Developing a new Threatened Species Strategy Survey Outcomes Summary Report

Developing a new Threatened Species Strategy Survey Outcomes Summary Report

Executive summary

A new 10-year Threatened Species Strategy is under development, which will outline the Australian Government’s approach to protecting and recovering Australia’s threatened species. The new Strategy will build on the model of the current Strategy and continue to focus on some established priorities, but also address new and emerging challenges. The current Strategy can be found at: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/threatened-species-strategy.

A survey and discussion paper were published in late 2020 to receive feedback on the 2015 Strategy and provide suggestions for the new Strategy, including the prioritisation principles and action areas that will underpin the new Strategy. If you would like to view the discussion paper, please see: haveyoursay.awe.gov.au/1new-threatened-species-strategy.

This report provides a high-level summary of the feedback from the survey and written submissions on the standard survey questions included in the discussion paper. There is additional feedback within the submissions that provides a wealth of useful suggestions that will be analysed further to inform the new Strategy.

An analysis of feedback on the survey questions identified some common themes about the current and new Strategy, including:

· The 2015 Threatened Species Strategy provided a national focus for threatened species management, for tackling the impacts of feral cats, for building collaborative partnerships and coordinated action, and for raising public awareness of the threats facing threatened species.

· A greater focus on threatening processes and management at a landscape scale would further enhance the new Strategy, including to address climate change impacts and habitat loss.

· A wider range of species/taxa groups and places should be included in a new Strategy.

· Building resilience against sudden and unanticipated pests, disease or events is important.

· The critical role of Traditional Owners, landholders and community in managing threatened species should be recognised and supported via the Strategy.

Introduction

The Threatened Species Strategy outlines the Australian Government’s approach to protecting and recovering Australia’s threatened species. The 2015 Threatened Species Strategy prioritised the recovery of 70 priority species, including 20 mammals, 20 birds and 30 plants, and established four key action areas: tackling feral cats and their impacts, safe havens for species most at risk, improving habitat and undertaking emergency interventions to avert extinctions.

The 2015 Strategy was underpinned by a five-year Action Plan which concluded in June 2020. In September 2020, the Australian Government Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, announced the Government will develop a new 10-year Threatened Species Strategy.

The new Strategy will build on the model of the current Strategy. It will continue to focus on some of the established priorities, but also address new and emerging challenges and build on lessons learned from the current Strategy.

The new Strategy is being developed in two parts:

· An updated Threatened Species Strategy which outlines the Australian Government’s ten-year vision, objectives, prioritisation principles and action areas

· This will be followed by a five-year Action Plan, to be developed in 2021, which sets out practical targets, priority species, actions, deliverables, responsibilities, partners, and timelines.

The Australian Government is committed to consultation with key stakeholders and the community during the development of the new Threatened Species Strategy and Action Plan. This year, the consultation process has been focussed on the new Strategy.

The consultation process

A discussion paper was released in October to seek input on priority issues to be considered in the development of the new Strategy. Feedback was invited from 30 October to 20 November 2020. The survey was open to the public and provided an opportunity to give feedback on the previous Strategy and suggestions for the new Strategy.

In parallel to the survey, a series of targeted virtual stakeholder workshops was held to assist with the design of:

· The Prioritisation Principles, to guide identification of priority species and places in the Action Plan, and

· the Action Areas, that aim to best meet Strategy objectives, and guide the development of the Action Plan. Broad action areas could cover direct interventions, as well as actions supporting implementation. The action areas in Figure 3 are proposed only and are being refined through the consultation process.

The workshop summary report is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/threatened-species-strategy.

This report is focused on the responses to the questions in the discussion paper received via the online survey and written submissions and provides a high-level snapshot of the findings, including suggestions for improvements in the new Strategy. Further analysis of feedback will be undertaken to inform the development of the new Strategy.

Not all suggestions in the submissions were within the scope of a new Strategy, but all the feedback provided valuable ideas and insights.

Survey and written responses

A total of 93 survey and written responses were received. Members of the general public and non-government organisations were the primary stakeholder groups who responded to the consultation.

Figure 1. Breakdown of stakeholders who made a submission or completed a survey in the new Threatened Species Strategy consultation. Survey participants were primarily self-identified. Those respondents who submitted anonymous submissions were allocated as a member of the general public.

Key Findings Development of a Threatened Species Strategy

Survey participants were asked what they considered to be the most valuable contribution or outcome of the first Threatened Species Strategy. Four main themes arose from survey responses:

· Providing a national focus for threatened species

· Improving biodiversity by tackling threats (primarily cat management)

· Raising public awareness of the threats facing threatened species, and

· Building partnerships amongst stakeholders and directing investment.

Figure 2 Highlights the value of the Threatened Species Strategy as identified by survey respondents. The larger, bolder words indicate a higher frequency of use and the values that were most prominent in the survey responses. Data analytics identified common words in the submissions. These common words were then analysed further to identify multiple word combinations that provided suggestions for themes.

A draft framework for a new Strategy was presented in the discussion paper (Figure 3, next page). It proposed that the Strategy would include a new purpose statement, new objectives, principles for prioritisation to select priority species, places and actions and a suite of high-level action areas that will be the focus of our future efforts and investments.

