More than $15bn a year to save threatened species

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It's estimated that over $15 billion annually is required to prevent the extinction of nearly 100 priority species, including certain frogs and other vulnerable creatures, which are at risk of being irretrievable due to the impacts of climate change and other ongoing threats.

Removing weeds and re-establishing native plants were among the most expensive measures to save species that were identified in university and environmental organisation research.

The federal government outlined a game plan back in 2022.

Research from Griffith University, WWF-Australia and the University of Queensland, published on Tuesday, found it would take $15.6 billion over 30 years to prevent 99 priority land and freshwater species from becoming extinct.

Marine life forms were left out.

Lead author Michelle Ward from Griffith University said the researchers counted up the total range of actions needed to ensure species have enough space - at least 100 square kilometres - to stay off the critically endangered list.

"What's most surprising" for Dr Ward was the finding that 16 species couldn't be taken off the threatened species list, no matter how much was spent, because of unmanageable threats like climate change.

"Species like the Mountain-top Nursery Frog and Swan Galaxias are of real concern and need active conservation outside of their natural environment," she said.

Dr Ward praised the federal government's dedication to the environment and halting extinctions, but noted that additional financial support was required.

WWF-Australia's head of evaluation and science Romola Stewart said the aim of the research was to provide governments with accurate and realistic costs that they could use for budgeting and resource allocation purposes.

Dr Stewart said it's not feasible to keep degrading ecosystems, pointing out that halting extinctions is a "pretty low bar" and removing species from threatened lists entirely would be even more of a challenge.

We can't afford to keep footing this bill, so we need to put the brakes on nature's decline.

Dr Stewart said the research highlighted the real cost of "inadequate" environmental laws not doing enough to prevent habitat destruction.

The Labor party promised to overhaul the way the country handles environmentally hazardous development projects, including setting up an independent watchdog to scrutinise applications and act as a regulator.

Yet the government's environmental protection laws have been put on the backburner once again, due to pressure from mining interests in the critical battleground state of Western Australia.

The Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, says the government is splashing out more than $550 million to give a helping hand to threatened native plants and animals.