Ministers will no longer be forced to consider formal conservation advice for endangered species in projects approved before the end of this year, under changes to the national environment law agreed on by the Coalition and Labor. The pact between the two major parties effectively eliminates implications of a landmark case earlier this year in …
The petrolhead haven of Calder Park is normally dominated by drag racing and hot rods. But if state government mapping is to be believed, then the race track’s infield is also the unlikely home for rare native plants. Over in Greensborough, the Yandell Reserve supports orchids known as Silurian striped greenhoods and is a breeding …
As eight ”nannas” face the clogged court system for knitting in a logging coupe, the price of protest in Victoria is set to escalate. Fourteen months ago, six grandmothers and two grandfathers entered a logging coupe at Mount St Leonard, placed their chairs in a neat row, and quietly sat down to knit. The group …
Victoria should overhaul its energy supply and change its approach to planned burns as part of efforts to stop worrying declines in the state’s environmental health. A major stocktake of Victoria’s environment prepared for the state government – the first of its kind in five years – has detailed significant worsening trends in critical areas. …
The mountain cattlemen are launching yet another attempt to get cattle back into the Alpine National Park. The decision by the previous Federal Government to ban alpine grazing was a victory for common sense and good science. There is more than 60 years of science that shows cattle damage alpine wetlands and peatbeds, and threaten …
Ecologist says Australia has a ‘dreadful’ track record in planning, monitoring and responding to threats to endangered species Australia is failing to protect its endangered species due a “dreadful” track record in planning, monitoring and responding to threats, a group of leading conservationists has warned. A paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and …
Animals are going extinct and millions of dollars in Australian endangered species funding are being squandered because of poor planning and monitoring, leading environmental scientists say. If data on the welfare of an endangered species is collected, it is rarely analysed or acted on, said David Lindenmayer, one of the authors of an article in …
The scale and impact, both economic and ecological, of recent bushfire disasters demands a rethink of fire management strategies. A controversial approach receiving more attention internationally is the use of large grazing animals to reduce fuel loads. But research we published this week shows cattle grazing does little to reduce Australia’s most destructive bushfires. There …
Environmental initiatives that target zero net deforestation may miss their mark when it comes to slowing climate change and protecting biodiversity, warns a commentary published in this week’s issue of the journal Science. While zero net deforestation may seem like a worthy target in efforts to curb forest loss, Sandra Brown and Daniel Zarin argue …
Australia’s largest exporter of eucalyptus woodchips has had its environmental certification stripped and been forced to make an embarrassing public apology over the harm it has caused to koalas. In July ABC’s 7.30 program
