Extinction prevention in Australia costs $15.6 billion over 30 years

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February 6, 2025
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Extinction prevention in Australia costs $15.6 billion over 30 years

A new study has estimated that it would cost Australia $15.6 billion annually over 30 years extinction prevention for 99 of its “priority species.” The research was led by Griffith University’s Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security with WWF-Australia and the University of Queensland. It revealed the urgency for increasing funding to combat threats including habitat destruction, invasive species, and climate change.

Over 100 of Australia’s 100 endemic species have already been lost over the past three centuries, putting it at the centre of the planet’s ongoing extinction crisis, making extinction prevention an important priority. The government has said it is committed to reverse the decline of 110 “priority species” and the new research looked at protecting 99 of these.

While the figure above could prevent the imminent extinction of many threatened species, lead author Dr Michelle Ward said, there are some including frogs that have been found to be non-recoverable, mainly as a result of climate change.

“Species such as Mountain-top Nursery Frog and Swan Galaxias were found to be of real concern and need active ex-situ conservation,” Dr Ward said.

“The cost to reverse the decline of priority species and undo damage done by habitat loss, disease and other threats was estimated at $103.7 billion annually, while getting them off the threatened list entirely would require $157.7 billion per year.”

The paper shows the true cost of ineffective nature protection laws and inadequate species funding, said Dr Romola Stewart, a co-author and WWF-Australia’s Head of Evaluation and Science. “Australia’s ever-growing list of threatened species is a direct result of decades of under spending,” she said. “Turning this tragedy around will take a dramatic increase in action and investment. This is achievable for a wealthy nation like Australia. If we fail to put our wildlife and wild places on a path to recovery, our economy and environment will suffer, and we will see more species silently slide towards extinction.”

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