\n<\/p>\n
There is also a belief that greater regulation alone will achieve little.<\/p>\n
Too much conservation work currently relies on philanthropists’ cash and devoted volunteers, those in the sector say, and much more languishes on the to-do list due to a lack of money.<\/p>\n
The federal government directly spends about A$700m on nature protection, a fraction of the A$33bn \u2013 or 1% of GDP \u2013 conservationists say it should be. That is an eyebrow-raising figure, people like Paul Elton concede, but one they argue is reasonable.<\/p>\n
According to his research \u2013 which the government disputes \u2013 more than A$26bn is still being spent on subsidies for things like mining, intensive agriculture or fuel despite Australia signing global pledges to wind them back.<\/p>\n
“For every dollar the government is spending on positive biodiversity conservation action, there’s A$26 being spent on subsidies that are causing harm to nature,” he tells the BBC.<\/p>\n
“That’s a pretty stark imbalance.”<\/p>\n
Minister Watt didn’t directly respond to questions about conservationists’ demands, but said: “We remain committed to long-term environmental recovery, in partnership with state and local governments, community and environmental groups.”<\/p>\n
Though public sentiment is shifting, there’s scepticism the government will prioritise the environment amid competing demands and compounding crises until voters force them to do so.<\/p>\n
“The community will say to you, we should spend a lot of money on the environment. And then if you say, ‘Well, what are you prepared to sacrifice to ensure that funding base?’, then they’re no longer interested,” Hill says.<\/p>\n
In the face of so many challenges and what they see as little progress, advocates admit it’s hard to hang on to hope.<\/p>\n
“We know what the problems are. We know how to address them. We know when we spend money on the environment, it pays back many times over,” Ritchie, a mammal ecologist, says.<\/p>\n
“It’s like being a doctor and seeing all these sick people in the community and you know how to fix them, but no one will let you do that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n