Environment News: June 2025 - Issue 643

Week Four June 2025 (June 16 - 22)

Eco Schools Grants for 2025

The Council has awarded the 2025 Eco Schools Grants for 3 local school initiatives to help enhance environmental sustainability and education within the community.

The Eco Schools Grants program, which has been running since 2018/19, provides funding to local schools to support projects that address key environmental priorities such as bush regeneration, carbon reduction, waste reduction, sustainability education, and water reuse and reduction. 

Mayor Sue Heins said, "Our Council is dedicated to supporting local schools in their sustainability efforts through the Eco Schools Grants program. These grants not only provide financial assistance but also inspire schools to develop creative and impactful projects that benefit the environment and the community.

"By supporting these innovative projects, we are empowering our local schools to take meaningful action towards a greener future.

"I am proud of the efforts of our schools and look forward to seeing the positive impact these projects will have on our community," Mayor Heins said.

Eco Schools Grants Award recipients
Barrenjoey High School
The Barrenjoey Inclusive Learning Unit (BILU) has been awarded $2,000 to create an accessible eco garden to raise awareness of sustainability issues, improve student connectedness with outdoor spaces, and enhance student self-regulation and wellbeing. The project includes bush regeneration, habitat creation, building wicking bed gardens, introducing a worm farm, and providing professional development for staff on sustainability initiatives.

Kinma Primary School
Kinma Primary School has been awarded $1,950 to establish a vibrant community garden to serve as a hub for healthy food and sustainability education. The garden will provide hands-on learning experiences, teaching students about growing food, food security, life cycles, and the role of living creatures in the garden. The project will also strengthen connections with the community and local organisations.

Kambora Public School
Kambora Public School has been awarded $2,000 to create an Eco-Sensory Garden designed to stimulate the senses and promote hands-on environmental education. The garden will feature a variety of plant species, water features, and bug sanctuaries. It will also serve as an outdoor classroom for learning about plant biology, sustainability, and the importance of pollinators.

 

Engineers make a big splash, turning water treatment sludge into sustainable concrete

June 2025
Australian researchers are tackling a $70 billion problem facing our nation’s infrastructure by developing an eco-friendly alternative solution to traditional cement sewer pipes that are prone to cracking and corroding.

By combining sludge – a by-product of the drinking water purification process – and blast-furnace slag, University of South Australia (UniSA) engineers have demonstrated that a new, corrosive-resistant material is more than 50% stronger than cement and resistant to acid-induced degradation.

Concrete is widely used for making sewage pipes due to its availability, affordability and structural strength, but it is highly susceptible to acid and microbial corrosion in sewers, requiring ongoing repairs and maintenance that cost Australian taxpayers close to $70 billion each year.

The scale of sewage networks is immense; for instance, South Australia alone maintains over 9300 km of sewage piping and globally, the combined length of these networks is estimated to circle the equator multiple times.

A new study published in the Journal of Building Engineering evaluates the effectiveness of the alkali-activated materials (AAMs) and demonstrates why they could revolutionise sewage infrastructure worldwide.

Samples containing 20% to 40% of alum-based water treatment sludge (AWTS) retained over 50% higher compressive strength compared to 100% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), which is used in the production of cement.

The new material also limited the penetration of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria and slowed acid-reduced degradation.

UniSA civil engineering PhD candidate Weiwei Duan, whose research is based on this project, says there is another major benefit: finding a cost-effective and environmental use for water treatment residue.

“Sludge is usually disposed of in landfill sites, which not only reduces available land for other uses, but also harms the environment, creating CO₂ emissions from transporting the waste,” Weiwei says.

Principal supervisor and lead researcher on the project, Professor Yan Zhuge, says the findings suggest that partially replacing the blast furnace slag with 20-40% of water treatment sludge makes them “promising candidates” for use in sewers.

“This has the potential to extend the service life of sewage pipes, reduce maintenance costs, and promote the reuse of water treatment by-products, thus contributing to the circular economy.

“The construction industry is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, so if we can cut down on the need for cement, we will be helping to lower carbon emissions,” Prof Zhuge says.

In May, Weiwei Duan took out the 2025 Australian Water Association’s Student Water Prize for his research – the first UniSA student to receive this national honour in 60 years.

Evaluating microbiologically influenced corrosion in alkali-activated materials incorporating alum sludge” is authored by UniSA researcher Professor Yan Zhuge, Weiwei Duan, Dr Yue Liu, Professor Christopher Chow and Alexandra Keegan from the SA Water Corporation. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2025.112682 photo: Cracked and corroded sewer pipes cost Australian taxpayers almost $70 billion annually.

University of Sydney Sustainability researcher wins $1.5m award for work tackling the climate crisis

June 18, 2025
The Frontiers Planet Prize, a global initiative of the Frontiers Research Foundation in Switzerland, has announced Associate Professor Arunima Malik as one of its three 2025 International Champions, awarding her US$1 million (A$1.54 million) to advance her and her research team’s pioneering work in sustainability science.

By providing innovative, scalable solutions to help keep humanity within planetary sustainability boundaries, Associate Professor Malik received the award for, ‘Polarising and equalising trends in international trade and Sustainable Development Goals’, published in Nature Sustainability.

That paper represents years of work by Associate Professor Malik and colleagues at the University of Sydney Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis. The centre, established by Professor Manfred Lenzen, has pioneered big-data modelling techniques to quantify sustainability impacts. The work has been used to measure pathways of modern slavery, inequality in international trade and carbon footprints in multiple industries, including tourism.

Associate Professor Malik holds a joint position with the Faculty of Science and the Business School. She said: “We live in an increasingly interconnected world driven by complex supply chain networks, where consumer demand in one region influences production in another.

“These interconnections present opportunities to improve standards of living, skill development and employment generation, but also generate adverse impacts in the form of resource depletion, pollution, habitat loss and inequality.

“International trade can amplify these effects by placing pressure on vulnerable nations, leading to spillover effects that hinder countries’ ability to progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.

The President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Professor Mark Scott, said he was delighted by the award, believed to be the largest individual monetary prize received by an academic at the University. 

“At the University of Sydney we’ve been aware of the excellent work that Associate Professor Malik and her colleagues have been undertaking. It’s wonderful that a prestigious panel of international peers has now given it due recognition,” he said.

“The work the University is doing on sustainability around our collective benchmarks set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is something we are proud of. Associate Professor Malik is a true global leader in this field and her prize is richly deserved.”

