Eastern-yellow robin. Some 60 per cent of the native birds of south-east mainland Australia have lost more than half of their natural habitat.
Graham Winterflood/Wikimedia Commons
Aside from their intrinsic value, common bird species might be one of the only ways we connect with nature in our everyday lives. But these opportunities are under threat.
Koalas are among the threatened native species worst affected by habitat loss.
Taronga Zoo
A staggering 7.7 million hectares of critical habitat has been destroyed since environment laws were enacted - and 93% was not referred to the federal government for assessment.
Doug Ford’s government is weakening environmental laws in Ontario — leaving wildlife and environments with no protections.
Shutterstock
Doug Ford’s government is undercutting the environment by giving business and development the upper hand.
Camera trap image of adult female chimpanzee with her offspring in fallow area in Moyamba district of Sierra Leone foraging on oranges.
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Studies show that West Africa’s critically endangered chimpanzees are finding ways of adapting to their rapidly changing habitat, but they still remain highly at risk.
Is the black-throated finch getting the legal protection it deserves?
AAP Image/Eric Vanderduys
Just one out of a possible 775 development approvals was refused on the basis that it would harm the southern black-throated finch, despite this endangered species being protected by federal law.
Woolly monkeys are hard to miss in Colombia’s jungles. Now, they face extinction.
Mónica Ramírez
Colombian researchers hope to revive an endangered species by rehabilitating monkeys confiscated from smugglers. The captive animals’ struggles show that survival is not guaranteed.
A kangaroo finds refuge in a small patch of vegetation surrounded by a new housing estate.
Georgia Garrard
Expanding cities and farmland have created many small, often isolated patches of vegetation. Long seen as having limited ecological value, a new study shows these are vital for endangered species.
The burrowing owl was once a common sight on the prairies. Now Saskatchewan and Alberta have fewer than 1,000 breeding pairs.
(Shutterstock)
Effective conservation of migratory songbirds requires an understanding of how populations are connected between seasons. The challenge is being able to track individuals throughout the entire year.
Eyes in the sky: drone footage is becoming a vital tool for monitoring ecosystems.
Deakin Marine Mapping Group
Ecology is in the midst of a technological revolution. From tiny sensors that can be fitted to animals, to swarms of remotely-piloted drones, researchers have a host of new ways to study the natural world.
Trumpeter swans wintering at the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming.
Tom Koerner, USFWS/Flickr
The Trump administration is narrowing protection for migratory birds to cover only deliberate harm such as hunting, but not threats like development or pollution that kill millions of birds yearly.
Sudden droughts are bad news for political stability worldwide.
Nic Bothma/EPA
A new international report makes for bleak reading on the state of the world’s soils. It predicts that land degradation will displace up to 700 million people worldwide by mid-century.
A giant swallowtail butterfly feeds from the flower of an alternate-leaved dogwood.
(Nina Zitani)
More than 50 million birds, mammals and reptiles are thought to be killed each year in New South Wales and Queensland by the removal of native vegetation, and planning laws are failing to protect them.
The land reform programme in Zimbabwe has come at the cost of wildlife and opens up the debate on people versus nature. But there is a way forward.
The birds commonly seen in urban backyards of Australia are increasingly introduced species like this house sparrow, sharing a birdbath with a native red-browed finch.
Wanda Optland
We all know how vital it is for our native bird species to thrive. But what if the only birds that visit your garden are introduced “pest” species? Many people feel these birds deserve some love too.
When species are pushed to the top of the mountain, where else is left to go?
Tero Mustonen
From luxuries like champagne to the very livelihoods of fishing communities in the developing world – the climate-driven shifts in species will affect us all.
The human footprint on Australia’s environment is evident in areas such as land use change.
Ryan Francis/State of the Environment 2016
The State of the Environment 2016 report shows that the main drivers of environmental change in Australia are land-use change, habitat destruction, invasive species and climate change.
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University