SSAA National was invited to attend the inaugural Threatened Species Summit hosted by the Federal Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt and chaired by the Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews this month. Held in Melbourne on July 16, the summit brought together key stakeholders and organisations involved in conservation activities with a specific focus on how to stop ongoing threats to our native species.
The summit also launched the Threatened Species Strategy, which outlines the first instalment of a five-year plan to work in partnership with the community and state and territory governments to protect the survival of many of our native species with measurable targets.
The action plan includes four key action areas:
- tackling feral cats;
- safe havens for species most at risk;
- improving habitat; and
- emergency intervention to avert extinctions.
The strategy’s targets to measure success include:
- culling 2 million feral cats by 2020;
- improving 20 threatened mammals by 2020;
- improving 20 threatened birds by 2020;
- protecting Australia’s plants; and
- improving recovery guidance.
The SSAA has extensive experience in the conservation space, with our state Conservation & Wildlife Management (CWM) branches contributing considerably to the preservation of native species across Australia. SSAA National will continue to promote the free and important service our members provide in pest and feral animal control to protect our native species, with hunting in particular playing a significant part in the solution to stop any further demises.