Author: ant225cj

Celebrities

Some of the biggest stakeholders in the Australian wildfire deforestation are celebrities. During the peak of the fires, celebrities took to social media to share what was happening in Australia. Some celebrities created petitions and shared their views on the crisis. By doing this, they made their fans and followers more aware of what was happening in Australia. This helped increase awareness and raise more money through their fans and followers. Celebrities also donated millions of dollars to help the restoration efforts. Some celebrities may have spoken out due to their views or beliefs. Other celebrities may have spoken out to keep a philanthropic reputation. No matter their motivation to speak out, celebrities have benefitted from doing so. The biggest way celebrities helped the situation was by making others aware. They have a large and influenceable audience. When celebrities spoke out about the issues, more people started to listen and care. Celebrities had a large positive influence on the wildfire deforestation in Australia.

Government

One of the biggest stakeholders in the Australian wildfire deforestation was the Australian government. The government had one of the biggest influences during the crisis through their ability to make laws. The Australian government was proactive and reactive regarding the deforestation. There were laws and restrictions in place before the wildfire deforestation took place. For example, the Australian government put restrictions on logging, which is bad for trees and forests. Another example of how the Australian government has been proactive is by planting new trees. The government has been reactive, but they have also been proactive. When the wildfire deforestation first started, they deployed firefighters to try and slow the spread of the fires. The Australian government is negatively influence by the fires. They are forced to give money to the deforestation efforts and could face criticism if the forests do not recover. Overall, the government has helped the deforestation efforts.

Citizens

There are numerous different ways that we see citizens being stakeholders in Australian wildlife conservation. For starters, I want to mention farmers and how extinction, in a way, affects their business. A large issue in Australia are invasive species and the threat they pose to agriculture. In order for farmers to eliminate invasive species, it would cost approximately $13.6 billion dollars which is not something that many can afford(Wight 2018). With that being said in order for them to protect endemic species in the process would cost double that. Likewise, other citizens are also stakeholders because they obviously do not want to see the flora and fauna of the area be diminished because of things like wildfires or deforestation. With that being said there have been numerous protests by civilians following the massive wildfires in Australia because it is destroying the diverse and unique ecosystem, but the government didn’t seem to be working fast enough to stop them. People who live on the continent are seeking to preserve the land as well as decrease extinction rates because once many of the species they have grown to love die off, they will never see them again which fuels a bit of panic in the hearts of people who want to see the physical environment thrive.

Wildlife Reserves

Wildlife Reserves are a very obvious stakeholder in the extinction of Australian species, but it is one that should be mentioned nonetheless. These organizations are in place in attempt to decrease the rate at which species are going extinct. On one side, we see that as the endangered species list increases, organizations are going to most likely need more funding in order to stay afloat. Especially after the wildfires, reserves are struggling to find the resources needed to rebuild sanctuaries. On the other side of sanctuaries, they are seen as stakeholders because, as bad as this sounds, the existence of endangered species creates jobs for a lot of people. In all reality, endangered species have become as good as gold. Wildlife reserves are forced to keep close watch on their animals because poaching of endangered species is a real issue in the world. Animals are put into reserves and sanctuaries in order to minimize the likelihood of extinction but in some cases, it just turns them into sitting ducks waiting to be hunted which is why wildlife reserves are such a large stakeholder. These organizations are trying to find new ways to improve the world in terms of the flora and fauna within it.

#1

One Scholarly article focused on the role that climate change has in plant and animal extinction in Australia. The article mentioned that it is obvious that animal extinction is one of the biggest problems in Australia at the moment. Although plant and animal extinction is occurring, the article showed that the long term effects of these extinctions were still unknown. The article mentioned how species extinction was mainly caused by the spatial distribution of water sources. These water sources were very dependent on the climate, therefore causing the species extinction to be strongly impacted by the climate. The author’s main views are that climate plays a very large role in plant and animal species extinction. The article does a good job of explaining how climate change has a large influence over plant and animal extinction. The article also does a good job of sharing how much is still unknown about the long term effects of climate change induced plant and animal extinction. Although the article only mentioned how climate dependent water sources play a large role in species extinction, the would likely also think that climate change played a large role in the recent deforestation. The authors of this article would also probably say that much is still unknown about the long term effects of the recent wild fire deforestation. (Saltré, et al.). Jordan Holt

#2

A scholarly article that outlined the causes of climate change in todays world questioned why some populations, even when protected, are more prone to extinction that other species. In the article, there are four forces that come together to ultimately aid in extinction; those being demographic stochasticity, genetic deterioration, social dysfunction, and extrinsic forces (Simberloff p. 259). This is presented followed by the statement that humans are the ultimate cause of modern day extinction. Likewise, there are no documented extinction cases in which humans did not have a hand of some kind. Throughout the article, he speaks about how, while humans do play a role in extinction, they are not the only cause. The idea that population size plays a role in survival rates is brought up because there were extinctions happening long before humans inhabited the land thus meaning that there are forces outside of human that play a role. He also speaks about the fact that based on a species’ immunity and genetics, their likelihood of survival could be affected. This is due to the phenomenon known as survival of the fittest that we constantly hear about in biology classes. Another force that is discussed is social dysfunction which means that if a species is unable to interact in a cohesive way within their own population as well as outside, their likelihood of survival decreases as well. The last reason that is given for possible extinction given by Simberloff is that forces outside of visible ones most likely play a role. This is seen today through climate change and natural disasters that are constantly putting species at risk. It is important to note that most, while not all, of these forces are either directly or indirectly affected by human actions. This article is a good look into the idea that while humans are largely to blame for growing extinction rates, there are some other variables that should be examined before blame is completely placed. Casey O’Connell

#3

One scholarly article focused on how one particular species is effected by the bush fires. The article focused on Koalas and how they were losing their habitats and their lives at a rapid rate. The article also briefly mentioned and compared how humans were effected. There were a lot of similarities between the losses that koalas faced and the losses that humans faced. One example of these similarities is how both species are being harmed currently though the bush fires, but experts were unsure of the long term health effects that these species would face. Some experts say breathing in the smoke from these bush fires could decrease lung size permanently in both species. A decrease in lung size can lead to more lung related problems later in life. The article also compares the habitat loss of the two species. Humans are losing their homes. Koalas are losing their trees. The article also mentions how climate change has exacerbated the bush fires even more, and potentially even caused them. The article does a good job of arguing the severity of the bush fires through different studies. By comparing koalas to humans, it makes more people care about the bush fire situation. (Pei, Y. Et al, 2020). Jordan Holt

Saltré, F., Chadoeuf, J., Peters, K.J. et al. Climate-human interaction associated with southeast Australian megafauna extinction patterns.Nat Commun 10, 5311 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13277-0

Frayer, Janis Mackey, et al. “Australian Sanctuary Fights to Save Surviving Animals amid Catastrophic Wildfires.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 15 Jan. 2020, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/australian-sanctuary-fights-save-surviving-animals-amid-catastrophic-wildfires-n1114986.

Wight, Andrew. “Australia Plays Key Role in Global Biodiversity Policy.” The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Mar. 2018, http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-america/australia-plays-key-role-in-global-biodiversity-policy-20180323-p4z5zt.html.

Díaz, Sandra. “Summary for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.” 6 May 2019, https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf.

Pei, Y., Xu, R., Abramson, M. Et al. Bushfires in Australia: a serious health emergency under climate change (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30267-0