Business set to partner Federal Government in protecting our threatened species

Business and philanthropists are invited to partner with the Federal Government in an innovative approach to saving our threatened species with the launch of a new prospectus.

The Prospectus is an invitation to business, industry and the philanthropic sector, both big and small, to join us in protecting species such as the platypus, bilby, cassowary and numbat.

The Prospectus includes more than 50 community-based projects that are ready to be put into action.

The project proposals are backed by the science and the passionate local communities who are already on the ground across Australia working hard to save our species.

The prospectus builds on the Government’s links to Australian businesses through the Threatened Species Strategy.

Already BHP Billiton is investing $5.4 million to help save the world’s biggest green turtle hatchery on Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef, while companies like Google have contributed by building and launching a new mobile app to support citizen scientists to record and track platypuses.

In 2014 the Coalition Government appointed Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner and a year later launched the Threatened Species Strategy, a national science-based plan to save our native plants and animals.

Our approach has mobilised more than $210 million in support of threatened species and thanks to almost 1,000 projects across Australia under the Threatened Species Strategy, the futures of many of our animals and plants are more secure.

Trajectories of species like our endangered mountain pygmy possum and critically endangered helmeted honeyeater are already turning around.

Today’s announcement also coincides with an agreement between our very own Taronga Zoo and the San Diego Zoo to exchange two remarkable animals – the Australian platypus and the African Okapi.

San Diego Zoo already has custodianship of four Tasmanian Devils which are raising awareness in the US of this very iconic species plight and Australia’s fight to save them.

A copy of the Prospectus is available via: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/threatened-species-prospectus

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