be of outstanding biodiversity value, usually linked to a particular species, which experiences special conservation measures. These frameworks reflect the measures that are most commonly associated with biodiversity protection in Australia - that is the protection of the ‘wilderness’ through protected areas such as nature reserves and national parks, areas where biodiversity thrives and where humans leave only footsteps.