Australia is the planet's extinction hotspot, but one animal offers a glimmer of hope

There is also a belief that greater regulation alone will achieve little.Too much conservation work currently relies on philanthropists' cash and devoted volunteers, those in the sector say, and much more languishes on the to-do list due to a lack of money.The federal government directly spends about A$700m on nature protection, a fraction of the A$33bn – or 1% of GDP – conservationists say it should be. That is an eyebrow-raising figure, people like Paul Elton concede, but one they argue is reasonable.According to his research – which the government disputes – more than A$26bn is still being spent on subsidies for things like mining, intensive agriculture or fuel despite Australia signing global pledges to wind them back."For every dollar the government is spending on positive biodiversity conservation action, there's A$26 being spent on subsidies that are causing harm to nature," he tells the BBC."That's a pretty stark imbalance."Minister Watt didn't directly respond to questions about conservationists' demands, but said: "We remain committed to long-term environmental recovery, in partnership with state and local governments, community and environmental groups."Though public sen...