The NSW environment department is doing an abysmal job of protecting the state’s 1100 threatened species from extinction, its latest report card shows.
The state auditor-general’s report lists a multitude of failures, including that the department did nothing to help almost 70 per cent of those species in 2022/23.
It paints a picture of a dramatically underfunded department that cannot afford to help or effectively monitor plants, animals and ecological communities at risk of extinction.
“(It) did not deliver any conservation activities, including monitoring, for 69 per cent of threatened species and ecological communities in 2022–23,” the report says.
“This includes some species considered a high priority for intervention, as well as species that (the department) has recognised require ongoing monitoring to identify any change to extinction risk.”
The report takes particular aim at the flagship Saving our Species program, which is delivering help for less than a third of imperilled species.
“The number of species and ecological communities that (the department) actively manages, or funds other entities to manage, has reduced by 19 per cent since 2018-19,” it says.
“This decrease corresponds with a decline in program funding of 25 per cent in 2021-22.”
The audit said performance measures were hard to interpret and failed to provide a complete view of how many species have been protected overall, and how many are responding to intervention.
The department was heavily criticised for failing to consistently engage with other agencies on key threats including land clearing and invasive species.
“Duplicative or contradictory efforts across government represent a key risk to the effectiveness and sustainability of (the department’s) activities for threatened species and ecological communities,” the report said.
AAP is seeking comment from the NSW government, and federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has promised to ward off any new extinctions in Australia.