Environmental Management and Species Extinction in Australia - Article Example

Environmental Management and Species Extinction in Australia Name Institution Date Course BIODIVERSITY: The fact that Australia has the developed the world’s worst record for plant and animal extinctions shows how poor its environmental management has been. Discuss. Environmental Management and Species Extinction in Australia Introduction The image of Australia painted to the world has been of quixotic imagery of the country’s remote, rugged outback together with its pioneering heroes. Reynolds (1987) believed that despite the much published image of the white pastoral pioneer, there was still lack of consensus about who the custodian of the countries outback frontier should be. There was once a court decision that revealed that the pastoral lease to the Aborigines had not been entirely extinguished by the lease previously granted and that the lease did not entirely prohibit the use of land by the Aboriginal people. The result was that various lobby groups and conservative politicians, especially those with the interests of the pastoralists at heart, called for total abolition of the native title. Recent and early research works have revealed Australia’s land degradation and extensive loss of biodiversity over the years in the country’s arid frontier (Beadle, 1948; Lunney et al, 1992). The Australia’s arid lands is among the world’s most impacted ecosystems, and over the years, has been characterized by the highest rate of mammal extinctions all over the world within the past 200 years (Morton, 1990). The trend shown by this degradation has raised attention to the role played by pastoral communities as the responsible caretakers of the land and their aspirations for tenure of the land in future. People have been part of Australia’s environmental developments in the past and they have contributed to the country’s environmental situation. For the past 60, 000 years, and maybe over 100, 000 years, human influence has shaped the vegetation of the country and the continent as a whole through the use of fire and agricultural and pastoral practices (Kohen, 1995). The Aborigines have greatly contributed to the extinction of plant species and changes in vegetation due to their increased use of fire for land clearing and chasing of wild animals. Other human activities have directly led to extinction of specific species. The introduction of the Dingo, for example, some 3500- 4000 years BP, led to the direct extinction of the Thylancine and Tasmania Devil from the Australian mainland (Guiler, 1985). Invasion of Europeans Great changes in the environment were witnessed after the invasion and subsequent colonization of Australia. Most explorers and colonial environmental enthusiasts reported the land as alien and harsh and with a strange wilderness inhabited by strange people as well as very strange animals. The colonialists later overcame their initial fears of the land and its inhabitants and actively subjugated them in their search for agricultural and grazing land, significantly placing their signature on the landscape (Morton, 1993). The colonialists therefore, were unwilling to accept the land as it was and even further influenced its environmental changes. According to Benson (1992), the ensuing 200 years after the settlement of the European, a great percentage of vegetation has been significantly altered in abundance and distribution. Extinction of species has been associated with man’s activities, introduction of alien plant species, many of which have become weeds while they compete with native species, while some ecosystems have faced severe threat due to over-exploitation. The European’s desires to expand agriculture and farming without consideration of the impact on the environment further worsened the conditions, laying ground for more destruction and interference with the continents initially rich biodiversity. As Wahlquist (1997) pointed out, there were always the concerns about the Australian climate and that it could unexpectedly turn and therefore threaten the personal wellbeing as well as the economic prosperity of its inhabitants. The result was the development and implementation of an approach which can now be seen as ill-conceived environmental management strategies that did not reflect the cultural experience of the landscape, thereby resulting to the most rapid 200 years of change in the Australian ecosystems. Extinctions There were witnessed decline in the number of indigenous mammals soon after the colonization of arid Australia. In 1857, Gerrard Krefft identified that the number of species of native animals were declining in Victoria and New South Wales. He attributed this to the increase in the number of stock (cattle and sheep). Morton (1990) points out that after colonization, about 38 species of mammals were found to have become extinct or endangered, with 26 of these thought to have been within the arid zone. Many other bird species also experienced reduction in their abundance and range. Also, it was found that 34 plant species became extinct during this period with another 55 species being considered endangered as a result of the effects of fire exclusion and overgrazing. More recent findings have revealed that the Western Australia region has experienced extinction of upto 52 species of the 12,000 species in the region (Hobbs & Mooney, 1998). Again, 232 have been found to be threatened and another 1200 are of uncertain status due to lack of information (Hobbs & Mooney, 1998). These findings are close to those of Greuter (1994) who estimated that Western Australia had the record of highest plant extinction rates and endangerment within the Mediterranean climates. Great concerns have been caused by the rapid extinctions with some being traced to less than 20 years ago! Only about 100 to 150 years ago, during the colonial times, it was possible to see Paradise Parrots and Toolanche Wallabie, all of which are noe lost! During this time, there were acclimatization societies that zealously introduced European plants and animals and shaping the immediate and the environment beyond to make it more familiar. But these would in a few years have great impacts to the continents originally rich biodiversity. Reasons for extinction Researchers believe that most of the animal extinction was contributed to by several factors, and some cases, a combination of these factors. Some of the factors included predation, disease, increases