MEMBER for Northern Tablelands has welcomed a series of new projects to protect the State’s most threatened species.
Mr Marshall said that the $4.8 million Saving our Species program had been established to secure the future of NSW’s 970 threatened species.
“These plants and animals face the real risk of disappearing forever and this is not something that we should accept,” he said.
“I am very pleased that the government is taking steps to safeguard these animals so future generations will be able to see them in the wild, and not just in the confinement of a zoo.
“A total of 28 new draft conservation projects have been developed for the program.
“The projects include protection of the green and golden bell frog, which will involve habitat conservation, monitoring and community engagement activities.
The Saving our Species program aims to protect threatened species by:
- Prioritising projects based on their benefit to the species, feasibility and cost to help make the most effective investments in threatened species conservation;
- Monitoring and managing the effectiveness of projects so they can be refined;
- Encouraging community, corporate and government participation in threatened species conservation by providing a website and a database with information on project sites and research opportunities;
- Allocating all threatened species to one of six management streams that provide the best outcomes for each species; and
- Providing targeted conservation projects that set out the actions required to save 370 specific plants and animals on locally or regionally managed sites
“These conservation projects will be added to the 368 projects for other threatened species which are currently guiding conservation action,” Mr Marshall said.
The draft projects can be reviewed and comments provided online at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspecies/PASAmendmentSpecies.htm
Comments are being sought until Friday, 13 February 2015.