2 Goal, objectives and actions

The goal of this threat abatement plan is to minimise the impact of feral cats on biodiversity in Australia and its territories by:

Protecting affected threatened species; and
Preventing further species and ecological communities from becoming threatened.

To achieve this goal, the plan has four objectives, developed through the review (Department of the Environment 2014) of the previous threat abatement plan and consultation with experts. These objectives are to:

1. Effectively control feral cats in different landscapes;
2. Improve effectiveness of existing control options for feral cats;
3. Develop or maintain alternative strategies for threatened species recovery;
4. Increase public support for feral cat management and promote responsible cat ownership.

Each objective is accompanied by a set of actions, which, when implemented, will help to achieve the goal of the plan. Performance indicators have been established for each objective.

The sections below provide background on each objective, followed by a table listing the actions required to meet the objective. Twenty-two actions have been developed to meet the four objectives.

Priorities for each action are given in the tables below, categorised as ‘very high’, ‘high’ or ‘medium’. Each action has also been assigned a timeframe within which the outcome could be achieved once the action has commenced. Timeframes are categorised as short-term (i.e. within three years), medium-term (i.e. within three to five years) or long-term (i.e. taking five years or longer). The expected output and outcome from implementation of the action is described. Where there is a clear party identified as responsible for the implementation of the action (be this a government, organisation or group of individuals) this is noted. The identification of responsibility should not be taken as excluding the involvement of other parties where needed. By articulating these actions, this threat abatement plan allows partnerships to be formed around activities that will have the greatest impact. Through partnerships between governments, non-government organisations, scientists, community groups, regional groups, and individuals, the best outcomes for threatened species under threat from predation by feral cats will be achieved.

Most actions within the plan will require investment to achieve the outcomes. Section 3.2 of the plan discusses investment in the plan and provides some estimates of costs anticipated or known at the time of the plan’s development. These have been placed in a separate section because it is difficult to fully cost the implementation of each action because of unknown variables.