Australia Environment Minister concedes extinction inevitable

By Tom Arup, Environment Correspondent THE Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, has warned that money to save endangered wildlife is limited and some species may have to be abandoned when funding decisions are made. In one of the strongest speeches of his ministerial career he told an international conference of ecologists in Brisbane that the Government will shift its focus to protecting ”ecosystems”, rather than putting money into individual projects for endangered animals. Mr Garrett’s speech follows a report by the Department of Climate Change that found global warming would severely threaten many native species. Mr Garrett said the current system of funding on an animal-by-animal basis was the equivalent of paramedics waiting at the bottom of a hill performing ”triage” on those who fall down. ”Australia has 1750 species now on the threatened list,” he said. ”And while … we will have to act in an urgent way from time to time to prevent their extinction, it won’t always be effective to keep tackling them one by one.” Mr Garrett has already signalled his intentions with substantial budget injections to the national reserves system and new marine conservation zones. …