“The work the University is doing on sustainability around our collective benchmarks set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is something we are proud of. ” Professor Mark Scott said

Associate Professor Malik work focuses on understanding how consumption in one country affects the environment and society of its trading partners, with the goal of informing national and trade policies to mitigate negative impacts and address climate-related issues.

Associate Professor Malik was selected by the Australian Academy of Science as one of Australia’s top-three entries this year and was in April named as the Australian Champion by the Frontiers Planet Prize. The prize money needs to be spent on research and will serve as a grant for advancing sustainability research and translation.

She said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to receive this recognition and support from the Frontiers Planet Prize. Overall, the prize provides inspiration that drives sustainable solutions for planetary health. This is vital as we search for innovation and action in the face of global environmental challenges.

“The US$1 million award will significantly accelerate our ability to expand our research and further highlight the positive and negative impacts of global trade around the world.

“With these resources, we can advance research with policy-relevant insights, and develop tools to inform sustainable solutions, especially in contexts where climate vulnerability and economic inequality intersect.

“The award is a testament to the successful interdisciplinary collaboration across multiple institutions and reflects the commitment of all authors in realising this important research.

“I take this opportunity to thank the research team, Professor Manfred Lenzen, Dr Mengyu Li, Camille Mora, Dr Sarah Carter, Dr Stefan Giljum, Dr Stephan Lutter and Professor Jorge Gomez-Paredes for their valuable contributions.”

Associate Professor Arunima Malik said the award will significantly accelerate her team's ability to expand our research and further highlight the positive and negative impacts of global trade around the world. 

This year’s three International Champions were revealed at the Frontiers Planet Prize Award Ceremony, hosted by the Villars Institute as part of the 2025 Villars Symposium in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. The three International Champions were selected from a group of 19 National Champions chosen by an independent Jury of 100, a group of renowned sustainability and planetary health experts chaired by Professor Johan Rockström.

The two other International Champions were Professor Zahra Kalantari from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and Dr Zia Mehrabi from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA.

About the Frontiers Planet Prize
The Frontiers Planet Prize is a global competition for scientists and research institutions to propose solutions to help the planet remain within the safe operating space of any one or more of the nine planetary boundaries. It was created by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022 to mobilise the global scientific community, make it complete at the highest level of excellence, and contribute to the acceleration of concrete solutions to the challenges defined by the planetary boundaries. To date, it has drawn together hundreds of scientists, 23 national academies of science, and more than 600 leading universities and research institutions to compete for three prizes of US$1m each adjudicated by a Jury of 100 leading sustainability scientists.

Photo: Associate Professor Arunima Malik (centre) in Switzerland receives the Frontiers Planet Prize from Professor Jean-Claude Burgelman, Director, Frontiers Planet Prize (left); and Professor Dr Johan Rockström, Chair of the Jury 100, Frontiers Planet Prize, and Director, Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research. Photo by Oliver O'Hanlon.

Saving species starts at home: how you can help Australia’s 1,000 threatened invertebrates

Atlas Moth (Attacus wardiGarry Sankowsky/flickrCC BY
Kate UmbersWestern Sydney UniversityKenny WolfeUniversity of SydneyMegan HeadAustralian National UniversityShawan ChowdhuryMonash University, and Tanya LattyUniversity of Sydney

When we think about animals, we tend to think of furry four-legged mammals. But 95% of all animal species are invertebrates – bees, butterflies, beetles, snails, worms, octopuses, starfish, corals, spiders and many many more. These creatures make us happy, pollinate flowers, keep soils healthy, clean water, build reefs, maintain oceans and bring colour and wonder to our homes, cities, farms and wild places.

Sadly, almost 1,000 Australian invertebrates are threatened with extinction and need protecting. These species are on one or more official lists, including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Species IUCN Red List, Australia’s national list of threatened fauna, and state and territory lists. Many more unnamed and unassessed species are likely in trouble.

When a mammal or bird goes extinct in Australia, it’s big news. But invertebrates have gone extinct much more frequently – and with much less attention. Since colonisation, an estimated 9,000 invertebrates have gone extinct – and one or two more go extinct every week.

Invertebrates face five big challenges: climate change, habitat destruction, natural resource extraction, pollution and invasive species. For the most part, efforts to conserve them are in their infancy in Australia, likely due to the historic undervaluing of smaller animals and little critters. There are shining exceptions such as the incredible conservation success of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, but such examples are vanishingly rare.

The good news? Because invertebrates live everywhere, the opportunity to help is often literally on our doorsteps. Simple actions can help, such as planting native species, leaving logs in the garden and avoiding insecticides.

Meet some of the threatened one thousand

Threatened invertebrates live in every Australian state and territory and in our major cities. Of the almost 1,000 threatened species, 27% are snails and slugs, 25% are insects, 19% are corals, 17% are crayfish and 5% are spiders. Here are some you may come across.

Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa). These moths once filled the night skies in their billions. Now they’re listed as endangered because the cool alpine caves they rely on to escape summer heat are warming with climate change. These migratory moths fly across southern Australia, navigating to their mountain refuges each summer using the stars and earth’s magnetic field. Help map their migration to protect them.

Bogong moths migrate to cool caves in the Australian Alps in summer. Kate UmbersCC BY

Atlas moth (Attacus wardi). This giant tropical moth with a 22 cm wingspan is now considered vulnerable due to habitat destruction and introduced weeds. If you live near Darwin, planting the native Atlas Croton tree will help feed its very hungry caterpillars.

Mangrove ant-blue butterfly (Acrodipsas illidgei). These endangered butterflies lay eggs on grey mangrove trees home to acrobat ants (Crematogaster species), which carry the eggs into its nests. When the caterpillars hatch, they eat ant larvae while in turn nourishing the ant colony with sugary secretions. Mangrove destruction, pesticide runoff and threats to their ant partners pose real threats. Protecting mangroves in southeast Queensland and reporting sightings of butterflies and ants on iNaturalist will help.

butterfly on mangrove.
Illidge’s ant-blue butterfly lives only in mangroves in south-east Queensland. Braden McDonald/iNaturalistCC BY-NC-ND

Sydney Hawk dragonfly (Austrocordulia leonardi). This strikingly coloured endangered dragonfly is largely found in Sydney. Changes to local waterways and the deep pools its aquatic larvae need threaten the species. Restoring local waterways will help.

