Threatened species legislation and threatened species recovery: does the former lead to the latter?

Vision statements and key action statements are primary and useful tools for threatened species recovery and threat abatement. In this chapter I provide a view of the necessary vision and key action statements. Listing a species or biological entity through threatened species legislation may or may not lead to its recovery, and this factor should be carefully taken into account in the process of funding natural resource management actions. Recent experience in NSW (1995 -2003) has provided examples of the application of a comprehensive Threatened Species Conservation Act, and its effect on biodiversity management. Some recovery plans have been written, but few actions have been resourced or delivered positive outcomes for the target taxa. Examples where recovery actions have been successful, apparently failed, or are still in question are discussed. Some required elements for successful recovery action and threat abatement are set out (scientific analyses of the environment, monitoring, transparency, community ownership, redundancy, exit strategy). Clearly, it would be better if more actions were resourced and improved conservation outcomes were delivered. A synthesis of current planning processes (2004) required by legislation, which produces fewer plans, processes and meetings, and more measurable conservation outcomes is a simple way forward. This can be done by using a hierarchical process to restore ecosystems, using fundamental and generally available knowledge and techniques.

[1]  Sue V. Briggs,et al.  Command and control in natural resource management: Revisiting Holling and Meffe , 2003 .

[2]  D. Priddel,et al.  The status of gould's petrel, Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera, on Cabbage Tree Island, New South Wales , 1995 .

[3]  D. Botkin.  No Man's Garden: Thoreau And A New Vision For Civilization And Nature , 2000 .

[4]  R. Wheeler,et al.  Eradication of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) from Cabbage Tree Island, NSW, Australia, to protect the breeding habitat of Gould's petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera) , 2000 .

[5]  D. Priddel,et al.  An Artificial Nest Box for Burrow-Nesting Seabirds , 1995 .

[6]  M. Cody,et al.  Long-term studies of vertebrate communities , 1997 .

[7]  E. Nicholson.  Winds of change for silvicultural practice in NSW native forests , 1999 .

[8]  G. Luikart,et al.  Characterization of microsatellite loci in the endangered long‐footed potoroo Potorous longipes , 1997, Molecular ecology.

[9]  Daniel Simberloff,et al.  The role of science in the preservation of forest biodiversity , 1999 .

[10]  G. Pyke,et al.  Hastings River mouse Pseudomys oralis: a biological review , 2002 .

[11]  B. J. Fox,et al.  Diet of the Hastings River mouse (Pseudomys oralis) , 1994 .

[12]  Allan Curtis,et al.  Regional Scale Adaptive Management: Lessons from the North East Salinity Strategy (NESS) , 2003 .

[13]  P. Meek,et al.  Generating conservation kernels to select areas to control red fox (Vulpes vulpes): Potential implications for pest management practice in state forests , 2003 .

[14]  Paul Hawken,et al.  The Ecology of Commerce , 1993 .

[15]  A. P. Smith,et al.  Patterns and causes of extinction and decline in Australian conilurine rodents , 1996 .

[16]  P. Kareiva,et al.  Biological vs. social, economic and political priority‐setting in conservation , 2003 .

[17]  Samantha J. Song,et al.  Science, Power, and System Dynamics: the Political Economy of Conservation Biology , 2001 .

[18]  P. Johnston,et al.  Potorous longipes (Marsupialia:Macropodidae); a New Species from Easter Victoria , 1980 .

[19]  S. Moore,et al.  The influence of recent changes in public sector management on biodiversity conservation , 2001 .

[20]  Graeme Caughley,et al.  Directions in conservation biology , 1994 .

[21]  Historical and Contemporary Maternal Population Structuring in the Endangered Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis) , 1998 .

[22]  Harry F. Recher,et al.  Aspects of Ecologically Sustainable Forestry in Temperate Eucalypt Forests - Beyond an Expanded Reserve System , 1998 .

[23]  C. Holling,et al.  Command and Control and the Pathology of Natural Resource Management , 1996 .

[24]  D. Priddel,et al.  A trial translocation of Gould's Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera) , 2001 .

[25]  H. McCallum,et al.  Towards scientifically valid management tools for sustainable forest management: species guilds versus model species , 2000 .