You might not have heard of Professor Brendan Wintle, and I confess until I received an invitation to attend an Oceans Institute presentation on curbing Australia’s escalating nature crisis (thanks Dominque Mecoy), I hadn’t either. Based in Melbourne, he is a Director of the Melbourne Biodiversity Institute and a Professor in Conservation Ecology.
Professor Wintle presented a disturbing update on the continuing decline of native plants and animals (did you know Australia has the second highest rate of diversity loss in the planet and the highest in the developed world!) and asked the question “what should reasonable people expect from our leaders to combat this?” as well as what we can do ourselves.
You might be asking, does this matter?
After all, we have a federal election just around the corner and our politicians are hardly falling over themselves to speak up for nature.
I say yes, it matters a great deal for our food, water and economic security.
We’ve been celebrating Earth Day since 1970. Since its inception, the focus has been to remind us that human health depends on the health of the planet.
We take access to clean air and water for granted, forgetting that environmental degradation in the form of pollution and deforestation contributes to respiratory illness and cognitive impairment, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and even the spread of infectious diseases.
As Koehler states. “Environmental quality has a profound effect on health and the burden of disease”.
I get depressed knowing our Government spends under 2% of the health budget on disease prevention.
What’s even more depressing is hearing that we spend 0.06% of our GDP on protecting our environment and reducing biodiversity loss.
Yep, it’s pathetic.
While the cost of living, the housing crisis, healthcare shortfalls and economy all matter, so too does our environment.
Even the World Economic Forum in its 2025 Global Risks Report lists biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as no 2 in the 10-year global risk ranking (extreme weather events are number one).
So, what can be done?
A lot, if we take action. But the time for sitting on our hands is over if we want to protect ourselves, our future generations and the planet.
The research shows that conservation measures work. A global metanalysis of 186 studies showed that interventions targeting species and ecosystems to control invasive species, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas and sustainable management are highly effective and have large effect sizes. We just need to massively scale and invest more dollars.
What would it cost?
Estimates suggest $7 billion a year in Australia.
That sounds a lot until you take into account the following statistics shared by Professor Wintle.
- 70% of medicines are derived from natural products or copies of natural products.
- Nature underpins the cognitive development of our children.
- Half of global GDP is directly dependent on nature.
- 75% of crops are animal-pollinated, accounting for 35% of food production.
You get the drift.
The better question is, can we afford not to invest in our environment?
Biodiversity is critically important to human health and well-being so let’s look at what each one of us can do, in addition to lobbying our leaders and challenging our employers to engage in meaningful reduction of pollution, to seek ways to reduce habitat loss and restore degraded land, avoid overfishing and better ways to enhance pollinator habitat.
What have you seen being done effectively to improve biodiversity?
Hi Jenny,
I agree with you that 0.06% of GDP spent on protecting nature is pathetic and I despair that our politicians will ever do enough to turn things around.
However, there are glimmers of hope. I saw recently on Gardening Australia that quendas had been introduced into a bushland area in Craigie (I think) and they are thriving there. They dig burrows which distributes soil and benefits the native vegetation.
Also, an organisation that is doing good things about biodiversity is Birdlife Australia. They are also lobbying for an increase in the percentage of GDP spent on protecting nature for this election, as well as promoting the protection of endangered birds, which in turn benefits all of us.
Thanks for your newsletters, Anne
Thanks Anne.
I agree that some wonderful people in the community are doing good work. The issue remains that this work is fragmented and small.
What’s needed is a massive up-scale in what is being done to have a more significant impact.
It can be done, it’s merely(!) a question of convincing our leaders to do more. Perhaps we can help by calling out the good we see, so it’s in the public eye more.
I’m delighted to hear that Birdlife Australia are lobbying hard. It’s well documented that birdsong is one of the most powerful positive influences on our mood and mental well-being.
Thank you for your excellent article. There has been so much focus on clean and renewable energy that sadly our woefully neglected environment including ecosystems and wildlife on the brink of extinction have been ignored. The failure of government to review and update the old environmental protection laws has further exacerbated this by continuing to approve developments without any consideration or provisions made for the welfare of wildlife and habitat. Such a travesty and way past due that it receives the urgent attention that it deserves.
Thanks Deb,
Hopefully, more people in the community are waking up to the fact that our current way of developing new human habitats is unsustainable for ourselves or the planet!
We often think we can’t do much on our own to bring about change, but when the collective voice is strong, we can.