Given our neo-Platonic visions of universal ecologies, when it comes to restoring waterways we're up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
Flickr/Annadriel
I’ve been away in the UK for a few years – and what do I find when I come back? In the Murray Darling we are still arguing over inputs (the amount of water to be returned to the river) instead of focusing…
Biodiversity and farming are uneasy bedfellows: a lonely tree in a canola field in Western Australia.
Flickr/augustusoz
Biodiversity and farming go head to head in two R&D projects that I have a hand in. The struggles to both feed the swelling ranks of humanity and save our continent’s natural splendour are so often…
Our thinly spread efforts to prop up the environment are failing and it is time for tough decisions about what we can realistically preserve.
Flickr/rexboggs5
Australian farmers take pride in their efficient and productive farming systems, competing in the global economy and without many of the large subsidies given to their counterparts in Europe and North…
Our teeming attack on the natural world threatens to turn the wilderness into a fetish item.
AAP/The Wilderness Society
Elephants in the room, part one
For all our schemes and mantras about making this or that part of our lives environmentally “sustainable”, humanity’s assault on the planet not only continues but expands…
A proposed United Nations panel could give biodiversity the same profile as climate change.
Dano/Flickr
It’s looking increasingly likely that this will be the year the United Nations introduces an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – a group similar to the IPCC, but…
Just because an idea seems ridiculous, doesn't mean it's not worth discussing.
moirabot/Flickr
Last week I published an opinion piece in Nature attempting to crystallise debate on a number of issues in Australian environmental management: bushfires, weeds, feral animals, management of Aboriginal…
Without monitoring and evaluation, the Biodiversity Fund will be another missed opportunity.
Omega Man/Flickr
Australia’s Biodiversity Fund was announced in July 2011 as part of the “Clean Energy Future” package. We welcome the expenditure of almost a billion dollars over the next six years on biodiversity conservation…
The pika is one species struggling to evolve fast enough to keep up with climate change.
http://www.itsnature.org/ground/pika/
We currently face a biodiversity and extinction crisis as human population pressures and climate change combine to push our natural environments to the limit.
Because our urban and agricultural activities…
How do we know whether replacing lost habitat with new habitat has worked?
OZ in OH
Biodiversity offsets are touted as a new tool for protecting our natural environment. While they have the potential to deliver real gains, understanding the possible consequences of these polices over…
Australia's eastern forests are on par with those of Brazil.
YAZMDG
If you live in eastern Australia there’s a good chance you’re one of nine million Australians who call the world’s newest biodiversity hotspot home.
In a recent publication, “Forests of East Australia…
Is this the place for an antimony mine? I guess that depends what an antimony mine is…
Karl Vernes
Hands up those who’ve heard of antimony. Now, keep them up if you can name its chemical symbol, list the world’s leading producers, or even name a single commercial product that contains the element…
Can we continue to grow while still protecting our natural heritage?
jayspost
When my children are my age they will be living in a country with an economy that’s three times larger, and a population that’s twice as large as today.
And, on current trends, my children will be living…
It's a bleak picture, but there's hope on the horizon.
Bill Laurance
What comes to mind when you think of Indonesia?
For biologists like myself, Australia’s northern neighbour provokes visions of ancient rainforests being razed by slash-and-burn farmers, and endangered…
Research done in South Africa can guide Australian conservation managers on where to focus effort.
Brian van Wilgen
It’s true: many species will go extinct due to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change.
We will have to make some hard decisions about where to invest conservation dollars for the best effect…
Primary forest is best for biodiversity, but we should also look at second-best.
cknara/Flickr
We live in an age of vanishing rainforests. Half of the world’s tropical forests have disappeared since World War II and roughly another 10 million hectares are being felled each year — the equivalent…
Cosy, sure, unless your house is on fire.
sediger/Flickr
The issue of firewood management has recently attracted renewed attention in Victoria, where the State Government has changed the regulations on collecting firewood from State Forests. Firewood is cheap…
In India, species decline when they have to share land with agriculture.
flickrPrince
So, we have to feed an extra 2.5 billion people by 2050. For those of us interested in the future of biodiversity on this planet, this poses an uncomfortable challenge. It is also the topic of a recent…
We can't run away from it: we need food, and we need biodiversity.
buiversonian
Our planet is on the precipice of a sixth mass extinction event.
But unlike the five previous mass extinctions, this one is man-made: a global biodiversity crisis in which species are disappearing three…
Coral reefs may cease to exist – where will their inhabitants go?
Nick Hobgood
Human-induced climatic changes are altering ecosystems worldwide.
Because of these ecosystem changes, the geographic range of species is shifting towards the poles or to higher elevations. The speed of…
Ocean acidification is most acute in the polar regions.
Enzofloyd/flickr
Ocean acidification is often referred to as the “evil twin” of climate change.
Greenhouse gasses are doing more than just warming the globe. Increasing C0₂ levels are also changing the chemical make-up…
The plan provides nearly $100 million for our unique biodoversity.
pierre pouliquin/flickr
How effective will the carbon tax package’s biodiversity measures be in conserving Australia’s ecosystems?
The carbon price package’s biodiversity measures are a pleasant surprise.
To the extent that…
The legal system says that no one lives in Australia's vegetation.
John Hadley
The destruction or modification of habitat is the leading cause of biodiversity loss in Australia and around the world. Letting animals have rights over their habitat could be the answer.
Despite 40 years…
The hairy-nosed wombat is just one of the species at Australia's "frozen zoo".
Fleshpiston/Flickr
Let’s be clear: the world’s animal resources are rapidly declining.
Globally, more than 5,000 wildlife species are threatened with extinction. Some 25% are mammals, and 11% birds. Of the reptile, amphibian…
