Successful conservation efforts see plants and whale species recommended for removal from Tasmania endangered species list

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Three plants and a whale species have been recommended for removal from Tasmania’s endangered species list. The potential de-listing is the result of decades of research and conservation work.

Transcript

00:00Until about a decade ago, rabbits and rodents had driven some plant species on sub-Antarctic

00:09Macquarie Island to the brink.

00:11A major environmental effort has turned that around.

00:14The Macquarie Island pest eradication project was at the time the largest island eradication

00:20project attempted in the world.

00:22Two plants found on the island, the Cook's tussock grass and the prickly shield fern,

00:27have recovered enough that scientists want to remove them from Tasmania's endangered

00:31species list.

00:33This is a really substantial outcome from that work that's happened on Macquarie Island.

00:38A third plant, the shade plantain, found on mainland Tasmania, is also recommended for

00:44delisting.

00:45Which is a native herb, a perennial herb, and it has been removed because it's actually

00:50found to be pretty robust.

00:54Others are humpback whales, which were removed from the national threatened species list

00:58two years ago.

00:59We have the western and the eastern population combined, they're both well and truly in excess

01:04of 40,000 and they're continuing to recover at the highest rate possible.

01:13Scientists say these successes don't mean conservation efforts are no longer needed.

01:18They're urging continued monitoring to make sure these species keep thriving.

01:24For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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