A GLOBAL conservation group has given Bendigo an "E" grade for its anemic efforts to protect endangered species.
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The World Wildlife Fund Australia is scathing about efforts across the federal Bendigo electorate to help 52 threatened plants and animals.
The regional city is ringed by forest but still managed to score lower than many other electorates, including some in more built-up Melbourne areas.
Western Australia's Durack had the dubious distinction of being the only electorate to get an "F". It had the lowest proportion of adequate habitat protections and species with dedicated funding.
Bendigo could not avoid a damning "F" grade for efforts to improve species' threat statuses.
Neither could any other Australian electorate, WWF-Australia conservation scientist Michelle Ward said.
"I think people will be shocked by the plight of species in their area and the scale of the extinction crisis we are facing," she said.
The WWF is not the first group to draw attention to the crisis crippling forests around Bendigo.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry last year found the state's flora and fauna was being devastated by "major" threats including climate change and fragmenting forests.
Many Bendigo species' populations are incredibly fragile, especially smaller plants and animals that cannot easily move around.
One flowering plant called southern shepherd's purse has vanished from almost all sites it has ever been found, according to a national recovery plan state and federal governments adopted in 2010.
"It currently exists only at a single location at Mount Alexander in central Victoria," the plan stated.
Other species are so hard to find that experts cannot confidently work out population sizes.
That includes for pink-tailed worm lizards, the small and reclusive reptiles discovered in a handful of small enclaves - including Bendigo's One Tree Hill.
Some ecologists say their biggest threat is Bendigo's urban sprawl, though they also risk death from dogs, cats and humans mistaking them for snakes.
The WWF is urging people to contact their federal members to express their concerns about species protections in their areas.
The Bendigo Advertiser is reaching out to Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters for comment.
The WWF has also released grades for Victoria and local governments including the City of Greater Bendigo.
All 547 Australian local governments copped an "F" for species outcomes, and Victoria was outside the top three states for species recovery.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
