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Articles on Conservation

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Trees need stability and protection to get big, and both of those are in short supply. William Laurance

The end of big trees?

When I was a small lad there was a stately old tree in our backyard. My little sister and I practically lived in it — it was our lair, our fortress, our stairway to the sky. Decades later, I sometimes…
What keeps crocodiles under control? Bigger crocodiles. Grahame Webb

Crocodile culls won’t solve crocodile attacks

There have been two fatal saltwater crocodile attacks on people in the Northern Territory (NT) in the last four weeks. Calls to “cull” the wild population of crocodiles have inevitably surfaced. More school…
Tasmanian devils have had low genetic diversity for hundreds of years. AAP/Devil Ark/Mandy Kennedy

Settlers weren’t responsible for Tasmanian devil gene decline

European settlers were not responsible for thinning the gene pool of the Tasmanian devil, new research has found. Tasmanian devils are currently under threat due to the spread of an aggressive facial tumour…
National parks’ role as a refuge from direct human intervention will only become more important in future. dracopylla/Flickr

Biodiversity crisis demands bolder thinking than bagging national parks

Tim Flannery’s recent Quarterly Essay, After the Future, questions whether Australian national parks will become “marsupial ghost towns” despite the tens of millions of dollars governments spend on them…
Without help, parks like Kakadu could become marsupial ghost towns. Territory Expeditions

The future for biodiversity conservation isn’t more national parks

Today we begin a series on Australia’s endangered species and how best to conserve them. The series will run each Thursday, and begins with this excerpt from Tim Flannery’s Quarterly Essay, After the Future…
Invertebrates can seem alien and “other”, but the world can’t get by without them. Thomas Shahan

Ignoring invertebrate conservation is simply spineless

Invertebrates are all around us – crawling, squirming and buzzing about their business. From forests canopies to ocean depths, they form about 80% of the known species on Earth. By virtue of their sheer…
Locals in Mamberamo, Papua, support conservation, but also want services and development projects; now they’re getting involved in land use planning. Mokhamad Edliadi (CIFOR)

Maps for the people: Papuans planning how their land is used

When people ask us about our research, we answer: we are working on land-use planning. We rarely receive another question. Most of the time, after seconds of embarrassed silence, people move swiftly to…
When shot and injured but not killed, ducks will be left to fend for themselves under new Victorian laws. oblivion9999/Flickr

The problem with Victoria’s ban on duck rescuers

Just before dawn on the third Saturday in March, the first shots will be fired, and the 2013 Victorian duck hunting session will commence. But 2013 will be unlike previous years. You are probably unaware…
Automated cameras and microphones will help better connect the public with life in the wild. Scott_Calleja

Ready for my closeup: camera traps bring home the wild

For 60 years Sir David Attenborough has brought the “extraordinary” of far off lands closer to home. In some aspects, Sir Dave has brought it so close that the only experiences you miss from not travelling…
The Kihansi Spray Toad has returned home. Tim Herman

‘Extinct’ toad first to be rehabilitated into the wild

A rare toad from Tanzania declared “extinct in the wild” three years ago has been restored to its original habitat. This is the first time an amphibian species has been returned home after being classified…
Saving the Tasmanian Devil is one of many pressing preservation goals. Mandy Kennedy/AAP

Money in the gene bank: save the ‘Frozen Zoo’ and save species

You may have heard of Australia’s “Frozen Zoo” – the only facility of its kind on the continent – and that it’s facing funding difficulties. Why should you care about this? Let me explain. An increasing…
Fisheries around the world are depleted, but they can be saved. Isaac Pearlman

It is still possible to make fisheries sustainable

Many fisheries around the world are in bad shape and getting worse. Solving this problem will require innovative monitoring and management tools, but we can provide tremendous benefits if we act now to…
Flying-foxes are taking refuge in populated areas, and people are deciding they don’t like them. James Reed

Culling flying-foxes is ineffective, so why suggest slaughter?

Animosity towards the grey-headed flying-fox has intensified as their contact with humans has increased. Last month, the Queensland government announced that it would issue an annual quota of 1280 permits…
Public attitudes are shifting against government shark culling programs. Athel D'Ombrain Collection, University of Newcastle

The great shark debate: to cull or not to cull?

The great shark debate continues in Australia as summer approaches. Shark bites on bathers and surfers are a particularly sensitive reality. These are personal and community-wide tragedies that implore…
An average of three million kangaroos are killed per year for pet meat, meat for human consumption and hides. DarthShrine/Flickr

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry: hopping to nowhere

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry is the world’s largest consumptive mammalian wildlife industry. Calculated on a ten-year period, an average of three million adult kangaroos are killed each year…
The proposed logging bill would tighten exportation from Indonesia in particular. CIFOR

Australia attempts to stump illegal loggers

The Australian Senate is about to take on the task of stopping illegal logging, with legislation banning the importation and sale of timber products containing illegally logged timber being considered…
Healthy animals, perhaps, but is it ethical to confine large wild mammals to a tank for the purposes of profit and education? Greg Lilly

Not all fun and games: the missing ethics of animals in tourism

Animals are a mainstay of global tourism development. They’re consumed in fishing and hunting, and used as part of “experiences” - horses in trail rides, marine mammals in theme parks, whale sharks for…
Exporting elephants from Laos to Japan could be the end of this Asian elephant population. ElefantAsia

Really Laos, you shouldn’t have: giving elephants to Japan is a bad idea

The 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan was undeniably a tragedy on many scales. Thousands killed, tainted agriculture, disappearing tourism and overall economic gloom. It’s little wonder the Japanese government…

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