Environment Information Australia has released three new national biodiversity and ecosystem maps.

The maps put a spotlight on areas that are not well represented within existing protected areas across the continent.

The maps show how far there is to go for Australia to reach its so-called ‘30 by 30’ target, which is to have 30% of the country’s landmass and marine areas protected and conserved by the year 2030.

It is hoped that the maps will lead to more targeted actions to helping protect the nation’s fauna, flora and landscapes.

Two of the maps — biodiversity and ecosystem values and ecological representativeness — use the latest national datasets along with two criteria from the 30 x 30 National Roadmap.

The third map combines the previous two to show areas that have important biodiversity and ecosystem values but low levels of protection.

Australia already has almost 25% of its land protected, but to reach the 30 x 30 target another 39 million hectares are needed — that’s an area about twice the size of Victoria.

According to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the aim is to protect the right places, not just more places.

The Department also points out that protection and conservation on private land “will always be voluntary, and we will continue to work only with willing landholders”.