in the numbers of dingo, drought, overgrazing as well as the cessation of Aboriginal burning practices and extensive wildfires (Corbett, 1995; Morton, 1990). Failed Environmental Management There is evidence that recent estimates of introduced plants into the Western Australia continued to increase from 848 in 1985 to about 1032 in 1995 and it has been found that some of the introduced species were quickly extending beyond their initial planned ranges. Introduction of foreign species that has greatly impacted on indigenous species continues, not only in plant species but in animal species as well. According to Hutchison & Armstrong (1993), there is deep history of recent invasion of the rivers of Western Australia by the fish species Perca fluviatillis. The environmental management in Australia has failed to control most of these invasions and has allowed the domination of the foreign species at the expense of indigenous species, leading to their extinction. Hobbs & Mooney (1998) explain that there are no records of extinctions for reptiles, birds, amphibians, or freshwater fishes, but quickly raise the alarm regarding the high extinction rates of mammalian species. Mammals that were initially widely spread and distributed across the continent now remain restricted to small offshore islands or refugia. Fig 1 (in the appendix) shows the difference in rates of extinction within a particular region, as compared to the overall rate. As seen in the figure, 42% of the mammals found in Wheatbelt are now extinct while only about 14% of the same species extinct over the whole state. Evidence now indicates that these extinctions in populations may have resulted to system-level repercussions, like eliminating the effect of soil disturbance and browsing by marsupials. Loss of habitat Extensive areas of Western Australia that are arid and semiarid have not been significantly modified since the settlement of the Europeans. Most of these settlements have been established at the coast, and highest populations found towards the southwest corner. Those who have significantly impacted a great part of Western Australia have been the pastoralists and a great proportion of land occupied by these pastoralists has been considered degraded one way or the other. So the major cause of concern has been habitat modification as opposed to loss of habitat (Hobbs & Mooney, 1998). Towards the southwestern part of the continent, significant reduction of the areas of several ecosystem types have been attributed to human activities, agriculture and urbanization. The clearance of about 1.56 X 105 square kilometers of land for agricultural activities in the area has resulted in reductions in many types of vegetation. Saunders & Hobbs (1992) further say that out of 44 vegetation types associated with this area, several have been greatly reduced in extent, mainly because of the agricultural development (appendix, table 1), and 9 of these inhabit not more than 10% of their original extent. It is believed that two types have been almost eliminated completely. In addition to loss of habitat due to clearing, many types of vegetation are threatened by various sorts of degradation, including land clearing, introduced disease, and secondary salinization. Attitudes and issues and politics Still, there are calls for rehabilitation and preservation of Australia’s arid and semiarid rangelands since the past century and Aborigines land right campaigns. These indicate that not much has been done to change the rangelands of Australia. There is still widespread degradation of land and there still are fights for land tenure. Research studies have revealed that South Australia’s pastoralists identify themselves as a cohesive group. They therefore regard themselves as the ones responsible for the rangelands and believe that their livelihoods are threatened by other groups that expressed interest such as the Aborigines as well as other conservationists than by the uncertainty within their environmental and the worsening land degradation (Holmes & Day, 1995). The attitudes of the bigger percentage of the pastoralists seem to be a result of cultural insularity and history produced by isolation of Australian rangelands. Their perception of threat of external interested groups is likely a result of deeply rooted historical hatred towards the Aborigines who they considered to represent a physical enemy that should be overcome. City-dwellers and governments who have not been generous with financial solutions or useful advice have been considered an impediment to progress (Reid, 1994). Rural Australians have also aired their opposition to the controls by the government on land clearance as well as the establishment of integrated catchment management schemes. These demonstrations have indicated that many pastoralists and farmers, while offering rhetoric support for adoption of practices that are sustainable, they are not willing to witness serious reforms being implemented by external agencies. On the other hand, farming organizations and politicians have used the presence of the community initiated management schemes of land (eg Landcare) as argument for failure to implement external management decisions made by scientists and government departments (Curtis & De Lacy, 1996). However, evidence from research has suggested several Landcare initiatives, although they significantly increased awareness of environmental problems to the landholders, place extra responsibility on individual landholders, who lack the finance or even the motivation to implement sustainable practices. Therefore, expenditures on Landcare were considered ‘soft green dollars’. The general understanding was that the governments outlaid these funds since they were exercising caution not to encourage retribution from one of the powerful rural lobby that was keen on the external management. The degradation and extinction and its history within Australia’s arid areas have suggested that there was need for an external management of the rangelands. A more effective approach could be the implementation of land management schemes within regions (Mortion et al, 1995) which could allow external bodies to participate in the land management. These bodies could be provided with empowering legislation so that they could influence the clearing of land, water use, stoking level and soil erosion. As Grigg (1996) further suggests, increasing the harvesting some of the native animals like the kangaroos and the emus could also present