7 September
2006 - The Forty-spotted Pardalote, Macquarie
Perch and Leadbeater's Possum will all breathe
easier today with the announcement that they and
other threatened animals and plants will benefit
from Australian Government funding to community
groups around the country.
Australian Minister for the
Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell
joined with WWF-Australia programme leader, Dr
Nicola Markus to announce the $592,900 Threatened
Species Network Community Grants.
"This funding means that
the future of some of Australia's most precious
threatened plants and animals will be a little
more assured," Senator Campbell said.
"The grants will allow
community groups to undertake 33 on-ground projects
to better the survival chances of 68 threatened
species and ecological communities," Dr Markus
said.
The grants form part of the
joint Australian Government and WWF-Australia
Threatened Species Network. Over the past eight
years the Government has provided more than $4
million for about 300 projects across the country
as part of the programme.
Senator Campbell and Dr Markus
said that other grants would include:
• $12,122 to reduce the threat of woody weed invasion
in the Fleurieu Peninsula Swamps, SA;
• $11,400 to address the serious decline of the
Macquarie Perch, NSW;
• $26,594 to manage the habitat of the endangered
Forty-spotted Pardalote on Bruny Island, Tas;
• $14,150 to construct nest boxes as replacement
habitat for the Leadbeater's Possum, Vic; and
• $15,1000 to conserve threatened flora on the
Stanthorpe Plateau, QLD.
National Threatened Species
Day is held on 7 September each year to remember
the loss of the last captive Tasmanian Tiger in
1936 in Hobart.
This year, the theme for National
Threatened Species Day is: 'building resilience
in threatened species and habitat'.
Senator Campbell and Dr Markus
congratulated the grant recipients, and thanked
them for their participation in threatened species
recovery.
They urged all Australians to
get involved in National Threatened Species Day
activities and other events throughout September,
which is Biodiversity Month.
For a full list of funded
projects or more information visit www.wwf.org.au/tsn.
To request a free information kit contact the
DEH Community Information Unit at ciu@deh.gov.au.
Rob Broadfield
