Minister to attend Melbourne Threatened Species Summit

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry is in Melbourne this week to attend the inaugural Threatened Species Summit.

The event on Thursday will be hosted by Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt and chaired by Australia’s Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews.

Minister Barry will be one of the keynote speakers, discussing the New Zealand experience of conservation.

“Australia and New Zealand have many conservation challenges in common, but also very different experiences to share,” Ms Barry says. “Our two nations can work together to ensure our precious native wildlife survives for future generations.”

“We face similar problems with introduced pests and other threats, and there are opportunities to collaborate and find solutions together, even if our wildlife is in many cases vastly different.”

“For example, possums are a threatened species in Australia, yet we spend millions of dollars a year to control their population in New Zealand, where they are invasive and cause huge damage to our native ecosystems.”

Ms Barry also has a programme of visits around the summit across her Conservation and Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolios.