Urgent Need to Use and Reform Critical Habitat Listing in Australian Legislation in Response to the Extensive 2019-2020 Bushfires

The unprecedented bushfires of 2019-2020 burnt significant areas of forest and woodland in eastern and southern Australia. The size of the area burnt, and intensity of the fire has meant the majority of habitat for a large number of threatened species has been impacted, placing high conservation value on the unburnt refuges remaining. Most Australian jurisdictions have provision for "critical habitat" listing under their threatened species legislation. However, these provisions have been under-utilised. Here, I review these provisions in the jurisdictions impacted by these fires. Considering the number of threatened species and the crucial role of critical habitat in their recovery, new processes will need to be implemented to rapidly assess and designate critical habitat under existing provisions and future reforms to legislation implemented in order to deal with future events such as these extensive bushfires.