Bill will march threatened species to extinction, says WWF-Australia

Conservation groups have warned koalas - whose population was decimated further after the Black Summer bushfires - could be extinct by 2050. A recent report by WWF-Australia found a 71 per cent fall in the koala population across northern NSW areas ravaged by fire.

WWF-Australia chief conservation officer Rachel Lowry said the country's nature laws were at threat as the Commonwealth tried to rush the revised bill to approval.

She warned if the bill was not changed it would "march species" to extinction faster.

"We will see habitat destruction increase at a rate we have never seen before," she told AAP.

The changes to the national environment protection laws pave the way for states to take over approvals with states to abide by a set of national environment standards, which have not been developed.

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Ms Lowry said this once-in-a-decade review should ensure the federal government retained its responsibility and had oversight of approvals rather than deferring to the states.

She also called for an independent regular to ensure compliance as well as stronger Indigenous engagement and enhanced standards to reflect the changing climate.

"The bushfires should have been a watershed moment for us," she says.

"We need to talk about the solution to make sure we protect what was unburnt."

The thought Australians may no longer see koalas in the wild is something former pro surfer Layne Beachley finds incomprehensible.

But it's something she warns could happen if federal environmental protection laws are not strengthened.

"Our current laws are failing our wildlife," she told AAP ahead of National Threatened Species Day on Monday.

"We are on an exponential trajectory in the wrong direction."

Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act has undergone a review that is not yet complete despite changes to the draft legislation being rammed through the lower house last week.

Beachley on Monday appears in a video with Australian singer Cody Simpson, Olympian Stephanie Rice, Socceroo great Harry Kewell and model Victoria Lee calling on Australians to take action and urge the government to strengthen the laws.

In the 20-plus years the laws have been in place, WWF-Australia estimates that more than 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat have been destroyed.

"The law is supposed to protect our wildlife ... it's just devastating to see the government stand by and let this happen," Beachley said.

"The consideration we won't have koala bears in our trees is incomprehensible.

"Right now we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to turn this around."

The seven-time world champion wants the federal government to introduce laws that hold states and developers accountable with an independent regulator to have oversight.

Australian Associated Press