The Australia we love: a report on key issues affecting nature and society in Australia

This report identifies the need to establish a clear and credible baseline of key trends and issues affecting nature and society in Australia and around the world, on the assumption that a healthy Australian society relies on healthy nature for our prosperity and our wellbeing. This credible baseline is one necessary element for galvanizing and growing a people’s movement for nature in Australia. Such a movement will be critical if Australians are to adopt and implement the systemic changes required of our society to achieve our true potential this century. The report is divided into 7 sections. Section 1 highlights the importance of healthy nature as the foundation for a healthy and prosperous society. Section 2 is a brief note of the long history of human influence on nature in Australia, and the complexity involved in decisions regarding land, water and sea. Section 3 provides a synthesis of some of the key indicators of the pressures on nature in Australia and the impact of these pressures on Australian nature and society. Many of the measures reported here are simply snapshots in time and space, highlighting the difficulty of measuring the complexity of nature and our interactions with it in any comprehensive way. Section 4 is a synthesis of similar indicators at a global scale. Section 5 looks at how progress is measured in Australia, and the importance of adopting broader definitions of sustainable wellbeing as a frame for effectively valuing and protecting nature. Section 6 tells the stories of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things for nature, inspiring us all to better value and protect what we have. Section 7 is a call to action that looks ahead to an innovative and solutions-focused future in which Australia is effectively valuing and protecting nature as the foundation for the sustainable wellbeing of our society