Survey participants were asked if the draft framework provides a sound foundation for increasing security and supporting recovery of Australia’s threatened species. Survey respondents expressed mixed views. Of those respondents that provided feedback (both via survey responses and written responses) on this question, 17% considered the proposed elements of the new Strategy would provide a sound foundation, 23% did not, 37% were unsure and 36% did not provide an answer.

Figure 3. Draft framework for the new Threatened Species Strategy included in the October 2020 Discussion Paper (to be refined through consultation)

The survey also asked for suggestions that could be made to improve the draft framework. As shown in Figure 4, the common themes that emerged from survey respondents included:

- To focus on threat management at a national landscape-scale including addressing habitat loss- A greater representation of different taxa groups (e.g. reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates) in the priority species list and a stronger focus on threatened ecological communities - Increased transparency around species prioritisation and decision-making- Management of new and emerging biosecurity threats

Climate change and habitat loss were also identified as important threats that should be considered in a new framework. The need for greater engagement with Indigenous groups and Traditional Owners, clear actions with measurable targets and well-developed planning frameworks, were also highlighted by respondents.

Figure 4. Identifies the relative importance of each topic by survey respondents. The primary topic (dark blue shading) has the highest frequency of key words related to the topic, the secondary topic (mid blue) has the next highest frequency, followed by tertiary (light blue) and quaternary (pale blue) as the least frequent. As shown in this graph, 40% of survey responses noted a management of threats at a landscape scale as important.

Prioritisation Principles

Prioritisation principles help identify where Australian Government investment in threatened species recovery can be most beneficial. We need to ensure resources and efforts for threatened species recovery are targeted to where we can get the biggest benefit towards our objectives from each dollar invested. The new Strategy will use a prioritisation framework to select priority species, places and actions during the development of the Action Plan in 2021.

Survey participants were asked to rate the importance of each principle in the current Strategy in identifying priority species under the new Strategy. More than 50% of the survey respondents identified conservation status, umbrella action species and importance to the environment as extremely important principles for identifying priority species in a new Strategy (Figure 5).

Other principles such as importance to people, cost, uniqueness and community (i.e., engagement with community groups) elicited more variable responses from survey participants.

Figure 5. The perceived value of prioritisation principles (%) from extremely important to not at all important as identified by survey respondents.

Survey respondents were also asked to provide suggestions for improvements to the prioritisation principles in the current Strategy. The three main themes that came through the survey responses included:

· Extinction risk – species or places at high risk of being lost

· Value to people – significance of species or places to communities, including Traditional Owners

· Feasibility – that actions taken can make a difference

In addition, survey respondents said that transparent decision-making was important and a robust, science-based approach should be taken to applying the principles.

Action Areas

The draft framework for the new Strategy included in the discussion (see Figure 3) proposed a number of potential action areas. These cover both on-ground interventions, such as tackling threats and improving habitat, and supporting actions that underpin on-ground actions, including planning, partnerships and monitoring.

The proposed action areas build on the four action areas in the current Threatened Species Strategy. These included: tackling feral cats, safe havens for species most at risk, improving habitat, and emergency intervention to avert extinctions.

The survey asked participants to rank the importance of each proposed action area from ‘extremely important’ to ‘not at all important’. The results (Figure 6 below) indicate that all eight proposed action areas were identified as important for inclusion in the new Strategy by survey respondents. Of those eight, more than 80% of survey responses identified ‘Preserving, restoring and improving habitat’ and ‘Mitigating priority threats’ as extremely important to achieving Strategy objectives.

Figure 6. The perceived value of action areas (%) from extremely important to not at all important as identified by survey respondents.

While there was strong support for the proposed action areas, survey responses indicated there were several important areas that potentially are missing from the draft framework for the new Strategy or could be further emphasised. Five action areas that were identified as important to consider in a new Strategy were:

· Habitat restoration

· Addressing habitat loss

· Addressing climate change impacts

· Threat abatement

· Tackling biosecurity threats

Figure 7. Depicts key action areas identified as potentially missing from the draft framework for the new Strategy.

The survey also asked respondents to identify the action areas where Commonwealth leadership could create the most value through the new Strategy. The three action areas that were selected most frequently were:

· Planning for conservation

· Tackling threats including habitat loss and climate change impacts at a landscape scale

· Building partnerships and leveraging investments

The survey provided an opportunity to gather feedback on the work individuals or organisations are undertaking that aligns with the Strategy, and respondents offered suggestions for opportunities to partner with the Australian Government on the new Strategy such as:

· Collaborating in partnerships with state governments, community and landholders across landscapes to identify priorities and achieve outcomes.

· Partnering on innovative research and science

· Partnering on the development of Recovery Plans.

Finally, other suggestions for what respondents would like to see in a new Strategy included:

· Long-term recovery planning

· Inclusion of ecological communities and places in a Strategy

· Setting ambitious targets

Next Steps

We will continue to analyse the consultation submissions to inform the development of the new Strategy.

The new Threatened Species Strategy is anticipated be released in March 2021. Following the development of the Strategy, we will commence consultation on the first five-year Action Plan. This Action Plan will set out practical targets, priority species, actions, deliverables, responsibilities, partners and timelines.

Details on this consultation will be made available at: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/strategy-home.

Breakdown of Consultation Participants

Commonwealth AgencyLocal or State GovernmentNon-Government OrganisationNRMZooScience CommunityUniversityLand managerIndustryGeneral PublicCommunity Group Other (please specify)18187197142287