Scientists warn that the wrong fire patterns could see more losses of threatened species across the country. IN LATE JANUARY 2014, after wildfires tore through two conservation parks in South Australia, researchers scoured the charred terrain for signs of life. They hoped to glimpse a mouse-sized flicker of blue and gold or hear a high …
This recent scientific report (Jan 2014) shows how Australia’s land mammals have extinctions suffered an extraordinary rate of extinction. We have lost over 10% of the 273 endemic terrestrial species over the last 200 years compared to only one native land mammal from continental North America going extinct since European settlement. “A further 21% of …
Achieving biodiversity objectives can be a challenging aspect of fire management because different flora and fauna species may require varied fire regimes in order to maintain viable populations, and trade-offs may be needed to satisfy other objectives. This report describes major findings of a project investigating the relationships between aspects of fire regimes on selected …
West Australian researchers spent 10 years developing bait of poison mixed with kangaroo mince and chicken fat to appeal to notoriously fussy feline palates New baits targeting feral cats could aid the recovery of 53 threatened species covered under Western Australia’s largest conservation project, according to the state’s environment minister, Albert Jacob. The West Australian …
Scientists have found the number of animals moved to make way for building projects far outnumber science-led relocations to recover populations The relocation of animals to make way for land development rarely succeeds and could be driving some species towards extinction, according to a new study. An international team of scientists found that “mitigation …
Victoria’s frogs are facing a conservation crisis according to biologists, who warn that some of the state’s amphibians have “passed a tipping point”, while others have become extinct. Nick Clemann, program leader (threatened fauna) at the state government’s biodiversity research arm, the Arthur Rylah Institute, said the prospects for the Baw Baw frog, Victoria’s only …
Bill Gammage’s popular book ‘The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia’ contains many fundamental flaws and represents ‘blind advocacy’ for repeated burning’ because ‘Aboriginal people did it’. Like Keith Windshuttle’s ‘Fabrication of Aboriginal History’, Bill Gammage only pursued references – and interpretation of references – that supported his ‘hypothesis’. For Gammage that hypothesis …
VICTORIA’S environment minister will visit the high country as cattlemen continue lobbying the government over alpine grazing. The State Government last month shelved a three-year trial which looked at the role of cattle grazing in preventing fire risk at the Alpine National Park. Environment Minister Lisa Neville at the time said “science is clear” that …
State-owned timber company VicForests has agreed to extend its moratorium on logging in certain areas of East Gippsland. An environment group is suing the timber company and the Victorian Government, over the logging of old-growth forest that is home to endangered owls. After further legal wrangling, VicForests has agreed to halt any logging of the …
The Victorian Government stands accused of all but guaranteeing the extinction of threatened Mallee birds as a consequence of its bushfire prevention policy. The Mallee emu-wren, in particular, is just one fire away from being wiped from the planet. The claim is made in a new report from Birdlife Australia, being tabled this weekend at …