Dural land snails (Pommerhelix duralensis). These endangered snails are found only in north-western Sydney and the lower Blue Mountains. They cruise through leaves and rocks munching on fungi and helping add compost to forest soils. You might catch a glimpse during light rain. Help them by leaving large patches of undisturbed native undergrowth – habitat loss poses the biggest threat.

dural land snail, rare snail on wood.
Dural land snails are found only in northwestern Sydney and the lower Blue Mountains. Liz Noble/iNaturalistCC BY-NC-ND

Hairy bee (Leioproctus douglasiellus). This critically endangered burrowing bee lives only in and around Perth. Its numbers have fallen due to habitat loss and pesticides. Leaving patches of open soil in your garden and planting shallow flowers can help these short-tongued bees get nectar.

Giant Gippsland earthworm (Megascolides australis). This iconic earthworm can grow up to 1.5 metres long. It only lives in a patch of southern Gippsland in Victoria and is endangered in part due to farming practices such as ploughing. These gentle giants famously gurgle as they move through their tunnels keeping soil healthy. Local landholders can help by leaving patches of land along stream banks as worm conservation habitat.

Tasmanian live-bearing sea stars (Parvulastra vivipara). Most sea stars lay eggs. Not this species, which gives birth to live young. They’re endangered because they live in intertidal waters of south-eastern Tasmania affected by shoreline development and invasive species. Look carefully and you might see one as it grazes on algae-covered rocks. Join local events to tackle invasive species and log any sightings on iNaturalist.

small orange seastars
The Tasmanian live-bearing sea star gives birth to live young. John Eichler/iNaturalistCC BY-NC-ND

A brighter future for bugs

Invertebrates bring us delight and wonder. Here’s how we can help those in trouble.

Plant flowers. Providing food for pollinators and other wonderful flower-visiting insects can help year-round.

Keep part of your garden a bit wild. If you leave logs, leaves and open soil in your garden, you make space for shiny beetles, singing crickets, native bees and other ground-dwellers.

The creek is beautiful. Help restore waterways, make a pond, learn about local water bugs and support local wetlands.

Be clever with pest control. Avoid snail baits and cancel regular broad-spectrum sprays, as these can harm many non-target species. Use critter-friendly alternatives to protect the whole food chain.

Let the stars shine. Switch off lights at night if safe or close your curtains to help nocturnal creatures such as moths and orb-weaving spiders.

Log your sightings. Conservation scientists need as much data as possible on invertebrates to understand how they are doing out there. Upload your bug photos to iNaturalist.The Conversation

Kate Umbers, Associate Professor in Zoology, Western Sydney UniversityKenny Wolfe, Research Fellow in Marine Biology, University of SydneyMegan Head, Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology, Australian National UniversityShawan Chowdhury, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Conservation Biology, Monash University, and Tanya Latty, Associate Professor in Entomology, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Chemical CleanOut: June 28-29 at Mona Vale Beach

Runs: 9am to 3.30pm

You can take household quantities of the following household chemicals and items – up to a maximum of 20 litres or 20 kilograms of a single item.

  • Solvents and household cleaners
  • Floor care products
  • Ammonia-based cleaners
  • Pesticides and herbicides
  • Poisons
  • Pool chemicals
  • Hobby chemicals
  • Motor fuels
  • Fluorescent globes and tubes
  • Acids and alkalis
  • Smoke detectors
  • Paint and paint-related products
  • Gas bottles
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Car and household batteries
  • Motor oils and cooking oils

This is a NSW Government program

Surfrider Foundation: June 2025 Surf Swap

🌊Sun 22 June - Surfrider 3rd Annual Surf swap & Repair Market
Venue: Surfrider Gardens, 50 Oceans St, Narrabeen
Time: 11 - 3pm 
Ride the Use Wave - Sell, Swap, Repair or repurpose your preloved Surf gear.
Meet shapers and makers of sustainable surfboards, local innovators of upcycling waste into surf accessories
Upcycle your ‘end of life’ wetsuit with Ripcurl, attend minor board repair workshops
Chill to smooth beats in the winter sun and enjoy killer coffee from the local cafes
This event is held with the support of the Northern Beaches Council.
Free to attend and a waste free event!
Event Registration here - Day traders and Stallholders

Whale Census Day 2025: June 29

Have your say on council's climate change policy

The Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula is particularly vulnerable to impacts associated with climate change which are likely to increase in future years according to the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan.

The council states it has delivered numerous initiatives to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of, climate change and has now drafted a new Climate Change Policy that will guide how it manages climate change risks and continues to reduce emissions. The council is now seeking feedback from the community on its draft Policy.

The risks include increasingly severe and complex impacts associated with coastal hazards and flooding, and more frequent extreme weather, bush fires, high winds, heatwaves and drought. 

Mayor Sue Heins said the council is committed to doing its part to reduce emissions, but importantly also focusing on building community resilience to these impacts.

“Such impacts can go beyond these physical hazards, creating challenges and driving changes across the community, natural environment and economy,” Mayor Heins said. 

“Recent bush fire, storm and flooding events have directly impacted the local community, through property damage and increased clean-up, repair and insurance costs, as well as causing stress, fatigue and uncertainty.    

“We want to ensure that we’re not just reducing emissions, but importantly we’re adapting to projected climate change and building community resilience.

“This requires preparedness for both council and the community and we welcome feedback from our community on the draft policy” Mayor Heins said.

Palm Beach stormwater drain opposite Wilshire Park creek, July 6, 2024, filled with plastic bag encased sandbags

Snapperman Beach seawall in March 2022 with plastic filled sandbags now deep into the beach itself - was damaged in storm of March 2021 - was finally repaired in February through March 2023

The council's Climate Change draft Policy has the following 13 Principles:

1. Ensure that Council’s Integrated Planning and Reporting framework incorporates suitable measures to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of climate change across its assets, functions, services and reporting.

2. Adopt a proactive and adaptive approach to managing the impact of climate change, informed by the best available science and guidance, and adjusted regularly for changes in data, technology, and policy.

3. Maintain up to date greenhouse gas emission  reduction targets for Council and the community that are monitored, reviewed, and publicly reported against.

4. Ensure consistency with state, national, and international legislation, guidelines, benchmarks and targets, as appropriate. 

5. Prioritise the management of risk to people, property, and the environment from the impacts of climate change in accordance with Council’s obligations and its Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

6. Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from Council activities as far as possible. Council may offset the remaining emissions to meet its adopted targets.

7. Incorporate the range of climate projections aligned to emission scenarios SSP2 and SSP3 when managing Council assets and services and when developing studies, management plans and in land use planning. When making decisions, use SSP2 for short-term scenarios and SSP3 for longer-term scenarios.

8. Work with the community and key stakeholders to reduce emissions, address climate risks and enhance resilience across the Northern Beaches.

