The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the Greens' plan to strengthen national environment laws and end the extinction crisis - and called on other parties to announce similarly ambitious nature protection policies.
"This is a plan that takes seriously the nature crisis we face in Australia today," said ACF's Campaigns Director Paul Sinclair.
"The Greens policy features strong targets to protect and restore nature by 2030 and stop the destruction of the wildlife and landscapes that define Australia.
"Our country is a world leader in mammal extinctions - and this is not only a historical problem - in the last year many Australians have been shocked to see koalas and gang-gang cockatoos added to threatened species lists.
"We welcome especially the commitment to strengthen Australia's national environment law and establish an independent watchdog to enforce it.
"ACF calls on all parties to match this level of ambition in nature protection policies."
Scientists have identified 19 ecosystems across Australia that are collapsing, including the Great Barrier Reef, the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin, the rainforests of the Wet Tropics and the snowpatch herb fields of the Alps.
Recent research by ACF revealed the federal government approved the destruction of more than 200,000 hectares of threatened species habitat in the last decade - and this figure does not even include forests that were knocked down for timber, as native forest logging is exempt from Australia's national environment law.
Header pic: Cape York rainforest by Kerry Trapnell
