The idea behind biodiversity offsets is to develop a new way of preserving nature that more accurately accounts for the value to us of the natural world. The abundance and diversity of plants and animals…
Yasuni National Park in Ecuador is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It’s home to country’s largest oil field.
Flickr/joshbousel
Greenhouse gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels have resulted in well-publicised changes to the Earth’s climate. But the impacts of fossil fuels start long before their carbon dioxide reaches…
New Zealand’s ancient tuatara might need a helping hand to cope with climate change.
Flickr/Sheep"R"Us
Climate change is one of the greatest threats the world’s animals and plants are facing. In fact the world is facing an extinction crisis, which should concern all of us. The major problem with climate…
The path to climate change resilience is better land management.
Flickr/jennifrog
Australia could lead the world in combating climate change. Wouldn’t you like to believe this was true? Actually though, Australia has a world-beating model to deal with climate change. But I’m not talking…
This rare white lemuroid possum is just one of the species that will see dramatic effects of climate change.
Mike Trennery
Australia is already feeling the effects of climate change, with record-breaking temperatures not just over summer, but over the past 12 months as well. Research suggests that such events are many times…
“We all look the same, we need some diversity around here.”
Rick Stuart-Smith/Reef Life Survey
I first heard used the term “biodiversity” as a graduate student some years ago. While it appeared to be something everyone agreed was important, nobody could tell me exactly what it meant. It seemed to…
Will new Victorian land clearing rules clear up confusion, or just create more?
www.shutterstock.com/123250027
The Victorian government is overhauling its rules on native vegetation clearing, the first major change in this area for more than a decade. Vegetation management policy rarely makes it into the news…
Species hold ecosystems in a delicate balance. From time to time humans introduce non-native species to an ecosystem, because they may be needed for domestic work, as pets, for carrying loads or even for…
Diversity is the key.
Agricultural Research Service
The scene was typical for an international gathering of governments: bureaucrats, sat behind nameplates and speaking through interpreters. But the less than typical result of the votes cast at this 1992…
We’re consuming too much of the earth.
Flickr/marymactavish
What would happen to the world if, with the snap of our fingers, we shifted all our energy supplies to renewable sources overnight? You might be surprised at the answer: not much, at least for biodiversity…
Our threatened species, like this young Leadbeater’s Possum, need some attention.
Flickr/Greens MPs
The Coalition will instate a Commissioner for Threatened Species should it form government, according to shadow environment minister Greg Hunt. The minister says that, while management plans for threatened…
Climate change means some mountain species are just clinging on, but can they adapt?
Australian Alps/Flickr
Craig Moritz, Australian National University e Rosa Agudo, Australian National University
In work we published in Science today we look at two conflicting ideas on whether species can adapt to climate change. Are our ideas about extinction too catastrophic, or do we actually need to do more…
According to new research, Australian biodiversity is drastically underfunded.
Flickr/edwin.11
When it comes to biodiversity spending, Australia is one of the bottom 40 countries in the world. It’s not the only rich country to feature low on the list (Finland, for example, also did pretty badly…
Japanese PM Shinzō Abe has a problem, and he might end up killing an awful lot of frogs to solve it. Shares are up in Japan, but everything else has flatlined: kick-starting the stubbornly moribund economy…
What’s out there? We know next to nothing about the amazing chemistry and compounds produced in the deep sea.
Tim Donnelly
The seafloor is our planet’s most biodiverse realm. It is in the sea that life on earth began over 3.5 billion years ago. It is in the sea where 34 of the 36 known phyla of animals remain to this day…
Australia is already clearing land at world-leading rates.
Ray Christie/Indigo Skies Photography
Last week the Queensland parliament passed laws relaxing land clearing and opening up national parks to cattle grazing. Victoria has proposed similar clearing changes. It’s no surprise more clearing is…
We have to get smarter about the way we manage Australia’s national parks.
Nic Prins
It’s make or break time for Australia’s national parks. National parks on land and in the ocean are dying a death of a thousand cuts, in the form of bullets, hooks, hotels, logging concessions and grazing…
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University