September is Biodiversity Month
September: A whole month dedicated to our primary goal of biodiversity. After all, biodiversity is our business and what better way to promote this national event than a month long celebration of its importance.
Biodiversity represents all living things on our planet and they exist at differing scales: regional diversity, ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity. It is not static, but constantly changing. Queensland’s range of ecosystems makes it one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. We have a huge variety of endemic flora and fauna species that need protection in our corner of the globe. Urgent action is needed to minimise the biodiversity lost before these species are lost forever.
With this in mind, last year, we sharpened our strategic focus to realise the true value of biodiversity – for people, planet, productivity and profit. Our vision is “to empower more people and businesses to value and invest in biodiversity resulting in improved outcomes for Queensland’s natural environment”. This strongly places QTFN to guide the future of environmental protection and biodiversity in our State. We want to create genuine wins for the environment and for investors.
As an example, we have partnered and invested heavily in the Wet Tropics of Queensland. This biodiversity treasure trove is home to approximately one-third of the country’s mammals and frog species and approximately 50% of butterfly and bird species nationally. In the north, we’ve also partnered with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to help secure Avoid Island as an important refuge for flatback turtles.
This September, we want to highlight Biodiversity Month as an opportunity to celebrate our outcomes, promote its importance and share how you can help protect, conserve and improve biodiversity in your backyard.