Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Siewert, move:

That the Senate—

(a)

recognises 2010 as the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity;

(b)

supports the Boobook Declaration, which has been written by an alliance of 40 environment groups to highlight Australia’s worsening biodiversity crisis; and

(c)

notes the Boobook Declaration’s call on the Australian Government to:

‘(1)   Acknowledge the critical importance of safeguarding biodiversity as part of Australia’s climate change response and commit to correspondingly urgent action to address the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss…

(2)   …increase investment in biodiversity and ecosystem protection, restoration and management to at least $9 billion over the three years to 2012 and establish an independent … consultative process into future funding and stewardship of Australia’s, [sic] terrestrial, aquatic and marine biodiversity;

(3)   Restore and increase … publicly funded research [capacity, especially in biodiversity conservation] …; and

(4)   Develop … education and training programs .. [for] all sectors of the … community [including on the importance and protection of biodiversity]’.