Glossy Black-Cockatoos used to be common on South Australia’s
Kangaroo Island until possums started eating their eggs and chicks. After
volunteers helped protect nest hollows and erect safe nest boxes, the
population more than doubled.
But how do you measure such success? How do you compare cockatoo
nest protection with any other investment in conservation?
Unfortunately, we have few ways to compare and track the
different efforts many people may be making to help conserve our natural
treasures.
That’s why a group of us from a dozen Australian universities
along with scientists and private researchers around the world have
created metrics of progress for both our
understanding of how to manage threats of different intensity, and how well
that management has been implemented. We also provide guidance on what still
needs doing before a threat no longer needs active management.
For the first time, we looked at every threatened bird in
Australia to see how well – or not – they are managed. Hopefully, we can use
this to avoid compounding our disastrous recent track record of extinctions in
Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment