Bushfires leave 470 plants and 200 animals in dire straits – government analysis

More than 400 plants and nearly 200 invertebrates need urgent attention after the bushfire crisis, new analysis for the federal environment department has found.

The most severely affected species lost at least 30% of their habitat to the fires.

Freshwater mussels, shrimps, burrowing crayfish, land snails, spiders, millipedes, bees, dragonflies and butterflies were among the invertebrates whose ranges have been severely affected by the unprecedented fires through spring and summer.

The most severely affected species have had at least 30% of their range burned, and in some cases the figure was much higher.

Publication of the list of 471 plants and 191 invertebrates comes as business groups and governments emphasise the need to reduce bureaucracy around environmental assessments as part of the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

Australia’s national environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – are being independently reviewed but the environment minister, Sussan Ley, said this week she was prepared to introduce legislative changes before it the review was complete.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “Bushfires leave 470 plants and 200 animals in dire straits – government analysis.”