Half the remaining habitat of Australia’s most at-risk species is outside protected areas

Land clearing for agriculture poses a real threat to many species. Rich Carey/Shutterstock

More and more Australian species are being listed as critically endangered – the final stage before extinction in the wild. Hundreds of species of plants and animals are now at this point.

For a species to be critically endangered, it is on death’s door. Its numbers must have shrunk alarmingly and its outlook is bleak. Why? One common reason is habitat loss. If we convert bushland or swamps into farmland or suburbs, we reduce how much space species have to survive.