Western ground parrot needs
millions spent on it, but volunteers say Coalition is trying to shift costs to not-for-profits
Mon 18 Jun
2018 23.19 BSTFirst published on Mon 18 Jun 2018 19.00 BST
The Turnbull government helped
broker a $200,000 agreement for a German not-for-profit to fund conservation
work for a critically endangered Australian parrot, bolstering criticism it is
shifting the cost of protecting threatened species to community and
philanthropic organisations.
The western
ground parrot is one of only three ground nesting parrots found in
Australia and is one
of 20 birds the government has committed to helping as part of its
threatened species strategy.
But the parrot is receiving just
$80,000 in species-specific funding from the federal government through its
threatened species recovery fund to construct new facilities for “a captive
breeding trial at Perth zoo”.
The environment department says
additional money to support the birds is coming from a $1.7m feral cat baiting
program in WA and an agreement it “brokered” with a German parrot association
for $200,000 for a western ground parrot project.
The Association for the
Conservation of Threatened Parrots, a Berlin-based not for profit, agreed to
provide the funds in 2017 for work by the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and
Attractions to increase feral animal control, “monitor existing populations and
enhance captive breeding methods”, an environment and energy spokeswoman said.
Conservation groups say the
international donation is an example of the government increasingly trying to
move the cost of threatened species work onto volunteers and charities and at a
time when it has been trying to stop not-for-profits from accepting overseas
donations for political advocacy work.
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