The Victorian Government stands accused of all but guaranteeing the extinction of threatened Mallee birds as a consequence of its bushfire prevention policy. The Mallee emu-wren, in particular, is just one fire away from being wiped from the planet.

The claim is made in a new report from Birdlife Australia, being tabled this weekend at the World Parks Congress in Sydney, that names five "Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas" in Australia that are in danger of permanent destruction.

The Mallee Emu Wren. Credit:Rob Drummond

The areas are defined by strict global criteria by Birdlife International, and represent the most important sites for birds in the world. There are 314 in Australia – and five of them, including the Victorian Murray Mallee, are in danger of losing the species for which they were nominated.

The report – written by Samantha Vine, Birdlife Australia's head of conservation, and Guy Dutson, a world authority on birds of the south-west Pacific region – says the Victorian government's target of prescribed burning 5per cent of public land each year "represents a significant extinction risk for threatened Mallee birds".