Tracking nature’s return to old mine sites

A new approach to setting benchmarks for the return of wildlife will allow rehabilitation managers to assess the success of their restoration efforts on mine sites across Australia’s north.

New map offers insights into marine habitat

The world’s first comprehensive national-scale map of marine habitats is revolutionising the way Australian governments, industry and communities can access information about marine habitats and how they are used.

Zap! And the weeds are gone

A University of Melbourne researcher has invented a device that uses microwaves to control weeds, reducing the need for herbicides.

Bipartisan support for drought relief doesn’t make it right

Politicians love handing cheques to farmers as much as they love photographs with adoring children, but bipartisan support for drought relief does little to help rural employment, agricultural production or the environment.

Rethinking the plastic waste problem

Rather than just looking for a new country in which to dump our waste, we need to rethink the services plastics provide, and how we can create systems to maintain the value of these finite materials as they move through the economy.

Taking a leaf from nature’s book on how to save the planet

Sydney University researchers are developing a method of carbon capture that can convert and recycle carbon dioxide into raw materials, fuels and chemicals in much the same way as plants.

Tiger sharks disappear from Queensland waters

New Griffith University research has revealed a 71% decline in tiger shark numbers along Queensland’s coastline, highlighting the collapse in fish stocks caused by over-fishing.

A lost species comes to life – in a graveyard

A rare insect species, the Key’s Matchstick Grasshopper, was thought to be extinct in Victoria but has now been rediscovered, giving hope for conserving its future.

Wildlife needs wilderness

The global conservation community has been urged to adopt a specific target to protect the world’s remaining wilderness areas to prevent the large scale loss of endangered species.

Why are the rain forests burning?

Forests around the world – from the Amazon to South-East Asia and Australia – are on fire, largely due to the direct and indirect actions of man.

Farmers flouting land clearing laws threaten rare species

Farmers and developers have destroyed more than 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat in the 21st century, revealing critical failures in Australia’s federal and state environmental protection laws.

Phoenix from the ashes

Bushfires can devastate our precious forests, but their smoke also encourages the germination of long-buried seeds, a trick gardeners can use to coax seeds into life in their gardens.