The estimated cost of preventing extinction and progressing recovery for Australia’s priority threatened species
Ward, Michelle, Possingham, Hugh P., Wintle, Brendan A., Woinarski, John C.Z., Marsh, Jessica R., Chapple, David G., Lintermans, Mark, Scheele, Ben C., Whiterod, Nick S., Hoskin, Conrad J., Aska, Bora, Yong, Chuanji, Tulloch, Ayesha, Stewart, Romola, and Watson, James E.M. (2025) The estimated cost of preventing extinction and progressing recovery for Australia’s priority threatened species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122 (6). e2414985122.
|
PDF (Published Version)
- Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (7MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The global extinction crisis is intensifying rapidly, driven by habitat loss, overexploitation, climate change, invasive species, and disease. This unprecedented loss of species not only threatens ecological integrity but also undermines ecosystem services vital for human survival. In response, many countries have set ambitious conservation targets such as halting species extinctions, yet the necessary financial commitments to achieve this are rarely prescribed. Estimating costs can be achieved using an ensemble of spatially variable species-specific cost models for threat abatement activities. We employ this method to provide a cost assessment to halt extinctions for Australia’s priority terrestrial and freshwater species. We show that it will cost ~AUD15.6 billion/year for 30 y to halt extinctions for these 99 priority species (comparable to 1% of Australia’s GDP). The more ambitious objectives to move priority species down one threat category (~AUD103.7 billion/year) or remove from the threatened species list entirely (~AUD157.7 billion/year) would require considerably more investment. Regardless of what is spent, we found that 16 (16%) priority species could not be removed from the threatened species list due to extensive historical declines and pervasive, ongoing, unmanageable threats, such as climate change. But implementing these efforts could ensure conservation benefits for over 43% of all nationally listed nonmarine threatened species. Adequate funding is crucial for meeting government commitments and requires both government leadership and private sector investment.
| Item ID: | 88307 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, complementarity, conservation finance, conservation planning, prioritization |
| Copyright Information: | Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Sep 2025 01:39 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 50% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410407 Wildlife and habitat management @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180606 Terrestrial biodiversity @ 50% 19 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL HAZARDS > 1902 Environmental policy, legislation and standards > 190205 Environmental protection frameworks (incl. economic incentives) @ 50% |
| More Statistics |
Actions (Repository Staff Only)
 |
Item Control Page |