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13

About the book

An introduction to the book including it's aims, intended readership and options for downloading a copy of the book or one or more of the chapters.

Chapter 1. What is biodiversity, and why is it important?

Find out about the value of biodiversity to human societies and how human values can inform management of Australia’s biodiversity.

Chapter 2. Australia's biodiversity: major features

Find out about the major factors that have shaped Australia's unique biodiversity and how new technologies are revealing some surprises in the evolutionary story.

Chapter 3. Australia's biodiversity: status and trends

Evidence from monitoring shows that Australia's biodiversity is declining and pressure on biodiversity is increasing.

Chapter 4. Tools for managing and restoring biodiversity

Land managers in Australia are using an array of different measures to manage threats to biodiversity.

Chapter 5. Managing Australia's protected areas

Sustaining Australia’s biodiversity across a network of protected areas, complemented by whole of landscape conservation management, is one of our greatest environmental challenges.

Chapter 6. Indigenous perspectives on biodiversity

Indigenous concepts that connect people to their Country and to living things through a web of relationships are akin to the meaning of the English term biodiversity.

Chapter 7. Farming, pastoralism and forestry

The abundance of many species of Australian plants and animals has been greatly changed by modern agricultural and forestry practices.

Chapter 8. Cities and towns

Urban biodiversity matters. It connects city dwellers with the natural environment, enhances recreational spaces and serves practical functions like cooling the air and reducing stormwater run-off.

Chapter 9. Seas and coasts

Science is helping to address the two big challenges of understanding the biodiversity in our oceans and agreeing on goals for its management.

Chapter 10. Inland waters

Australia’s inland waters support a rich diversity of life, impacted by boom-and-bust extremes in water availability and vulnerable to extraction of water for human uses.

Chapter 11. Mining and biodiversity

The wealth that mining creates gives the industry the opportunity to manage its impacts and have a positive effect on biodiversity.

Chapter 12. Conclusions

There are grounds for optimism in the face of the challenges to managing Australia's biodiversity, yet also a need for a greater effort to halt the decline.