Australia has just four years to meet a global biodiversity promise: Protect 30% of its land and seas by 2030. What happens here in one of the planet’s megadiverse nations, which is also an extinction hotspot, will signal whether the world’s most ambitious conservation commitment can succeed. Australia is a wealthy country with abundant resources, so the question is not only if it can meet its target goal, but whether it’s protecting the right places. Global example In 2022, nearly 200 countries agreed to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, known as 30 by 30. The pact calls for at least 30% of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments to be effectively conserved and managed to help reverse biodiversity loss. In addition, the conserved areas need to be biodiverse, ecologically representative, well connected, well managed, and equitably governed, while the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities are recognized and respected. Australia’s biodiversity crisis is already severe. The country is home to globally distinctive species and ecosystems, yet it has one of the world’s worst records for mammal extinctions driven by land clearing, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, changed fire regimes, water extraction, climate change, and poorly-controlled development. Lyndal Scobell of Cape York Natural Resource Management Ltd and Roderick Doughboy, an Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger, discuss land management issues at the Split Rock Escarpment overlooking the Kennedy Valley near Laura in Outback Queensland. Image courtesy of Kerry Trapnell. But…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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