Kākāpō are prone to disease and infertility. Only intensive species management has saved the flightless parrots from extinction. Genome data now reveals the genetic reasons behind these problems.
The UN ‘30 by 30’ biodiversity strategy aims to set aside 30% of land as protected areas. New research shows these areas do support biodiversity, but big parks also increase it outside their borders.
Open ocean sharks are globally threatened with extinction. Knowing where they are helps us protect them. Here, new research into silky sharks reveals priorities for conservation.
The Darwin woodland is home to endangered species and important for the Larrakia people. The development approval requires habitat offsets – yet the minister herself has publicly doubted offsets work.
Offsets are meant to restore land elsewhere to make up for lost habitat. Developers can make payments to the state to cover the costs of this work, but a new study finds there’s usually a shortfall.
Paolo Omar Cerutti, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) et Silvia Ferrari, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)
Timber parks, where the paperwork for loads of timber is inspected, can help stem the financial losses from illegal exports.
The successful quest to find a species last seen more than 50 years ago has added to the urgency of protecting the vanishing grassland habitat of a lizard that had been feared extinct.
Woylies bred in wildlife havens were smaller and less flighty than their counterparts in the wild. This could jeopardise the success of repopulation programs.
It can be hard and costly to collect data on the threats to species at specific locations. Wildlife emergency response services have long-running records for hundreds of species that suffered harm.
Funding decisions under the federal program were largely driven by simplistic considerations, such as the cost of each tree, rather than benefits to threatened species.
The 10-week pilot program Totemic Species in Schools shows how Indigenous science can be woven into the existing curriculum. Students, teachers and parents provided positive feedback.