Western Australia has a rich and diverse flora and fauna, with a global biodiversity hotspot and eight national biodiversity hotspots. The high diversity, natural fragmentation patterns, extensive spatial scale and considerable development pressures makes the task of managing threatened species and communities substantial, involving complex biological systems and interacting threats. The Department considers that its management of threatened species and communities is effective given the large number of species and communities involved, the complexity of the task and the resources available.

The Department achieved a key outcome in 2016 with the proclamation of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 that provides a modern legislative basis for management of threatened species and communities. It is continuing to work with the State Government to finalise the regulations and other supporting documents, such as Ministerial Guidelines, that will support the management of threatened species and communities and formalise processes for listing of threatened species and communities, critical habitat and threatening processes.

The Department acknowledges there is scope for an increased level of reporting in some situations and seeks continual improvement in this regard, although the Department does not consider that the current level of reporting is a limiting factor in effective threatened species management. Effective prioritisation across all aspects of threatened species management is challenging, and the Department considers that recent development of corporate frameworks and policies provide appropriate guidance for prioritisation of management actions at a range of scales. The Department is continuing to refine and document its processes to support effective decision making regarding conservation actions.

The Department recognises its data management processes reflect a dispersed organisational structure yet considers that the relevant information is available to staff as required. The Department acknowledges that it can take advantage of advances in database design to develop a centralised database containing a range of information on threatened species and has already scoped the development of such a system that will be implemented in a modular fashion as priorities and resources allow.