Australian authorities have listed 15 species of animals as endangered and announced a 10-year program dedicated to saving 110 endangered species in Australia. Time magazine reports that Tanya Plibersek, the Minister for Environment and Water Resources, stated that the fires that swept across the country from 2019 to 2020 had a devastating impact on many wildlife species.
She says, "We are determined to give wildlife more opportunities. Adding new animals to the endangered species list is an important step in the journey of nature conservation." Among the endangered animals are the greater bilby, koala, quokka, platypus, and hairy-nosed wombat. The government plans to allocate AUD 1.69 billion (approximately USD 1.1 billion) annually for environmental protection measures.
It is noted that the Australian government allocated USD 35 million last January for the protection of koalas and the restoration of their habitats. It is important to mention that widespread bushfires began on the eastern coast of Australia in mid-October 2019. The fires covered vast areas in the southeast of the continent, as well as several regions in the south of the country. The situation did not improve until heavy rains fell in early February 2020. These fires destroyed more than 12 million hectares of forest and resulted in the deaths of approximately 3 billion animals. It was a true environmental disaster.