9. Ensure Council decisions consider the impacts of climate change for current and future generations.

10. Identify and manage climate change impacts and obligations through Council’s systems and frameworks. This includes project management, enterprise risk management, procurement, business and financial planning, as well as strategic and land use planning  frameworks.

11. Reduce current and future risks to the community and the environment by locating new development out of high-risk hazard areas (particularly those expected to be at greater risk from climate change), and/or incorporating appropriate measures to reduce the risk to an appropriate level in accordance with relevant guidelines and statutory controls (including utilising appropriate land zoning).

12. Consider the options of protection, accommodation, avoidance, nature-based adaptations and relocation where climate change poses a significant risk to existing development and land uses.

13. Advocate for, and where possible implement, better building and construction standards, delivery of multi-agency projects, waste minimisation and management, zero emissions transport, sustainable finance and equitable community support to reduce the causes, risks and impacts of climate change.

Policy's Scope and application

This Policy applies to officials of the Northern Beaches Council and will be implemented across Council’s assets, functions and services.

Policy's Definitions for Adaptation responses

• Nature-based: Nature based solutions such as protecting and augmenting dunes, revegetating foreshore buffers or undertaking rehabilitation of natural coastal habitats such as mangrove, saltmarsh and salt-tolerant transitional vegetation.

• Accommodation: Design new structure and/or altering existing structure to reduce vulnerability to impacts. Example: raising the floor height of a flood-prone building.

• Avoidance: Minimising intensification of existing exposure and preventing new development in areas subject to current or future risks. Example: prohibiting new development in areas subject to bush fire risk.

• Protection: Implementing temporary or permanent works that provide a barrier between a structure and a hazard. Example: hard protection such as seawalls or levees or soft protection (often referred to as ecosystem-based adaptations) such as dunes, sand nourishment or planting of bush fire resistant vegetation. 

• Relocation:  Removal or relocation of existing exposed structure or asset out of an at-risk area.

Policy Document's definitions

Carbon offset A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. A carbon offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission  reduction of one metric tonne of CO2-e. The purchaser of an offset credit can ‘retire’ it to claim the reduction towards their own emission reduction goals.

Climate change Change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Throughout this policy, the term refers to changes to the climate  attributable to human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions or land use changes.

Climate risk Refers to potential negative or positive impacts of natural hazards and climate under the influence of rising global  greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions Greenhouse gases released from human activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.

Hazard A potential natural or human-induced physical event, trend or disturbance with negative consequences.

NARCliM The NSW Government provides high-quality regional climate  projections and information for public use through the NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project. Resilience The capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, and  systems to survive, adapt and thrive in response to chronic stresses and acute shocks.

SSPs Shared Socioeconomic Pathways are a range of scenarios for climate change that consider different levels of greenhouse gas emissions, population, economics, social factors, and other key concepts. They help assess potential climate futures and their impacts.

SSP2 and SSP3 

The SSP2 scenario assumes that global trends continue without major shifts. Some countries make good progress, while others struggle. Environmental degradation continues, but resource and energy use become more efficient.

SSP3 scenario assumes countries prioritise security and economic independence, leading to slow technological progress and high challenges for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Targets Includes Council’s targets, aspirations, commitments, benchmarks, and actions as outlined in all Council policies, strategies, and action plans.

The draft Climate Change Policy has been prepared to update and replace the current policies and guide the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation action across the council’s assets, functions and services. 

The policy is on exhibition from Friday 23 May to 22 June. For more information and to have your say visit the council's Climate Change Policy - draft; consolidating existing former council policies webpage


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.

Council's Draft Land Dealings Policy: Have your Say

  • Submissions opened: Fri 23 May 2025
  • Submissions close: Mon 23 Jun 2025

The council has made available its Draft Land Dealings Policy.

The council states its ''draft Policy is an integral part of the council's adopted Property Management Framework (PMF), ensuring that Land Dealings are conducted transparently, accountably, and in the best interests of the community.

If adopted, the draft Policy will replace 5 policies of the 3 former Councils (available in the Attachments Booklet for the May 20 2025 Council Meeting).

Under the Policy ''Land assets will be subject to ongoing review in relation to their purpose, usability, viability, and overall community benefit, in accordance with this Policy and the Property Management Framework.''

The 'Draft Council Policy NB-P-42 Land Dealings' is a 2 1/2-page policy which also refers to a 'Land Dealings Guidelines' - however, that document, or guidelines, have not been made available, so it would b difficult to provide informed feedback based on being able to scrutinise the document/s or guideline/s named in the policy. 

The policy further states:

'Proposals for Land Dealings, where required, will be reported to the relevant Council Committees and the elected Council for consideration in accordance with Council’s adopted Property Management Framework.

Confidential reporting may be necessary under certain circumstances where there may be legal, commercial or privacy/safety issues should the information be made publicly available.'

In closing the document states:

This Council policy relates to the Community Strategic Plan Outcome of:

• Good governance - Goal 19 Our Council is transparent and trusted to make decisions that reflect the values of the community.

The feedback webpage, Draft Land Dealings Policy, provides a 1 question survey you can take or provide written feedback via the email/postal method.

Council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing: Have Your Say

The council is inserting the phrase from Chapter 6 of the State Government's - 'Chapter 6, Part 2 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (the Housing SEPP); ''Where there is any inconsistency between the controls in this DCP and the Housing SEPP, the Housing SEPP prevails.''

Stage 1 started on 1 July 2024, permitting dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings in all R2 low density residential zones.

Stage 2 started on 28 February 2025, allowing townhouses, terraces and small apartment buildings (up to 9.5 metres high) in R1 and R2 zones within 800 metres of nine identified town centres on the peninsula. It also permits apartment buildings up to 6 storeys (22-24 metres) in R3 medium density residential zones within 400 metres of these centres, and up to 4 storeys (17.5 metres) within 400-800 metres.

The 9 identified town centres on the peninsula are:

  • Balgowlah
  • Brookvale
  • Dee Why
  • Forestville
  • Forest Way
  • Frenchs Forest
  • Manly
  • Manly Vale
  • Mona Vale

See last week's report: Pittwater MP slams the Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy for turning on the tap for developers

The council states it is also making proposed changes to existing development control plans (DCPs) to protect the local character, amenity, heritage and streetscapes and safeguard the valued tree canopy.  

The proposed changes are a response to the NSW Government’s change to planning laws, known as the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Reforms, which have recently allowed greater building heights and density surrounding town centres and train stations and the introduction of dual occupancy development in all R2 zoned land in the LGA.