opportunities for less destructive utilization of land in the arid areas than the grazing of hard hoofed cattle and sheep. The major challenge, from a conservation perspective, was that the pastoralist communities constituted a powerful lobby group that had the support of several political circles to the effect that their opposition to management by external bodies was usually heeded. Their political position was further bolstered by their popular media image that was referred to as ‘doing it tough on the unforgiving land’. One strategy toward remedying the environmental problems could be shifting emphasis of outback Australia media reports. By doing this, it may be possible to shift focus from the pastoralists and their historical land management strategies, to the unpreventable drought broadcast stories by the popular media. This will, however, mean that historians and scientist will have to become more adept at media utilization as well as interaction with conservationists. Conclusion Literature materials have greatly discussed the environmental impacts of activities in the arid and semiarid Australia and the consequences to indigenous plants and animal. The continent has contributed significantly to the total global extinctions, but recent extinctions in a span of only 200 hundred years have been most alarming. While some of the extinctions may be a result of natural processes, research works have revealed significant interference by man’s activities and some concerned parties have raised the poor environmental management approach by the country. There was wide interference of natural ecosystems by settlers and the European colonialists who sought land for their herding and farming without care of the indigenous natural biodiversity. Again, the indigenous populations also greatly contributed to the destruction of nature and the environment, while the government failed to address the issues that resulted to more damage. The indigenous pastoralists have been one of the most significant parties that influenced biodiversity in the continent. Somehow, this group managed to have a strong influence on the decisions that were aimed at rescuing the destructed land, and ensured that their interests prevailed. The environmental management in this country, therefore failed to realize in good time and take necessary action to save indigenous bio-life. Its performance was a demonstration of a plan that did not understand the specific needs of the environment, or still, did not care to save the environment. The dominance of certain communities and the lack of commitment by the relevant authorities has resulted to one of the fastest rates of extinction to be witnessed in recent times. It can be concluded that the alarming rates of extinctions beyond any other in the world in the last 200 years reveals that Australia has had one of the worst environmental management efforts. Fast and effective measure must therefore be implemented to save that which remains of the country’s biodiversity. The government has already embarked on improving the efficiency of its environmental management efforts and has sought to introduce a paradigm shift in the approach to management of natural resources. The initial top-down model that centralized management of these resources and that relied on government for planning as well as implementation in no longer favored. The new approach will rely on participation by citizen within their own regions. List of References Saunders, DA, & Hobbs RJ, 1992, Impact on biodiversity of changes in land-use and climate, pages 61-75 in RJ Hobbs, editor, biodiversity in mediterreanean ecosystems in Australia, Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, New South Wales, Australia Reynolds H, 1987, Frontier: Aborigines, Settlers and Land. Allen and Unwin, Sydney Beadle, NCW, 1948, The Vegetation and Pastures of Western New South Wales, Department of Conservation of New South Wales, Sydney Lunney, D, Hand S, Reed P & Butcher D (1992) Future of the Fauna of Western New South Wales, Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney Kohen, JL, 1995, Aboriginal Environmental Impacts, University of New South Wales Press, Kensington Guiler, E, 1985, Thylacine. The Tragedy of the Tasmanian Tiger. Oxford University Press, Melbourne Morton, SR, 1993, Changing conservation perceptions in the Australian rangelands. Rangeland Journal 15: 145–153 Wahlquist, A, 1997, Nation’s hope for rain run dry. The Weekend Australian 1 June: 7 Morton, SR, 1990, The impact of european settlement on the vertebrate animals of arid Australia: a conceptual model. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 16: 201–213 Greuter, W, 1994, Extinction in Mediterranean areas. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London B, 344: 41-46 Corbett, LK, 1995, The Dingo in Australian and Asia. University of New South Wales Press, Kensington Holmes, JH & Day P, 1995, Identify, lifestyles and survival: Value orientations of South Australian Pastoralists. Rangeland Journal 17: 193–212 Reid, J, 1994, The Prime Minister’s pre-election promise of world heritage listing for the Lake Eyre Basin: flight or fancy? Rangeland Journal 16: 273–297 Grigg, G, 1996, Why graziers could come to value kangaroos, Geo 18 (6): 68–69 Curtis, A & De Lacy T, 1996, Landcare in Australia: Does it make a difference? Journal of Environmental Management 46: 119–137 Morton SR, Stafford-Smith DM, Friedel MH, Griffin GF and Pickup G, 1995, The stewardship of arid Australia: ecology and landscape management, Journal of Environmental Management 43: 195–217 Hobbs, RJ & Mooney HA, 1993, Broadening the Extinction Debate: Population Deletions and Additions in California and Western Australia, Conservation Biology, 12 (2) Hutchinson MJ, & Armstrong PH, 1993, The invasion of a Southwestern Australian river system by Perca fluriatillis, History and probable causes, Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, 3: 77-89 Beson J, 1991, The effect of 200 years of European settlement on the vegetation and flora of New South Wales, Cunninghamia, 2 (3): 334-370 Appendix: Table 1: vegetation units showing total initial area, percentage contribution to province area, and the percentage that has been cleared for each unit. Source: Hobbs et at (1995) Figure 1: (Top):number of birds, mammals, plants, amphibians, butterflies and fish, introduced, endangered, or extinct. (Bottom): percentage of Californian biota, native vs introduced. Source: Hobbs & Mooney (1993) Read More