Getting Started
Introduction to the Threatened Species Education Kit
This resource has been created to provide specific information on some of Tasmania's threatened species. We have over 600 species currently listed in the schedules of Tasmania's Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. Many more species are in danger of becoming included on these lists.
The Federal government promotes the protection of our threatened species with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the National Endangered Species Program which has been operating since 1990. Many Tasmanian species have benefited from this program. Today there are 20 recovery teams in operation on Tasmanian species (both plants and animals). These recovery teams represent a wide cross section of the community. They include researchers, volunteers, landowners and managers.
How to use these pages
Thirty eight species have been chosen for this educational resource. Each species has its own page of information including a photographic image and Tasmanian distribution map. Information includes current status under the State and Federal Acts, threats and what is being done. All information is correct as of August 2003. Species have been chosen to provide representation of all categories and groups so that teachers and students can access the greatest diversity of material.
This resource has been designed to be user-friendly for both individual and class assignments. There is sufficient diversity within any group for students and teachers to make links between:
- types of threats (ie. habitat loss, pollution, introduced species)
- habitat types (ie freshwater, marine, land, islands)
- a group of species (mammals, birds, invertebrates, fish, plants)
- threatened categories (extinct, endangered, vulnerable, rare).
As far as possible species were also selected from different areas of the State so that most students would be able to identify at least one from their local area.
A full listing of all Tasmanian threatened species is available online at the Department of Primary Industries and Water web site.