Currently, separate DCPs for the former Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Councils provide detailed guidance for development including building setbacks, trees and landscaping areas, heritage protection and car parking requirements. 

The council states they do not include controls that adequately address development types now permitted under the new reforms.

The council states their proposed DCP amendments aim to promote best practice and create greater consistency, so that the same rules apply to these developments as to other similar developments in the NBC LGA area.

The council states the Northern Beaches Council is one of the first councils to consider DCP amendments in response to the State Government reforms.

Mayor Sue Heins said the council’s power had been reduced in relation to applications submitted under the new State Government rules. 

“The new one-size-fits-all approach to planning has implications for our area, increasing heights and density up to 6-storeys in and around 9 town centres, without corresponding development controls that protect the character we value,” Mayor Heins said.  

“While council has been stripped of the power to refuse applications that comply with the new rules, we can amend our Development Control Plans to ensure any new townhouse, apartment or terrace style development is at least subject to the same controls as others like them outside the new town centre zones. 

“Controls like how much space is allocated to landscaping and trees, the streetscape appearance, parking requirements, electric vehicle charging, ventilation and natural sunlight and consideration of privacy, separation and views. 

“We are also moving to protect our local heritage, especially in the Manly Conservation Area, strengthening protection and consideration of the unique historic character of the area in the development controls. 

“All the changes being proposed to the DCPs can have a real impact on the lifestyle of those living in the town centres and to the look and feel of our much-loved neighbourhoods. I encourage the community to have their say.”

The proposed changes to the DCPs will be on exhibition from Friday 23 May to Sunday 22 June. 

For more information and to provide feedback visit council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing webpage

Land Management Code amendments: have your say

The NSW Government invites submissions on proposed amendments to the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018.
Closes July 6 2025

A statutory review of the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act 2013 was completed in 2023. 

In 2024, the NSW Government released the NSW plan for nature. its response to the statutory reviews of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act 2013.    

The NSW Plan for Nature commits to implementing all 13 recommendations from the Local Land Services Act statutory review, with two variations.  

It also committed to adopting additional actions to strengthen environmental protections in the Land Management Framework, including making amendments to the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018 (the Code).   

Have your say
Have your say by 11:59pm Friday 4 July 2025.

There are 2 ways to submit your feedback.

discussion paper has been prepared to help provide feedback on the proposed changes to the Code.  

The NSW Government encourages the community, landholders and other interested stakeholders to make a submission based on the proposed changes outlined in the discussion paper.  Submissions will inform the final amendments to the Code.
Note: submissions may be made public on the Local Land Services website unless clearly marked ‘confidential’.  

By Post Address: Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code Amendment Order 2025 Discussion Paper, Local Land Services - Policy Division, PO Box 411, Inverell, NSW 2360.

Weed of the Week: Morning Glory - please get it out of your garden

Blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica) photo by A J Guesdon

Morning glory weed is fast-growing, twining vines that can be troublesome weeds due to their ability to smother native vegetation.

First Strategy to protect NSW heritage released

Community members and heritage stakeholders are being invited to have their say on the first NSW Heritage strategy. It will seek to update the approach to heritage by recognising, protecting, enhancing and celebrating our state’s rich history.

The Minns Labor Government’s vision is for a heritage system that recognises the rich places, people and experiences that have shaped NSW. 

The draft strategy examines ways to modernise the approach to heritage and at the same time ensuring that housing can be built. 

The draft strategy has been informed by more than 1,750 submissions from heritage experts, advocacy groups, government bodies and members of the public.

Key questions within the strategy are how to:

  • recognise and protect a broader range of stories and values to represent the diverse history and communities of NSW within the heritage system
  • improve alignment between the heritage and planning systems including simplifying approval processes
  • enhance support for heritage owners and custodians
  • encourage new uses for heritage places, including government-owned heritage
  • champion activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces to create significant social and economic benefits
  • work with Aboriginal communities to better acknowledge, celebrate and protect cultural heritage
  • promote climate adaptation and sustainability upgrades to heritage places and objects
  • establish a more robust State Heritage Register and underpinning legislation.

Individuals and organisations can provide feedback on the draft NSW heritage strategy and submit ideas on the Have your say web page.

Consultation is open until 13 July 2025. 

Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe, said:

“Establishing the state’s first heritage strategy is a significant step to ensure we protect and celebrate the heritage items that reflect and resonate with all members of our community. 

“The strategy reflects the diverse and changing needs of our community. I encourage you to have your say about how NSW can make our heritage system world leading.”

Solar for apartment residents: Funding

Owners corporations can apply now for funding to install shared solar systems on your apartment building. The grants will cover 50% of the cost, which will add value to homes and help residents save on their electricity bills.

You can apply for the Solar for apartment residents grant to fund 50% of the cost of a shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system on eligible apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings in NSW. This will help residents, including renters, to reduce their energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Less than 2% of apartment buildings in NSW currently have solar systems installed. As energy costs climb and the number of people living in apartments continue to increase, innovative solutions are needed to allow apartment owners and renters to benefit from solar energy.

A total of $25 million in grant funding is available, with up to $150,000 per project.

Financial support for this grant is from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

Applications are open now and will close 5 pm 1 December 2025 or earlier if the funds are fully allocated.

Find out more and apply now at: www.energy.nsw.gov.au/households/rebates-grants-and-schemes/solar-apartment-residents 

‘1080 pest management’

Applies until Friday August 1st 2025. 

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will be conducting a baiting program using manufactured baits, fresh baits and Canid Pest Ejectors (CPEs) containing 1080 poison (sodium fluroacetate) for the control of foxes. The program is continuous and ongoing between 1 February 2025 and 31 July 2025 in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Don’t touch baits or ejector devices. Penalties apply for non-compliance.

All baiting locations are identifiable by signs.

Domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks and reserves. Pets and working dogs may be affected (1080 is lethal to cats and dogs). In the event of accidental poisoning seek immediate veterinary assistance.

Fox baiting in these reserves is aimed at reducing their impact on threatened species.

For more information, contact the local park office on:

  • Forestville 9451 3479 or Lane Cove 8448 0400 (business hours)
  • NPWS after-hours call centre: 1300 056 294 (after hours).

Volunteers for Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours needed

Details:

Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Recycling Batteries: at Mona Vale + Avalon Beach

Over 18,600 tonnes of batteries are discarded to landfill in Australia each year, even though 95% of a battery can be recycled!

That’s why we are rolling out battery recycling units across our stores! Our battery recycling units accept household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries as well as mobile phones! 

