Indicator description

Why is it indicative

What does the data show

Data

Acknowledgment

Indicator description

The number of management plans for ecologically sustainable harvesting compared with the number of species harvested.

Why is it indicative

Harvesting is regarded as one of the pressures on biological diversity and, in the past, the cause of rapid decline in some species (e.g. the Thylacine). An effective and relatively simple indicator of our response to this pressure is to establish how many species are being harvested in accordance with management plans, compared with those harvested without plans.

What does the data show

Of the five Tasmanian native species harvested under permit, four have some form of management plan in place.

Data

The species of native fauna currently harvested in Tasmania under permit are:

• Brushtail possum;
• Bennetts wallaby;
• Cape Barren goose eggs;
• Pademelon; and
• Muttonbird.

It is known that illegal harvesting or poaching of the following species occurs.

• Brushtail possum;
• Bennetts wallaby;
• Pademelon;
• Muttonbird; and
• Forester kangaroo.

The size of the illegal harvest is unknown but there is evidence that illegal harvesting is impacting upon the populations of certain species in some locations.

Harvest management programs have been established for a number of endemic species including brushtail possums, muttonbirds, Flinders Island wallabies and for the harvesting of Cape Barren goose eggs.

Acknowledgment

Greg Hocking, Nature Conservation Branch, Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment

Adapted from National State of the Environment Key Indicator 17.1 (Saunders et al. 1998).