Policy failure and conservation paralysis for the critically endangered swift parrot

Abstract

The critically endangered swift parrot (Lathamus discolor) is among the best studied Australian threatened species. Despite extensive outreach to the public and policy makers, conservation management has not kept pace with advances in knowledge and scientific evidence. Here we summarise policy and management failings that allow swift parrot breeding habitat in Tasmanian forests to continue to be logged. This practice continues in spite of extensive evidence demonstrating that the cessation of logging of swift parrot breeding habitat in Tasmania is urgently required to secure the species.