CANBERRA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Conservationists have called for stronger laws to better protect Australia's biodiversity after 13 animal and plant species were added to the country's list of threatened species.

The latest update to the list of threatened flora and fauna, which is overseen by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), includes eight new animals and five plants.

It takes the total number of species recognized by the government as threatened to 2,224, 21 of which have been added to the list in 2024.

Among the animals added in the latest update are three freshwater fish species that have been listed as critically endangered, three lizards and one frog.

Responding to the updated list, NGO the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said that each of the new animal listings is under threat from habitat destruction or degradation.

The Hunter Valley delma, a legless lizard first recognized as a species in 2022, has been listed as endangered. ACF nature campaigner Darcie Carruthers said that 90 percent of its known range has been damaged by mining and agriculture activity.

"Australia has the most reptile species on the planet and more than 90 percent of them are not found anywhere else, so it's really sad to see three more lizards added to the list," she said.

"These latest listings show our nature laws are powerless to stop Australian plants and animals being willfully destroyed."

She said that Australia's species need an independent Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to enforce stricter nature laws.

According to the ACF, more species were added to the threatened list in 2023 than in any other year since it was established in 1992.

The governing Labor Party has introduced legislation to parliament to create a national EPA - known as Environment Protection Australia - but in April announced it has delayed plans to introduce new environmental laws to address the extinction crisis. Enditem

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