Labor and the Greens launched environmental policies last week. We take a close look at what was promised, and if they’re enough to tackle Australia’s extinction crisis.
The UK wants gardeners to stop thinking of slugs and snails as pests and to embrace garden biodiversity. Is it worth considering in Australia?
The Congo Basin’s rainforests in central Africa are sometimes called Earth’s second lungs (after the Amazon) because of its ability to store carbon.
Guenterguni via Getty Images
Drained peatlands contribute five per cent of global carbon emissions. Paludiculture, or agriculture on wet peatlands, protects peatlands and allows farmers to maintain their livelihoods.
We compiled the first list of Antarctic species and where they were first found. This knowledge means we can now protect all of the icy continent’s species.
Parks and refuges are important for conservation, but without connections, they’re like islands. Linking them by protecting land in between makes it possible for wildlife to move over bigger areas.
Tourists cross a hanging bridge in the treetops of Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forest.
Matthew Williams-Ellis/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Tourism revenues account for almost 10% of Costa Rica’s gross domestic product. New research shows that charismatic wildlife is necessary but not sufficient to attract ecotourists.
The River Thames is one of the cleanest major world rivers.
Pxfuel
A scheme devised by the Morrison government to protect biodiversity and create new income for farmers may fail in its aims.
Bees feeding in monoculture fields of single crops such as sunflowers crowd together and pass parasites to one another at high rates.
Lauren Ponisio/University of Oregon
Huge single-crop fields attract bees in such numbers that they spread parasites to one another. Planting diverse mixes of flowers around fields helps spread out pollinators and keep them healthy.
An underwater forest formed by the purple gorgonian (Paramuricea clavata) off Marseille at a depth of 60 metres.
Romain Bricoult / CC BY-NC-ND
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University