'Call for Urgent Action as Aus faces Biodiversity Crisis'

Conservationist Gregory Andrews has warned Australia’s biodiversity is the “worst it’s ever been” and that the new Labor government will have to work hard to address the damage done to the environment. (..) As an Aboriginal Australian from D’harawal Country, Andrews feels driven to care for his country’s land and biodiversity. He was appointed Australia’s first threatened species commissioner in 2014 and worked in the position for just more than three years, focusing on mobilising awareness and resources, and developing policies to fight extinction in Australia.

Since then, he has had a number of roles. He was Australia’s Ambassador and High Commissioner to nine countries in West Africa from 2019. Then, at the end of 2021, he decided to return home and embrace life as a full-time father and conservationist. (..) In an interview with Al Jazeera, he discussed the state of Australia’s biodiversity and what the country’s trajectory may be in terms of conservation and climate policy.

Al Jazeera: Which native species are particularly vulnerable to extinction?

Andrews: The threatened species list has about 2,500 species on it. But to give you a feel for how serious it is, Australia has 12 mammals rarer than China’s Giant Panda. (..)