How To Dispose Of Your Batteries Safely: 

  1. Collect Your Used Batteries: Gather all used batteries from your home. Our battery recycling units accept batteries from a wide range of products such as household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries.
  2. Tape Your Terminals: Tape the terminals of used batteries with clear sticky tape.
  3. Drop Them Off: Come and visit your nearest participating store to recycle your batteries for free (at Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Mona Vale and Avalon Beach).
  4. Feel Good About Your Impact: By recycling your batteries, you're helping support a healthier planet by keeping hazardous material out of landfills and conserving resources.

Environmental Benefits

  • Reduces hazardous waste in landfill
  • Conserves natural resources by promoting the use of recycled materials
  • Keep toxic materials out of waterways 

Reporting Dogs Offleash - Dog Attacks to Council

If the attack happened outside local council hours, you may call your local police station. Police officers are also authorised officers under the Companion Animals Act 1998. Authorised officers have a wide range of powers to deal with owners of attacking dogs, including seizing dogs that have attacked.

You can report dog attacks, along with dogs offleash where they should not be, to the NBC anonymously and via your own name, to get a response, at: https://help.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/s/submit-request?topic=Pets_Animals

If the matter is urgent or dangerous call Council on 1300 434 434 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

If you find injured wildlife please contact:
  • Sydney Wildlife Rescue (24/7): 9413 4300 
  • WIRES: 1300 094 737

Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs

The Berry Collective at 1691 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale collects them for Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who recycle the plastic.

Berry Collective is the practice on the left side of the road as you head north, a few blocks before Mona Vale shops . They have parking. Enter the foyer and there's a small bin on a table where you drop your bread ties - very easy.

A full list of Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs is available at: HERE 


Stay Safe From Mosquitoes 

NSW Health is reminding people to protect themselves from mosquitoes when they are out and about.

NSW Health states Mosquitoes in NSW can carry viruses such as Japanese encephalitis (JE), Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), Kunjin, Ross River and Barmah Forest. The viruses may cause serious diseases with symptoms ranging from tiredness, rash, headache and sore and swollen joints to rare but severe symptoms of seizures and loss of consciousness.

A free vaccine to protect against JE infection is available to those at highest risk in NSW and people can check their eligibility at NSW Health.

People are encouraged to take actions to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of acquiring a mosquito-borne virus by:
  • Applying repellent to exposed skin. Use repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Check the label for reapplication times.
  • Re-applying repellent regularly, particularly after swimming. Be sure to apply sunscreen first and then apply repellent.
  • Wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks.
  • Avoiding going outdoors during peak mosquito times, especially at dawn and dusk.
  • Using insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units and mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes (mosquito coils should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas)
  • Covering windows and doors with insect screens and checking there are no gaps.
  • Removing items that may collect water such as old tyres and empty pots from around your home to reduce the places where mosquitoes can breed.
  • Using repellents that are safe for children. Most skin repellents are safe for use on children aged three months and older. Always check the label for instructions. Protecting infants aged less than three months by using an infant carrier draped with mosquito netting, secured along the edges.
  • While camping, use a tent that has fly screens to prevent mosquitoes entering or sleep under a mosquito net.
Remember, Spray Up – Cover Up – Screen Up to protect from mosquito bite. For more information go to NSW Health.

Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land: Survey

This survey aims to document mountain bike related incidents on public land, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K88PSNP

Sent in by Pittwater resident Academic for future report- study. 

Report fox sightings

Fox sightings, signs of fox activity, den locations and attacks on native or domestic animals can be reported into FoxScan. FoxScan is a free resource for residents, community groups, local Councils, and other land managers to record and report fox sightings and control activities. 

Our Council's Invasive species Team receives an alert when an entry is made into FoxScan.  The information in FoxScan will assist with planning fox control activities and to notify the community when and where foxes are active.



marine wildlife rescue group on the Central Coast

A new wildlife group was launched on the Central Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast (MWRCC) had its official launch at The Entrance Boat Shed at 10am.

The group comprises current and former members of ASTR, ORRCA, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, WIRES and Wildlife ARC, as well as vets, academics, and people from all walks of life.

Well known marine wildlife advocate and activist Cathy Gilmore is spearheading the organisation.

“We believe that it is time the Central Coast looked after its own marine wildlife, and not be under the control or directed by groups that aren’t based locally,” Gilmore said.

“We have the local knowledge and are set up to respond and help injured animals more quickly.

“This also means that donations and money fundraised will go directly into helping our local marine creatures, and not get tied up elsewhere in the state.”

The organisation plans to have rehabilitation facilities and rescue kits placed in strategic locations around the region.

MWRCC will also be in touch with Indigenous groups to learn the traditional importance of the local marine environment and its inhabitants.

“We want to work with these groups and share knowledge between us,” Gilmore said.

“This is an opportunity to help save and protect our local marine wildlife, so if you have passion and commitment, then you are more than welcome to join us.”

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast has a Facebook page where you may contact members. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076317431064


Watch out - shorebirds about

Summer is here so watch your step because beach-nesting and estuary-nesting birds have started setting up home on our shores.
Did you know that Careel Bay and other spots throughout our area are part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)?

This flyway, and all of the stopping points along its way, are vital to ensure the survival of these Spring and Summer visitors. This is where they rest and feed on their journeys.  For example, did you know that the bar-tailed godwit flies for 239 hours for 8,108 miles from Alaska to Australia?

Not only that, Shorebirds such as endangered oystercatchers and little terns lay their eggs in shallow scraped-out nests in the sand, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Threatened Species officer Ms Katherine Howard has said.
Even our regular residents such as seagulls are currently nesting to bear young.

What can you do to help them?
Known nest sites may be indicated by fencing or signs. The whole community can help protect shorebirds by keeping out of nesting areas marked by signs or fences and only taking your dog to designated dog offleash area. 

Just remember WE are visitors to these areas. These birds LIVE there. This is their home.

Four simple steps to help keep beach-nesting birds safe:
1. Look out for bird nesting signs or fenced-off nesting areas on the beach, stay well clear of these areas and give the parent birds plenty of space.
2. Walk your dogs in designated dog-friendly areas only and always keep them on a leash over summer.
3. Stay out of nesting areas and follow all local rules.
4. Chicks are mobile and don't necessarily stay within fenced nesting areas. When you're near a nesting area, stick to the wet sand to avoid accidentally stepping on a chick.


Possums In Your Roof?: do the right thing

Possums in your roof? Please do the right thing 
On the weekend, one of our volunteers noticed a driver pull up, get out of their vehicle, open the boot, remove a trap and attempt to dump a possum on a bush track. Fortunately, our member intervened and saved the beautiful female brushtail and the baby in her pouch from certain death. 

