5 July
2006 - The Tasmanian Devil, under threat from
the devastating Devil Facial Tumour Disease, has
been listed as vulnerable under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,
the Australian Government Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, announced
today.
The listing follows the Australian
Government’s earlier commitment of $2 million
over two years to accelerate diagnostic research
into the cause of the disease and to advance field
research and management actions to limit the spread
of the disease.
“Most Australians are aware
of the threat to the Tasmanian Devil posed by
Devil Facial Tumour Disease which has already
caused a substantial decline in the species’ numbers,”
Senator Campbell said.
“Listing the Tasmanian Devil
under the EPBC Act offers the species additional
protection and means that any new activity likely
to have a significant impact on the species will
need to be referred to the Australian Government
for assessment and approval.
“The work already being done
to fight Devil Facial Tumour Disease is now supported
by national listing. Both are important for the
long-term survival of the world’s largest carnivorous
marsupial,” he said.
Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease was first
detected in the mid-11000s and has since spread
to populations throughout the Tasmania – though
there is no evidence of it in the far north-west
and west coast populations.
To date the cancer is estimated
to have resulted in the loss of between 30 and
50 per cent of the wild population and while a
recent breakthrough has revealed that the cancer
is spread by biting, the cause of the disease
is still not known.
“Our knowledge of the disease
is improving as a result of monitoring of the
wild population and diagnostic research – both
of which are vital if we are to find a cure,”
Senator Campbell said.
The EPBC Act, Australia’s principal
environment legislation, protects matters of National
Environmental Significance, including nationally
threatened species. It streamlines the national
environmental assessment and approvals process,
protects Australian biodiversity and integrates
management of important natural and cultural places.
Further information about the
listing of the Tasmanian Devil under the EPBC
Act is available at www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html
Rob Broadfield
