Proposal to lease endangered animals
AUSTRALIA: Native animals at risk of extinction could be leased to landowners under a proposal to conserve threatened species and their habitats.
The plan would enlist landholders, community groups and investors in the fight against extinction, allowing them to lease vulnerable species from state and territory governments and protect them on private land.
Under the proposal, animals such as koalas, Tasmanian devils, bettongs and brush-tailed rock wallabies could find homes on golf courses, hobby farms and other properties with suitable habitat.
The proposal - published in the journal Conservation Letters suggests a trial in which private landowners could acquire threatened species from areas where they are abundant, breed them and help establish new colonies, making a profit from the increased numbers.
The study’s lead author, Adjunct Professor George Wilson, from the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, acknowledged that private proprietorship of wildlife was a ‘‘radical’’ idea. But he said it would complement the conservation efforts of underfunded government agencies and philanthropic organisations. ’’What we’re doing at the moment isn’t working. The threatened species list is getting longer and it’s time to try something else. Landholders need incentives to provide the habitat that wildlife needs. The private sector can help but it is shut out by government legislation that maintains control over both operations and ownership.’’
Australia has one of worst extinction records of any nation, with 54 mammals, birds, frogs and other animals listed as extinct.
Koalas are one animal that could be available for assisted recolonisation, Wilson said, being moved to places like ‘‘golf courses that have suitable trees and provide protection from dogs’’. While habitat loss has left koalas vulnerable in NSW and Queensland, overpopulation has led to hundreds being euthanised in Victoria, and thousands sterilised in South Australia. Other candidates for assisted recolonisation include numbats, bilbies, eastern quolls and eastern barred bandicoots.
The study proposes that rather than being the sole managers of wildlife, governments regulate the leasehold arrangements and any animal welfare issues. Government wildlife and philanthropic breeders could provide animals to landholders, entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists, who could breed them and transfer surplus animals to backers of new colonies for agreed prices.
The study examined the experience in southern Africa, where ownership, price incentives, effective regulation and devolved responsibility for wildlife management have increased populations of iconic threatened species and helped protect vital habitats. Seventeen per cent of conservation land in South Africa is privately owned, compared with one per cent in Australia.
The researchers are seeking collaborators for a trial, including landholders and private sector organisations, and support from potential investors.
Supporters of the proposal include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dick Smith, who said it was ‘‘a fantastic initiative and needs to be supported in every way possible’’.
Hugh Possingham, a professor with the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Sciences and former director of the Threatened Species Research Hub, said we were ‘‘in the middle of a mass extinction crisis’’ and it was worth trialling a new approach. ‘‘The authors make a good point this has to be carefully regulated, it’s not just open slather.’’ - Fairfax