Newsletter / Blog
2012-03-06 Study shows that Australians must work with international partners to save Australia’s birds.
The research showed
that the status of Australian birds was declining faster than elsewhere in the
world. According to Dr Judit Szabo the main reason is a rapid decline in
migratory shorebirds coming to Australia
from Asia and ongoing threats to oceanic
seabirds. Other causes of decline in Australian birds have been invasive
species, like rats and cats, and changes in fire regime. Overseas the losses
have been caused by ongoing coastal development in Asia
and deep sea fishing.
The Australian
Research Council funded study, done in conjunction with BirdLife Australia and
published in the journal Biological
Conservation, reports on changes in the Red List Index for all
Australian species and subspecies of birds since 1990. The Index is used by the
world’s governments to assess performance under the Convention on Biological
Diversity and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
According to Professor
Possingham from The University of Queensland the Red List Index can be
considered the Dow Jones index of birds. |