Australia’s IBAs provide the first nationwide conservation blueprint

A number of Australian birds – such as Endangered Mallee Emuwren – are endemic to low, fire-sensitive vegetation. Photo: Rob Drummond/BirdlifeBirds Australia (BirdLife in Australia) has published Australia’s Important Bird Areas, a major contribution to conservation planning in a country where the sheer scale of the landscape has held back the identification of sites of

World interest in Australian fishery impact test

The Torres Strait Tropical Rock Lobster Fishery is one of more than 30 Australian fishing sectors to be assessed for its environmental impact using the Ecological Risk Assessment method. Photo: CSIROAn Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide Aspects of the ‘ecological risk

Sharks worth more in the water than on a plate

Sharks are worth far more to the Australian economy alive than they are on a platter served up with chips or as a filling ingredient in soup, WWF-Australia has said. “Shark tourism is a growing phenomenon but unfortunately shark populations are not,” said WWF- Australia’s Reef to Rangelands Policy Manager Nick Heath. “Shark populations are

Blog Action Day: Forget the schemes, Just cut the carbon.

October 15 is the global Blog Action Day. The topic for 2009 was “Climate Change”There are times when it is really frustrating to be an Australian. We’re in a great position to be a world leader in renewable energy production. Our politicians think so too… but only after they change the definition of “renewables”. In

Intensive care procedure saves lives: Swine flu study

A research team has warned medical experts in the Northern Hemisphere not to underestimate the serious impact of the H1N1 (Swine flu) virus with a new report showing that many patients who were critically ill with the virus required prolonged life support treatment with heart-lung machines. The latest report, released today in the Journal of

Big coal companies endanger mining jobs

The Australian Government is doing more to preserve the jobs of coal miners than the companies that continue to make multi-billion dollar profits from coal, according to new analysis from WWF-Australia and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). The report, Power to Change: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) shows that the federal government

‘New landclearing laws won’t keep bulldozers at bay in Australia’

New tree clearing laws introduced in Queensland today will do little to stop greenhouse gas emissions or the continued destruction of endangered ecosystems and vulnerable landscapes, a coalition of the state’s leading conservation organisations said. WWF-Australia, the Queensland Conservation Council, Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland and The Wilderness Society have joined together to express their

Victoria calculates amount of carbon in its forests, parks

Sherbrooke forest, Victoria The South Australian state of Victoria has become the first in the world to effectively inventory the amount of carbon stored in its public forests, parks and reserves using a carbon accounting system proposed by the Australian government’s cap-and-trade system. “This new information will help Victorian landowners to enter the carbon market,

Australia’s largest clinical trial to test benefits of aspirin

Aspirin tablets Researchers at Monash University and the US-based Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research will lead an international clinical trial to test whether taking aspirin contributes to good health in the elderly. The trial, ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE), has been awarded USD50 million from the National Institute on Aging,

The naked truth about Australia

Satellite images near Culcairn in NSW showing the topography with vegetation (left) and without vegetation (right)Image: CSIROAustralia has been stripped bare of vegetation to expose the surface that lies beneath. Scientists from CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship have removed approximately 90 per cent of Australia’s vegetation cover from satellite images of the continent