Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270:body:0:p45
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270
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Character Range: 123102–126169

by 2080 (Baker et al. 2017). Mountain ash stand density and volume will also be reduced by about 15% (Baker et al. 2017). The impact of increased incidence of severe fire will be especially profound where future fires recur at intervals shorter than the time taken for ash trees to mature, leading to forests dominated by species such as Acacia. Habitat condition will be reduced due to vegetation dieback during drought conditions.
Climate change may also affect food availability for Leadbeater's possum, through changes in the abundance and diversity of invertebrates, the production and persistence of exudates, and the frequency and productivity of flowering events. There is only limited information to specifically link these factors to climate characteristics in montane ash systems or to predict the impacts of climate change on food resource availability, however climate conditions have been shown to cause a major reduction in the availability of some types of food for Leadbeater's possum (Smith 1980; Smith 1984a; Lindenmayer and Possingham 1995c), and breeding success in Leadbeater's possum is 'closely related' to the abundance of some food resources (Smith 1980; Lindenmayer and Possingham 1995c).
It is possible that an increased incidence of days of extreme heat may narrow the range of hollows that are suitable as den and breeding sites for Leadbeater's possum, but there is insufficient evidence to assess the likelihood of such change.
Recent modelling has identified areas of Leadbeater's possum habitat that are likely to remain relatively stable under a climate change scenario of increase in 2˚C, and other areas that will become transient, with some losing suitable habitat while other areas may gain suitable habitat (Nitschke et al. 2020). This modelling will be useful to incorporate into future reserve design considerations.

    5               Legislative, policy and planning context
This Recovery Plan is informed and guided by relevant Commonwealth and State legislation and policies as well as Australia's obligations under various international agreements.

5.1                 International agreements and obligations
Australia is a signatory to a number of international agreements relevant to the conservation of Leadbeater's possum. This plan is consistent with and is guided by Australia's international responsibilities under these agreements, and the plan's implementation will support meeting these obligations. These include:
    * United Nations 2015 sustainable development goals which include to 'take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species' (Goal 15.5).
    * Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022. The newly adopted framework will now set the global biodiversity action agenda for the next decade, including to halt extinction of known threatened species and significantly reduce