Australian wildlife in ‘harm’s way’ with volunteers left to ‘pick up the pieces’ amid climate crisis, fires and floods | Environmental activism

Labor is being forced to introduce strict new national rules to protect threatened species exposed to disasters such as bushfires and floods; Former Treasury boss Ken Henry is among advocates warning that risks to wildlife could reach a point of no return.

Months after a major rewrite of environmental laws was passed by parliament, a consortium of animal protection and campaign groups is asking the Albanian government to standardize rescue, treatment and rehabilitation processes and help fund organizations working to protect species including endangered koalas in the May federal budget.

Henry, who was criticized as Treasury secretary for taking five weeks’ leave in 2008 to care for the rare northern hairy-nosed wombat, is now president of Wildlife Rescue Australia.

He is leading the push for unregulated state and territory wildlife conservation to be coordinated nationally as part of a plan to reverse Australia’s biodiversity decline.

Under the proposal, the cost of some rescue services currently carried out by volunteers would be paid by the government.

Henry, alongside organizations including RSPCA Queensland, is seeking budget funding for services such as veterinary treatment and long-term rehabilitation for animals, much of which is currently provided by volunteers.

The five-year fight to overhaul the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act has raised awareness but animals caught in natural disasters need better protection, he told Guardian Australia.

Last fiscal year, volunteers responded to more than 320,000 calls for help for sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. Approximately 130,000 rescues were performed and veterinarians examined 51,000 injured animals.

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Increasing demand is driven by climate change and habitat destruction.

“There is a huge gap at both the federal and state level,” Henry said.

“As a result of these pressures, more and more animals are endangered. When they are harmed, governments pay little attention. So it is up to volunteers to pick up the pieces and return these animals to the wild.”

Currently, responsibility for injured animals falls on society.

Henry said veterinarians in states including New South Wales were legally obliged to treat injured wildlife without compensation.

“We need to take a hard look at what’s going on here. We need a national approach.”

At a time when public awareness is rising due to the climate crisis and events such as floods and bushfires, governments have the opportunity to “sit down and find a way to show leadership”, he said.

In November Labor carried out a major overhaul of the EPBC.

The changes, inspired by businessman Graeme Samuel’s 2020 review, will better protect nature through new environmental standards and faster project evaluations. It will also establish a new environmental protection agency and subject native forest logging to national environmental standards within 18 months.

It was opened this week by Environment Minister Murray Watt. Hiring for EPA’s first boss. The agency is expected to start work in July.

Wildlife Victoria chief executive Lisa Palma said national leadership would help protect species including koalas.

“Wildlife is a national asset, but the responsibility for caring for injured animals falls almost entirely on underfunded charities and volunteers,” he said.

Dean Huxley, from Western Australian animal rescue group WA Wildlife, said the volunteer workforce had reached tipping point.

“Government investment is no longer a luxury item, it is essential. Without it, there is a real risk that injured wildlife will soon have nowhere to go, and this is something that society will not accept if it is widely understood.”

The federal budget is expected to be announced on May 12.