June 28, 2021 - Tasmanian doctors have today written an open letter to federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, calling for an emergency National Heritage Listing of takayna/ Tarkine on health grounds. The Tasmanian Committee of Doctors ...
Biodiversity
Natural ecosystems support our health by filtering our air, providing fresh water and food, regulating our climate, directly improving human health and protecting against the spread of disease and pests.
They also foster our mental wellbeing and serve as places of recreation and sources of nature-based jobs in tourism and other vocations. Furthermore, with over one third of all medicines known to humans being derived from nature, protected ecosystems are a form of innovative capital for future medical advances. Ecosystems are the foundations of biodiversity, the infinite variation in life forms. Human resilience in the face of sudden and catastrophic shifts to the planet’s life-support systems is strengthened by this variety of life on earth.
Doctors for the Environment Australia is focused on the complex interaction between human health and our natural environment and is therefore interested in environmental degradation, particularly the loss of biodiversity and the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on human health and social stability. A global environment that supports biodiversity is better able to support human health. This is a topic of utmost urgency, and of great political and cultural complexity. It is also deeply fascinating as we continue to better understand the ways in which time spent in nature can help both prevent and cure common lifestyle related diseases.
Biodiversity Resources
POLICY PAPER AND POSITION STATEMENT ON BIODIVERSITY
DEA’s Biodiversity Policy (Nov 2019)
DEA’s Biodiversity Position Statement (Nov 2019)
FACTSHEETS ON BIODIVERSITY
Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be passed from an animal to a human. There has been increase in zoonotic diseases over the past 30 years, posing major risks from diseases like COVID-19 (August 2020)
Forests and native vegetation like grasslands, wetlands and woodlands support our health and the environment in which we live. (Jan 2019)
Land clearing has wide ranging and harmful implications for human health (Jan 2019)
PRESENTATIONS ON BIODIVERSITY
PowerPoint presentation that details why environmental sustainability is core business for health professionals and an essential part of health education. (July 2018)
DEA SUBMISSIONS RELATED TO BIODIVERSITY
2019-20 Review of the EPBC Act (April 2020)
EPBC Act Review Interim Report – DEA response (July 2020)
Australia’s faunal extinction crisis (August 2019)
Mr Morrison, the G7 Summit and the report “Biodiversity, Natural Capital and the Economy”
June 10, 2021 - “When Mr Morrison arrives at the G7 Leaders Summit later this week he will have before him a report on Biodiversity and if he reads and understands it he will ...
Submission to the Inquiry into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Regional Forest Agreements)Amendment Bill 2020
May 4, 2021 - Australia’s forests and woodlands are some of the most biodiverse ecosystemson the planet. They have unique intrinsic value but also make vital contributionsto human health.It is abundantly clear that over ...
An open letter to the Andrews’ Government: Less talk, more protection for nature
April 27, 2021 - Over forty state, national and international groups representing hundreds of thousands of Victorians, call on the Andrews’ Government to accept recommendations for new national parks in Victoria’s central west.
Review says government must act decisively to overhaul Australia’s major environmental laws
February 9, 2021 - Last week, the long-awaited final report from a legislated 10 year review of the EPBC Act was released. DEA welcomes its recognition of the fundamental failings of the Act and its call for far-reaching reforms to improve environmental protections and restoration in Australia.
Pre-Budget submission 2021
January 22, 2021 - Human health and the environment are facing massive challenges. DEA made recommendations that include the recognition of and funding for the impending health crises imposed by climate change and the ...
Croakey: Where was Australia during the UN biodiversity summit?
October 21, 2020 - Given Australia’s rich natural endowment, Northern Territory GP Dr Rosalie Schultz asks: why was Australia missing in action during the recent United Nations Biodiversity Summit? If, as our representatives stated ...
The Mercury Talking Point: Support your kids in climate strike today
September 25, 2020 - The health of the planet and human health are intimately linked and putting public money into climate-wrecking fossil fuels such as gas is one road map we don’t want to ...
Parliamentary Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria. (1 Sept 2020)
September 1, 2020 - Human health is indivisible from healthy, biodiverse ecosystems. When we allow biodiversity and ecosystems to decline or be lost, we compromise the essentials for survival – our food security, our ...
Doctors’ group warns weakening Australia’s nature laws will harm health
August 31, 2020 - As the EPBC debate is expected to resume in Federal Parliament as early as tomorrow, a prominent medical group warns an attempt by the Scott Morrison Government to rush legislation ...
ZOONOSES: joining the dots between people, animals and the natural world
August 26, 2020 - Zoonosis is an infectious disease that can be passed from an animal to a human. Our newest fact sheet explores zoonotic diseases, how ongoing human encroachment on natural habitats has ...
EPBC Review Interim Report _ DEA Response (28 July 2020)
July 28, 2020 - On Monday July 20, the interim report of the EPBC Act review was released by Professor Graeme Samuel, the chair of the review panel. This included some positive proposals, but ...
Submission on Urannah dam and pipelines project and Collinsville irrigation scheme project
July 14, 2020 - DEA has provided a submission on the Proposed Actions 2020/8708 and 2020/8709 . DEA recommends that both actions be assessed under the EPBC Act as they are likely to have ...
Open Forum: When our love of place gets swallowed by bushfires
June 24, 2020 - Like many Australians, this summer’s horrific fires had a profound impact on Dr Dimity Williams. Not only did she experience angst about the fires in Victoria burning her ‘happy place’ ...
Canberra Times: Now is not the time to weaken our environmental protections
June 10, 2020 - Australia’s environmental track record is among the worst of all countries, write A/Professor Katherine Barraclough, Victorian Chair of DEA, and Fiona Armstrong, Executive Director of the Climate and Health Alliance. ...
Media release: Open Letter- prominent health leaders and groups warn ‘failing’ nature laws will lead to further public health crises
May 25, 2020 - Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty and former Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley are among more than 180 health professionals and leading health groups who have signed an open ...
Submission into the 2019-2020 Independent Review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act
May 13, 2020 - DEA believes that the flaws in the EPBC Act are too significant to be addressed by amendments alone. A new generation of environmental law is needed to restore past damage ...
Open Forum: Blue-banded bliss
March 2, 2020 - Dr Marion Carey writes that with an estimated 40% of insect species now threatened with extinction, we can all do more to notice and appreciate our wonderful native bees and ...
Media release: Doctors’ open letter to the Premier of Tasmania: logging is a health hazard
February 17, 2020 - Dear Premier Gutwein, Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) is alarmed at the resumption of old growth logging in the North West of Tasmania, as it imperils community health. We ...
Biodiversity Policy
November 12, 2019 - Natural ecosystems support our health by filtering our air, providing fresh water and food, regulating our climate and protecting against the spread of disease and pests. They also foster our ...