10

The value of assessing species

recovery: towards a

national framework

Peter Latch

Summary

Government and community effort and investment in threatened species
protection and management is substantial, yet national reviews have consistently
found it difficult to measure efficacy of that effort, largely because there are few
appropriately designed national datasets that measure trends in threatened species
and report on implementation success. A national legal and policy framework,
linked to international obligations, is in place that identifies and aims to protect
threatened species and ecological communities with various requirements to
report on efficacy of conservation effort. Although there are examples of
individual monitoring programs linked to recovery success, there is no system to
capture such reporting Australia-wide to build a national story of conservation
effort and success. A new policy approach under the Threatened Species Strategy
provides the foundation to build upon current capability to improve recovery