A WA parliamentary question seeks information on the major threats to WA's unique flora and fauna and the number of species at risk from each threat. The answer acknowledges the complexity of attributing specific threats and refers to a 1998 publication for flora analysis.

AnsweredQoN 918Legislative Assembly
Asked
22 August 2001
Member
Portfolio
the Environment and Heritage

QuestionView source ↗

(1) What are the major threatening processes placing Western Australia’s unique plants and animals at risk of extinction?
(2) Is information available on how many species of plants and animals are at risk as a result of each of these major threatening processes?
(3) If yes, will the Minister list the threatening processes and indicate the number of species of native plants and animals believed to be at risk from each process?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
14 November 2001
Responded by
Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Response time
84 days
(2) & (3) In most cases there are several different processes affecting a threatened species and it is not always possible to quantify the contribution of each process. Analyses which seek to quantify the contribution of various threatening processes have been published from time to time and I refer the Member to the Department of Conservation and Land Management's 1998 publication 'Western Australia's Threatened Flora' which includes such an analysis for flora at pages 15-16. Currently 135 animal taxa and 337 plant taxa are specially protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as being likely to become extinct (ie. threatened) in Western Australia. In addition, 13 species of animals and 17 species of plants are listed as 'presumed to be extinct'.
In most cases there are several different processes affecting a threatened species and it is not always possible to quantify the contribution of each process. Analyses which seek to quantify the contribution of various threatening processes have been published from time to time and I refer the Member to the Department of Conservation and Land Management's 1998 publication 'Western Australia's Threatened Flora' which includes such an analysis for flora at pages 15-16. Currently 135 animal taxa and 337 plant taxa are specially protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as being likely to become extinct (ie. threatened) in Western Australia. In addition, 13 species of animals and 17 species of plants are listed as 'presumed to be extinct'.

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