When an Australian species is listed as endangered, a recovery plan is supposed to be developed. These plans identify what actions are needed to stop the decline of a threatened species, but a series of high-profile reviews have shown the process is failing.

Less than 40 per cent of Australia’s nationally listed threatened species have recovery plans in place, according to data published by the energy and environment department in 2018.

What’s more, the recovery plans designed for almost 180 threatened species and habitats – including the Tasmanian devil – were scrapped by former Coalition environment minister Sussan Ley shortly before she left office.

The WWF scorecard shows that for species protection, 74 electorates achieved an A, 61 achieved a B, 15 achieved a C and one achieved a D.

“I think people will be shocked by the plight of species in their area and the scale of the extinction crisis we are facing,” Ward said.

Tracy Rout, another of the WWF report’s lead authors and a conservation analyst, said ramping up action on threatened species could prevent animals from being completely wiped out.

“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,” Rout said.

The latest State of the Environment report found that Australia is home to more than 600,000 native species, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world.

But since 2016, more than 200 plants and animal species have been added to the government’s threatened species list. These include the koala, the gang-gang cockatoo and Watson’s tree frog.

This number is expected to grow in the coming years following the 2019-20 bushfires.

The sharpest increase in threatened species has been in invertebrates and frogs, followed by reptiles and birds.

The biggest threat to Australia’s native animals since colonisation has been introduced species. There are more than 200 invasive species that threaten Australia’s biodiversity. These include the European rabbit, feral pigs and cats.

RMIT conservation expert Professor Sarah Bekessy said people might not realise biodiversity loss is relevant to their daily lives, but Australia’s “F” rating showed each electorate held unique species that were in trouble. Nearly 380 nationally listed threatened species occur in urban areas across the country.

“Imagine if our elected representatives stood up for their non-human species in parliament. I’d love to see them passionately defending bogong moths and greater gliders,” Bekessy said.

If adequate investment is pumped into the sector, threatened species can recover, the WWF report says.

The federal government has promised to do more to address the biodiversity crisis, including implementing the findings of the Samuel Review, a 10-yearly assessment of federal environment and biodiversity laws.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced this month that she wanted to reverse the catastrophic loss of wildlife by creating credits for private landowners who restore and protect important habitats.

The details have yet to be hammered out, but Plibersek said that the proposed scheme to issue biodiversity credits, which would be bought and sold by big businesses, could create a “green Wall Street ... where the world comes to invest in environmental protection and restoration”.

Bekessy, who is also a member of WWF Australia’s eminent scientist advisory committee, said while it was positive that the government was seeing the environment as an economic opportunity, the scheme’s specific design would be critical.

“The risk is that if we put a dollar sign on something that most people say is invaluable it reduces the inherent value that we place on nature. They have to make sure incentives are there for general restoration and revegetation.”

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Plibersek said she was not surprised by Australia’s “F” rating as the previous Coalition government had cut funding to the environment.

“Australia is now the mammal extinction capital of the world, having lost more species than any other continent,” she said.

The government has announced $224.5 million for threatened species protection, including $24.5 million to help rehabilitate koala populations. It is also working on a 10-year threatened species action plan, which will be released later in the year.

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