What priority is given to species protection?

The front page and photograph of Peninsula News edition 471 of the concrete burrows installed for the Lion Island little penguin colony appears for all purposes a very good story to protect the colony's future, until the reader is informed about the construction of the nest burrows by the Fix-it Sisters.

Why was it necessary for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to outsource construction of the burrows?

Why doesn't the Service have the resources and skills to construct 20 nesting burrows?

Has the Service's resources, finances and skills been slashed to a level that requires partnership with the community to complete vital species protection actions?

The Environment Ministers' comments in the article confirm this action is a push to protect the species into the future and therefore is a high priority, yet the service depends on the public's generosity to carry out species saving actions.

What real priority is the government giving species protection if, as the last paragraph of the report indicates, it will have continued reliance on community volunteers into the future?

Letter, 23 Jun 2019

Norm Harris, Umina