It is illegal to relocate a trapped possum more than 150 metres from the point of capture and substantial penalties apply.  Urbanised possums are highly territorial and do not fare well in unfamiliar bushland. In fact, they may starve to death or be taken by predators.

While Sydney Wildlife Rescue does not provide a service to remove possums from your roof, we do offer this advice:

✅ Call us on (02) 9413 4300 and we will refer you to a reliable and trusted licenced contractor in the Sydney metropolitan area. For a small fee they will remove the possum, seal the entry to your roof and provide a suitable home for the possum - a box for a brushtail or drey for a ringtail.
✅ Do-it-yourself by following this advice from the Department of Planning and Environment: 

❌ Do not under any circumstances relocate a possum more than 150 metres from the capture site.
Thank you for caring and doing the right thing.



Sydney Wildlife photos

Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed

Pittwater Online News has interviewed Lynette Millett OAM (WIRES Northern Beaches Branch) needs more bird cages of all sizes for keeping the current huge amount of baby wildlife in care safe or 'homed' while they are healed/allowed to grow bigger to the point where they may be released back into their own home. 

If you have an aviary or large bird cage you are getting rid of or don't need anymore, please email via the link provided above. There is also a pressing need for release sites for brushtail possums - a species that is very territorial and where release into a site already lived in by one possum can result in serious problems and injury. 

If you have a decent backyard and can help out, Lyn and husband Dave can supply you with a simple drey for a nest and food for their first weeks of adjustment.

Bushcare in Pittwater: where + when

For further information or to confirm the meeting details for below groups, please contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or visit Council's bushcare webpage to find out how you can get involved.

BUSHCARE SCHEDULES 
Where we work                      Which day                              What time 

Avalon     
Angophora Reserve             3rd Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Dunes                        1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Golf Course              2nd Wednesday                 3 - 5:30pm 
Careel Creek                         4th Saturday                      8:30 - 11:30am 
Toongari Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer) 
Bangalley Headland            2nd Sunday                         9 to 12noon 
Catalpa Reserve              4th Sunday of the month        8.30 – 11.30
Palmgrove Park              1st Saturday of the month        9.00 – 12 

Bayview     
Winnererremy Bay                 4th Sunday                        9 to 12noon 

Bilgola     
North Bilgola Beach              3rd Monday                        9 - 12noon 
Algona Reserve                     1st Saturday                       9 - 12noon 
Plateau Park                          1st Friday                            8:30 - 11:30am 

Church Point     
Browns Bay Reserve             1st Tuesday                        9 - 12noon 
McCarrs Creek Reserve       Contact Bushcare Officer     To be confirmed 

Clareville     
Old Wharf Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      8 - 11am 

Elanora     
Kundibah Reserve                   4th Sunday                       8:30 - 11:30am 

Mona Vale     
Mona Vale Beach Basin          1st Saturday                    8 - 11am 
Mona Vale Dunes                     2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday     8:30 - 11:30am 

Newport     
Bungan Beach                          4th Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
Crescent Reserve                    3rd Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
North Newport Beach              4th Saturday                    8:30 - 11:30am 
Porter Reserve                          2nd Saturday                  8 - 11am 

North Narrabeen     
Irrawong Reserve                     2nd Saturday                   2 - 5pm 

Palm Beach     
North Palm Beach Dunes      3rd Saturday                    9 - 12noon 

Scotland Island     
Catherine Park                          2nd Sunday                     10 - 12:30pm 
Elizabeth Park                           1st Saturday                      9 - 12noon 
Pathilda Reserve                      3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon 

Warriewood     
Warriewood Wetlands             1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 

Whale Beach     
Norma Park                               1st Friday                            9 - 12noon 

Western Foreshores     
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay      2nd Sunday                        10 - 1pm 
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay           1st Monday                          9 - 12noon

Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities

Bush Regeneration - Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment  
This is a wonderful way to become connected to nature and contribute to the health of the environment.  Over the weeks and months you can see positive changes as you give native species a better chance to thrive.  Wildlife appreciate the improvement in their habitat.

Belrose area - Thursday mornings 
Belrose area - Weekend mornings by arrangement
Contact: Phone or text Conny Harris on 0432 643 295

Wheeler Creek - Wednesday mornings 9-11am
Contact: Phone or text Judith Bennett on 0402 974 105
Or email: Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment : email@narrabeenlagoon.org.au

Gardens and Environment Groups and Organisations in Pittwater


Ringtail Posses 2023

As the federal government fumbles on nature law reform, the states are forging ahead

Jakub Maculewicz, Shutterstock
Phillipa C. McCormackUniversity of Adelaide

The South Australian parliament today passed a new law to conserve, restore and enhance biodiversity.

It brings together native vegetation management, protection for native species and habitat, and conservation on private land. When introducing the bill to the Parliament, Deputy Premier Susan Close said:

Just as South Australia has led the way on climate action, committing to net zero emissions by 2050, we must now take the same ambitious approach to biodiversity. (This) crucial piece of legislation … will modernise and strengthen protections for South Australia’s biodiversity to benefit us and our future generations.

SA is not the first state to revise its nature laws. But this is the first environment law in years to be drafted from scratch in Australia. Rather than waiting for federal reform, SA has leapfrogged the protracted process. This new legislation achieves some things no Australian law has done before.

National environment law reform has stalled

This all comes at a time when the federal law reform is up in the air.

The Albanese government failed to pass new national environment laws during its first term.

Environment protection even went backwards just before the election. The rushed amendments limited powers to reconsider certain environment approvals when an activity is harming the environment.

Last month, the new Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said environmental law reform was a priority. Still, it may be difficult to get the essential ambitious national reforms over the line.

In the meantime, state and territory governments are forging ahead.

Time for states and territories to lead?

The last state to write a new nature law was New South Wales, in 2016. But a scathing 2023 review of the law recommended a major overhaul.

The NSW government committed to most of the recommendations, announcing big plans for nature law reforms in July last year. These plans include strengthening land-clearing codes, improving species protections and monitoring, and preparing a new “nature positive” strategy.

So far, the NSW government has only managed to pass legislation to fix problems with biodiversity offsets. Offset schemes allow developers to compensate for their destruction of vital habitat with gains elsewhere.

In Victoria, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 was amended in 2019. These reforms inserted new principles around how the Act should be implemented, and a new approach to crucial habitat. The reforms also emphasised the need to improve species’ survival and adaptation to climate and environmental change.

