Nature Conservation Campaign

As one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet—with standout icons like the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (WHA), the Wet Tropics World WHA, Great Sandy WHA, the Central Eastern Rainforests Reserves WHA and Cape York Peninsula (also of world heritage value), as well as thousands of unique species and ecosystems—Queensland has very high conservation values.

However, these values are at great risk, with currently only a limited political commitment to conservation. Since the Queensland Government agreed to phase out large-scale clearing of remnant vegetation in Queensland in 2005, it has had a very low-level focus on nature conservation.

Nature is losing ground rapidly in Queensland due to unsustainable primary industries (agriculture and fishing), large-scale urban and industrial development, the spread of introduced species (plant and animal), inappropriate fire regimes and other threats.

Climate change will worsen the destruction—through direct climate impacts, such as warming, increased intensity of cyclones and more frequent droughts, and through indirect impacts, such as expansions in the range of invasive species and diseases, more frequent fires, and agricultural shifts to new regions.

Queensland Conservation aims to increase protection for landscapes and seascapes with high conservation values and reduce threats to nature and biodiversity from current land and sea use practices. Our broad objectives are to protect and restore the resilience of nature by developing a much more committed conservation culture in Queensland—a culture in which we treasure nature, take responsibility for our impacts and contribute to the political and social reforms necessary to protect and restore our natural heritage.