The state of our environment – hope, ambition and action
“The scale of this challenge means that governments can’t do the job alone.
“We need to work with industry and philanthropic partners – many of whom are already doing great work.”
Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water
19 July 2022
This particular line from the Minister for the Environment and Water’s speech at the National Press Club upon publication of the ‘State of the Environment’ report really jumped out at me.
It has the benefit of not only being true but very, very welcome.
OzFish was established in 2015, with a mission to protect and restore fish habitat, and support recreational fishers in these actions. The majority of our staff and members have been actively engaged in that mission for far longer.
We know it is a task that cannot be achieved overnight, nor by any single individual, organisation, or government. Knowing that the Australian Government recognises that is heartening and we stand ready to help.
The State of the Environment report was described by the Minister for Environment and Water as a difficult, confronting, and sometimes depressing read.
There is no hiding from the truth: Australia’s environment is at a perilous point and action must be taken now to address that. The report states that Australia has suffered catastrophic losses of wildlife and environment, and that native habitat is reducing in quantity and quality.
The Minister, in her speech, highlighted that Australians possess both the abilities and desire to restore, repair, and recover our environment. She correctly identified that Australians really care about our wild places and that there are many thousands of volunteers across the country already engaged in the repair and restoration.
At OzFish, we certainly know that’s the case and we are immensely proud of the work our recreational fishing member volunteers deliver across Australia. Our primary objective is better habitat for better fishing, but we know our activities deliver far reaching benefits beyond that for wildlife, aquatic biodiversity and local communities.
That is why, wherever possible, we strive to partner with governments at all levels and other organisations in order to scale up our work. As identified by the Minister, only by coming together and combining expertise, funding, and people power can we achieve the common goal of healthier fish habitats and thriving ecosystems all over Australia.
Working together will get us there more quickly and efficiently.
Our partnership with Landcare NSW epitomises that approach and demonstrates this message. Through a range of joint activities in NSW, we are delivering tangible results including the planting by recreational fishers and Landcarers of 26,300 trees across more than 30 local rivers and creeks during the past two years.
The importance of organisations like OzFish and Landcare, and the role we have to play in delivering the action that the report calls for, was underlined by the Minister when she namechecked the Landcare movement and its nationwide presence in her speech.
The report was right to detail the problems facing the environment and outline what can been done, if we act quickly and decisively, to start fixing those problems. It is by no means a perfect publication though, in my opinion.
It stops short of fully capturing and conveying the scale of historic habitat destruction. To my mind, if we don’t first recognise and accept how much damage has been done, then resulting restoration activity will also fall short of what could and should be achieved.
For instance, on the North Coast of NSW 62,000 hectares of prime fish habitat has been lost – over 72 per cent of what was there originally and almost all of that loss was prior to 1971.
Our waterways need us to step up to the plate and work together, for current and future generations. I believe our organisation and our amazing group of recreational fisher volunteers are now leading the way.
If you or your organisation wants to stand beside us, to work with or support OzFish, as we aim to deliver an improvement in the state of the environment, then please get in touch.
Craig Copeland
CEO and founder of OzFish