Minister Plibersek has announced the National Roadmap for protecting and conserving 30% of Australia's land by 2030 (the roadmap).
Australia has set a national target to protect and conserve 30% of our land and marine areas by 2030, referred to as the 30 by 30 target.
Australia's response to the 30 by 30 target for marine areas, including opportunities to strengthen marine protection nationally, is being explored during the development of the Sustainable Ocean Plan.
More than 22% of Australia's land, including inland waters, is protected. An additional 60 million hectares of land needs to be protected or conserved to meet the 30 by 30 land target. The roadmap will help coordinate our efforts towards achieving the 30% land target.
The roadmap:
- explains the role of both protected areas and conserved areas in achieving the 30 by 30 land target
- describes principles to guide efforts towards 30 by 30
- raises awareness of programs that support 30 by 30
- identifies indicators for tracking progress.
It complements Australia's Strategy for Nature 2024-2030, Australia's Strategy for the National Reserve System, the National Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures Framework, and relevant policies in each state and territory.
The roadmap was developed with state and territory governments. All environment ministers agreed to the roadmap in September 2024 with the exception of the Northern Territory Minister. The Northern Territory Government was unable to provide a response at the time due to administrative issues associated with the recent Northern Territory election.
Earlier in 2024, we conducted public consultation on the draft roadmap, and received valuable feedback from:
- community members
- First Nations organisations
- environmental non-government organisations
- other community-based groups.
The roadmap is a significant milestone in delivering on the Australian Government's national 30 by 30 target and will help protect our native species, ecosystems, cultural values and unique landscapes for future generations.
