CANBERRA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia has been awarded the worst possible score on its efforts to protect endangered species by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
In a report published on Wednesday, the WWF scored threatened species recovery across all 151 of Australia's federal electorates, giving the country an 'F' overall.
The report card assesses four indicators, proportion of species with recovery plans, proportion of species with federal funding, proportion of habitat protected, and proportion of species with an improved threat status.
"The results are alarming: all electorates achieved an F grade for threat status improvement, whereas for recovery plans and funding one electorate achieved a D grade, 121 achieved a E, and 29 achieved an F," Michelle Ward, a WWF-Australia conservation scientist and co-author of the report, said in a media release.
"I think people will be shocked by the plight of species in their area and the scale of the extinction crisis we are facing."
The report also graded all eight of Australia's states and territories and every local government area (LGA) on species recovery.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) ranked highest due to it being home to the highest proportion of species with dedicated federal government funding.
Western Australia (WA), the largest state or territory, came last because few of its threatened species have recovery plans.
"Without an immediate change in how Australia chooses to address its species crisis, we will leave a tragic legacy of extinction and fail our obligations to future generations of Australians, and the international community," Tracy Rout, co-author of the report, said.
"Members of Parliament (MPs) have a responsibility for stewardship of the threatened species living in their electorate and we hope these scores highlight the need for MPs to advocate for greater protection of threatened species federally." ■