Australia: Ecosystem Intertwined With Endangered Species

Do you think we are doing enough to prevent plants and animals from becoming extinct?

Want to hear the ‘good news’ or the ‘bad news’ first? Well you can smile with the fact that threatened species of plants and animals are making a comeback! That said, on the flip side, more are being threatened everyday, including ‘indicator species,’ which means when one of these species is threatened, an entire ecosystem faces potential collapse!

These consequences can instigate a global impact.

So let’s have a look at Australia, seeing as it’s home to over seven hundred thousand species, the majority of which you won’t find anywhere else. Adjustments to the landscape and natural habitat has put many vulnerable plants and animals at risk and over the past few hundred years, unfortunately the sentence has been death to numerous plant and animal species as a result.

There is a price to pay for progress and we need people to be aware of the ecological impact of ‘worldly’ advancements. Sure the new logging company is going to generate jobs and economic growth but at what price? Are the forests being replaced that are wiped out? What about the plants and animals that reside there? How would you like it if I decided to flatten your home so that I could build a huge garden? A little extreme but I think you get the picture. Maybe we need to ‘think’ a little more before we act.

The ecological communities in Australia are unique and these groups of plants and animals are found naturally in our world for a reason. They are delicately balanced and changing even the smallest detail can be devastating. These specialty communities are defined by climate, soil type, water available and position in the landscape.

In Australia the government is working with the state, local governments, non-government, tertiary institutions and community groups to ensure protection of these precious communities of plants and animal species.

Here are a few of the measures in place:

* Identification of the threatened species and ecological communities.

* Registration of critical habitat.

* Recognition of key threatening processes.

* Specific conservation advice and recovery plans.

* Threat abatement plans (reduce impact of processes).

Oh, and to answer my original question. No, we can always be doing more.

What measures are you taking to help protect the world’s delicate ecosystems, home to thousands of wondrous plants and animal species?

Anything that you do to help is one more positive that wasn’t there yesterday and no matter the size, it DOES make a difference!

Spread the word and help protect the spectacular wonders our world has to offer.

Tags: animals, Australia, Australian, conservation, ecological, ecosystem, endangered, habitat, plants, protect, protection, species