Threatened Species Protection Act 1995

For a species to be eligible for listing on the Act, it must be considered to be a native Tasmanian flora or fauna.[2] Alongside Tasmania's endemic flora and fauna, The Threatened Species Protection Amendment Act 2001 adjusted the definition of native flora and fauna to allow the listing and protection of migrant species, as well as vagrant or hybrid species if deemed appropriate by the Scientific Advisory Committee.[3]

If a species is eligible for protection under the TSP Act, any person may submit a form nominating that species for listing or delisting.[4] Upon receiving a nomination, the Scientific Advisory Committee decides whether the species meet the legislative guidelines and must publish an initial decision within 12 months. This initial decision is then published in the Tasmanian Government Gazette and several Tasmanian newspapers so that comment can be made. After this 30-day period, any comment or scientific advice received is used to synthesise a final decision. The Minister for Environment Parks must inform the public of this decision to make an Order under the Act in the Gazette and newspapers.[4] An Order under the TSP Act may seek to list, delist or alter the status of one or more species.[1] As of 25 November 2020, there have been 22 Threatened Species Protection Orders enacted.[1]

As of November 25, 2020, there are 681 species listed on the TSP Act. Of these, 121 are vulnerable, 313 are rare, 220 are endangered and 27 are now extinct.[5] There are a further 39 Tasmanian native species listed on the EPBC Act that are not listed on the TSP Act.[5] The EPBC Act uses the criteria: conservation dependant, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct and extinct in the wild.[6] Of these Tasmanian species listed on the EPBC Act, 7 are conservation dependant, 21 are vulnerable, 8 are endangered, and 3 are critically endangered.[2]

Extinctions

Australia has one of the highest extinction rates of native animals in the world.[10] This is due to many factors, however, the greatest contributors are invasive species, variations and increases in the number and severity of bushfires and the loss of at least 33% of Australia's vegetation and native habitat.[10] Since the European settlement of Australia, the extinction of at least 90 species has occurred;[10][6] of these species, 27 were native to Tasmania,[5] 19 flora and 8 fauna.[5] The most notable of these extinctions is that of the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacine).

Thylacine at Beaumaris Zoo, 1936

Extinct Tasmanian flora and fauna[5]

Species	Common name	Classification
Ballantinia antipoda	Southern shepherds purse	Flora, vascular
Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia	Coast Banksia	Flora, vascular
Botrychium australe	Parsley fern	Flora, vascular
Caladenia cardiochila	Heartlip spider-orchid	Flora, vascular
Chenopodium erosum	Papery goosefoot	Flora, vascular
Coopernookia barbata	Purple native-primrose	Flora, vascular
Deyeuxia lawrencei	Lawrences bentgrass	Flora, vascular
Hibbertia obtusifolia	Grey guineaflower	Flora, vascular
Lepilaena australis	Southern watermat	Flora, vascular
Levenhookia dubia	Hairy stylewort	Flora, vascular
Myriophyllum glomeratum	Clustered watermilfoil	Flora, vascular
Ozothamnus selaginoides	Table Mountain everlasting bush	Flora, vascular
Podotheca angustifolia	Sticky longheads	Flora, vascular
Prostanthera cuneata	Alpine mintbush	Flora, vascular
Senecio georgianus	Grey groundsel	Flora, vascular
Senecio macrocarpus	Largefruit fireweed	Flora, vascular
Thesium australe	Southern toadflax	Flora, vascular
Thynninorchis huntiana	Elbow orchid	Flora, vascular
Punctelia subflava	N/A	Flora, non-vascular
Costora iena	Caddis fly (Great Lakes)	Fauna, invertebrate
Hadronyche pulvinator	Cascade funnel-web spider	Fauna, invertebrate
Hypolimnus pedderensis	Lake Pedder earthworm	Fauna, invertebrate
Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae erythrotis	Macquarie Island parakeet	Fauna, vertebrate
Dromaius ater	King Island emu	Fauna, vertebrate
Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis	Tasmanian emu	Fauna, vertebrate
Gallirallus philippensis macquariensis	Macquarie Island rail	Fauna, vertebrate
Thylacinus cynocephalus	Thylacine	Fauna, vertebrate

Licences and permits can be obtained to take, trade in, keep, move, process, or distribute listed flora or fauna in line with the act, failure to use this licence or permit within the constraints of the TSP Act is an offence.[1] It is an offence under the TSP Act if a person without a licence or permit knowingly takes, keeps, trades in, or processes a listed species, or disturbs in any way a listed species on land that is subject to an interim protection order, land management agreement or conservation covenant.[1] Furthermore, a person may not release or abandon a listed species into the wild.[1]

If the listed flora or fauna occurs within a domestic garden, or is encountered whilst a person is acting under a certified forest practices plan, public authority management agreement or dam works in line with the Water Management act 1999, the interference or taking of a listed species is not considered an offence.[1]

As of 25 November 2020, the TSP Act has received two amendment acts. The Threatened Species Protection Amendment Act 2001 dealt with minor changes to word phrasing, definitions and offences. It received the Royal Assent on 17 December 2001.[3] The Threatened Species Protection Amendment Act 2018 amended the penalties for some offences under the act. It received the Royal Assent on 10 September 2018.[11]

Some significant challenges are faced in accurately mapping habitats and assessing a species level of threat due to their inhabited environment, this occurs both in the marine[12] and terrestrial[13][14] settings.

A small amount of historical reference data on population, combined with the inability to accurately and efficiently map species numbers and distribution in the marine environment, results in unabated species decline going unregistered.[12] Marine species of flora and fauna are underrepresented on the TSP Act when compared with terrestrial taxa.[5][12] This is most likely due to the marine environment being obscured from public view and mapping and assessment of marine taxa requiring considerably more time and resources when compared with terrestrial mapping.[12] However, marine vertebrates are represented in greater number than their terrestrial counterparts,[5] this may be explained by their low repopulation rates, being a target of hunting and fishing, and their exposure to both marine and terrestrial impacts.[12]

The category of non-vascular flora, largely lichens, is also significantly underrepresented.[13] Similarly to the marine environment, the obscure and hidden nature of non-vascular flora makes them very difficult to sample and obtain accurate population information.[13][14] There is a lack of expert knowledge for these taxa in Tasmania, and consequently, the protection of these species often relies on the vascular plants of their habitat being protected.[13] Similar discrepancies are also seen on the EPBC Act, where "birds, amphibians and mammals have high levels of threatened species (12–24%) but < 6% of all reptiles and plants and < 0.01% of invertebrates and fish are considered threatened."[6]

Sampling of species' populations and habitats, particularly invertebrate fauna, has historically been conducted with a single species sampling approach in Tasmania.[14] This aims to give policy makers and landowners relevant information to manage native species' habitats.[14] This approach to sampling is highly beneficial for invertebrate conservation, as it provides a greater depth of knowledge regarding the habitat and population of a given taxon.[15] The challenge of using assessments with such a focused nature is that with the limited resources for conservation of these taxa in Tasmania, this approach to sampling struggles to efficiently gather enough information for landowners to make management decisions.[14] It also struggles to maximise the amount of species receiving population and habitat mapping, and consequently, conservatory action.[14] It has been suggested that groups of taxa, rather than individual species should be sampled in a habitat to allow better land management direction.[14]

• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, federal legislation
• Wildlife Conservation Act 1950, Western Australian legislation
• NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act), New South Wales legislation