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Australia is in the midst of an animal extinction crisis and the loss of almost 20 unique species in coming years is inevitable without drastic change.

That’s the dire warning from the Wilderness Society following the release of a damning interim report about the inadequacies of current environmental laws.

A Senate inquiry report released last night found the current approach to wildlife protection was “incapable” of stopping the spiralling rates of extinction and recommended a “complete overhaul” of legislation.

Suzanne Milthorpe, national nature campaign manager at the Wilderness Society, said three native species had been wiped out in the past decade.

However, scientists predict that rate of loss to skyrocket to possibly 17 extinct animals in the next 20 years — a “grim” legacy of policy failures, Ms Milthorpe said.

“The evidence is clear — Australia is in an extinction crisis,” Ms Milthorpe said.

“We’re number two in the world for species loss, and if we keep turning a blind eye to major threats to wildlife like deforestation, even iconic animals like the koala will go.”

The rate of habitat loss for koalas has accelerated, particularly in areas where the iconic animal is most under threat, in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The World Wildlife Fund said the equivalent of 14 football fields of habitat is bulldozed every day in NSW.

WWF-Australia conservationist Stuart Blanch said there were currently less than 20,000 koalas left in NSW and at the current rate, they are on track to be extinct in the state by 2050.

“Koalas will disappear from NSW unless the state increases legal protections of mature forests and woodlands,” Dr Blanch said.

Koalas are endangered in Queensland where the animal is the state faunal emblem.

Populations along Australia’s east coast have plummeted at a rate of 21 per cent per decade.

“It is a wakeup call for our east coast to appear alongside notorious forest destruction hot spots such as the Amazon, Congo Basin, Sumatra and Borneo,” WWF-Australia boss Dermot O’Gorman said.

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The Senate report on extinction made a number of recommendations to address the crisis, including a focus to reduce impact likes deforestation and climate change.

It also called on the government to establish an independent environmental protection authority with sufficient powers and funding to enforce compliance with laws.

“We welcome the recommendation for strong national environment laws that can actually

stop the threats to wildlife and an independent watchdog with teeth to enforce them,” Ms Milthorpe said.

“But we need more than recommendations. Positive action on the environment is showing

up as a huge issue in both national polls and the recent NSW election.

“What that tells us is neither party can be a credible candidate for government without having detailed, costed policies on how they’ll deal with major causes of extinction, like the legacy of 200 years of inappropriate deforestation and the worsening impacts of climate change.”

The three species that were declared extinct in the past decade are the Bramble Cay Melomys, Christmas Island Pipistrelle and Christmas Island Forest Skink.

When it comes to the 17 that could face extinction in the next 20 years, it is not a prescribed list but based on analysis of the rate of extinction, the Wilderness Society said.

That analysis was based in large part on research by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, which identified 20 birds and 20 mammals most at risk of extinction in the next two decades.

Among them are the helmeted honeyeater, northern hopping-mouse, leadbeater’s possum and mountain pygmy possum.

With the federal election just around the corner, Wilderness Society national campaign director Lyndon Schneiders called on all parties to outline meaningful conservation policies.

“The buck needs to stop somewhere,” Mr Schneider said.

“Australians will be horrified by the evidence presented to this inquiry and failures of successive governments to take real action.

“Real change will only come through strong and decisive leadership and real funding by the national government. We can turn this crisis around … only (through) strong and prescriptive laws and a strong independent agency, like a national EPA, with the teeth to hold governments and vested interests to account.”