In the grassy bushland of the Adelaide Hills Barossa Valley, a little fluffy bird, no bigger than the size of a ping pong ball, hops along the unmarked path — the superb fairywren. A proud puffed chest of navy feathers, perhaps from being crowned Australia’s bird of the year several times. The striking blue cap adorning its head in contrast to the muted greens and browns of the land is hard to miss — an encouraging result of conservation efforts by the South Australian government.
But further southwest in Adelaide city lies a far less habitable ground for the little blue birds. Cities are hotspots for plants and animals that are threatened with extinction. Habitats of some of the most critically endangered plants, animals and even entire ecosystems are being destroyed at an alarming rate to accommodate urban sprawl. Australia’s urbanisation has steadily grown since 2002, reaching its highest ever growth rate in 2020. And it’s likely to continue growing as we clear out nature to make room for homes, freeways, car parks and backyard pools.
As a result, Australian species like the koala are disappearing before our eyes. So are ones you may not have heard of like powerful owls, grassland earless dragon, the southern brown bandicoot. Or wild flowers like the sunshine diuris orchids and the button wrinklewort.
