Gang-gang cockatoo recovery plan ignores climate threat, expert warns
An ecologist says the gang-gang recovery plan does not adequately address climate change as the main threat to the species.
The gang-gang population has fallen 69 per cent over 20 years and was further devastated by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. The government's Draft National Recovery Plan aims to keep the population stable by 2050 and also aims to ensure genetic diversity.
Dr Michael Mulvaney is a Canberra-based ecologist. He says the plan does not prioritise climate change, which is driving the bird's decline.
The report notes that for species such as the gang-gang cockatoo, changes in fire frequency and intensity can reduce key foraging resources. The birds also lose the hollow-bearing trees they need for nesting.
The government's plan lists habitat fragmentation, power-line accidents, bushfires and disease as threats. But it does not make climate action central to recovery.
About 150 gang-gangs live in the ACT, making Canberra the species' population stronghold.
- 69 per cent over 20 years
- Population decline
- About 150 gang-gangs
- ACT population
- Stable population by 2050
- Recovery target
- Within 25 years if climate ignored
- Extinction timeline
Why it mattersIf climate change is not central to recovery efforts, the plan may fail. As fires and droughts get worse, the species could be lost within 25 years.
AustraliaAustralian wildlife advocates face a critical gap in the country's flagship endangered-species program. Canberra's gang-gangs, the world's densest population, could be lost without climate-focused action.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 9 d ago
