The Australia State of the Environment (SoE) 2016 Overview was tabled in Parliament on 7 March 2017. Every five years the Australian Government conducts a comprehensive review for the state of the Australian environment.

The SoE 2016 is a follow up report to SoE 2011, which took a new approach to the scope and depth of reporting and provided a baseline for future comparisons. The current SoE report continues the assessment of pressures, condition and trends. It discusses the risk and resilience and future projections that were tabled in the 2011 report. 

There have been some changes to the away that this information is provided in the new report, with an interactive digital platform which will provide greater flexibility for decision-makers, researchers and the public to explore and discover information.

In summary, the new report suggests that over the past five years (2011–16), environmental policies and management practices in Australia have achieved improvements in the state and trends of parts of the Australian environment. Australia’s built environment, natural and cultural heritage, and marine and Antarctic environments are generally in good condition.

Areas where the environment is poor and/or deteriorating include more populated coastal areas and some growth areas within urban environments, where human pressure is greatest. It also talks about extensive land-use-zone of Australia where grazing is considered a threat to biodiversity. If not managed well, drivers can generate pressures that have immediate and long-term negative consequences for the environment. If managed well, however, drivers can be harnessed to achieve environmental benefits.

As with the 2011 report, the main pressures facing the Australian environment today are the same, with climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species being the key concerns. 

Evidence has shown that since 2011, some pressures on the environment have decreased, such as those associated with air quality, poor agricultural practices, commercial fishing, and oil and gas exploration and production in Australia’s marine environment.

Unfortunately, there is always the flip-side with other pressures had have increased, including those associated with coal mining and the coal-seam gas industry, habitat fragmentation and degradation, invasive species and litter.

Find out more on our blog or facebook. You can download a copy in PDF form. Enjoy some of the environment that the report checks on, at the National Parks Association walk March 18, covering the Bumberry Dam to Lake Endeavour Loop. An easy 8km walk.

Note: Back Yamma Landcare Annual General Meeting on March 23. Join us for breaky at 7am, followed by the AGM at 8am. RSVP to Gavin or Elly at gaveltom@hotmail.com or 0428 621 075. Visit centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, facebook or on 02 6862 4914.