The Nature Conservation Act and strategy in the ACT are also due for review. Early consultation concluded in July 2024. A revised Act is likely to be released later this year.

Does Australia really need two layers of environment laws?

The short answer is yes, Australia needs both state and federal environment laws. But the interactions between the two could be managed better.

The Australian Constitution doesn’t give the federal government explicit authority to make laws about the environment. That’s left to the states and territories, which means they make most laws about threatened species, waterways, native vegetation and protected areas.

The federal government has an overarching responsibility to protect environments that are important to all of us, in national laws. We call these “matters of national environmental significance”.

Some matters are significant because they involve Australia’s promises to the rest of the world. Australia has international obligations to protect world heritage areas and internationally significant wetlands, for example.

Other matters cross state borders. The orange-bellied parrot, for instance, migrates across three states to find food and nesting sites.

Individual states and territories do not have sufficient resources or the national perspective needed to protect these species and places.

Why do the South Australian reforms matter?

SA’s new Biodiversity Act does some things no Australian law has done before.

For example, it looks beyond species and ecosystems, offering protection to so-called “ecological entities”. Regulations will be needed to define what an ecological entity is. But the concept may protect refuges where species shelter from extreme events. It might also offer a new way to protect important landscape features such as coastal dunes.

Another new concept is “culturally significant biodiversity entities”. The Act defines a culturally significant biodiversity entity as:

  • a native species or ecological community
  • with cultural value to some or all Aboriginal people
  • which is critical to Aboriginal peoples’ relationships with and adaptation to Country.

The Act also sets up a new Aboriginal Biodiversity Committee. That committee will co-develop policies with the minister. One of these policies will explain how culturally significant biodiversity entities will be identified and managed.

Other policies will be developed in collaboration with the Aboriginal Biodiversity Committee. These include policies to guide cultural burning of native plants, or to consider and apply Aboriginal knowledge. At long last, Aboriginal people will have a “seat at the table”.

SA becomes the third state (after NSW and Victoria) to mention climate change in its nature law. This is an important reform. Laws are needed to help nature survive more frequent and severe droughtsfloods and fires.

Environmental scientist and polar explorer Tim Jarvis on biodiversity (Department for Environment and Water)

All hands on deck

Australian environments are extraordinary, diverse and ancient. But Australia has long been an extinction hotspot. The continent’s ecosystems remain under serious pressure.

Our environment laws must be clear and avoid complex clashes or gaps between national and state responsibilities. But SA, NSW, Victoria and soon the ACT show law reform can also be more ambitious. Nature laws can truly help the environment to flourish even as the climate changes.The Conversation

Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

West Australian miners flexed their muscle to block a federal EPA last year. Will it be different this time?

CUHRIG/Getty
Diane DowdellThe University of Queensland

This week, Environment Minister Murray Watt met with groups representing business, the environment, renewable energy and First Nations communities in a bid to restart Labor’s stalled environmental reforms. There was one group in the room Watt presumably had to woo hardest: Western Australia’s miners.

Last year, the WA mining lobby mounted an ultimately successful campaign opposing proposed changes to national environment laws, and the plan to set up an environmental protection authority. State premier Roger Cook also lobbied Prime Minister Anthony Albanese directly.

Watt has pledged to revive the reform process and on Thursday claimed a compromise could be reached. The existing laws, he said, are “not working for the environment, and they are not working for business”.

Whether his efforts will be enough to overcome the scepticism of the mining industry remains to be seen. These companies have influence – and they will use it if they see new laws as a threat.

The mining state

The mining industry dominates WA economically, politically and socially. WA’s mining sector is substantially larger than the mining interests in any other Australian state. Underground lie huge reserves of iron ore, gas, gold, lithium and many other resources.

The sector funnelled A$267 billion into the Australian economy in 2023–24 through salaries, royalties and taxes. About $60 billion directly flowed to Western Australians in wages and salaries.

The leaders of WA mining companies see themselves, by and large, as doing economically vital work.

I have interviewed many WA mining executives for my doctorate, which is currently underway. One clear common narrative emerged: they saw mining as a national good. They believed their companies brought wealth and prosperity to communities, built infrastructure, and funnelled money into state and federal treasuries.

The justification is powerful. It underpins the way those in the industry see their work – and how they respond to any threat, perceived or otherwise.

It also dates back over a century. The link between WA resources and prosperity originates from the 1890s WA gold rush, which transformed the fortunes of the state. This self image has been nurtured through successive resource booms, from gold to iron ore to natural gas and more gold.

Many company executives see any duplication of environmental approvals as time-consuming, unproductive and economically damaging. A 2023 WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry report suggested “green tape” (approval delays) was threatening 40% of mining proposals in the pipeline.

Miners and their political backers often frame the industry as environmentally positive, particularly for resources vital to the green energy transition such as lithium, rare earth elements and – more controversially – gas.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King – who is West Australian – regularly draws this link. As she said in 2023:

let me be clear, the global clean energy transition will need more mining, not less […] the road to net zero runs through the Australian resources sector.

man and mining truck, red earth.
Mining is vital to Western Australia. Inc/Shutterstock

Wielding influence

WA miners are represented by well-organised and well-resourced lobbying bodies such as the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, and the Minerals Council of Australia.

These groups maintain relationships with politicians at both state and federal levels, regardless of which party is in power.

Broadly, their goals are to promote the continued expansion of resource projects (minerals, oil and gas) under conditions most advantageous to industry interests.

Mining companies use these industry lobby groups to support or critique government policy and push for changes. They exert influence through targeted lobbying, close relationships with elected officials and political candidates, and direct engagement with federal processes.

What happens when the sector sees a potential threat from policymakers in Canberra? Often, the mining companies unify against it.

For example, WA miners were prominent in the 2010 campaign against efforts by the Rudd government to introduce a super profits tax on mining.

Why WA miners oppose nature law reform

A tax is one thing. But what did the WA miners see as the key problems in the environmental reforms?

One issue was a perceived contradiction between the federal government’s intention to streamline developmental approvals and introduce a federal Environmental Protection Agency, while failing to deal with existing duplication between state and federal processes.

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies lobby group gave another reason in a submission to government: the proposed independence of the EPA would remove the discretionary power of the minister.

Rather than an independent federal EPA, they pushed for a model similar to the WA version – the advice of which the minister can overrule. The group also warned the laws would impede the global competitiveness of the mining industry and hinder investment.

The state government echoed these statements, calling the reforms an overreach that would stifle economic development.

This alignment of government and industry messaging shows how closely their interests are intertwined.

Premier Roger Cook leaves no ambiguity about this. Ahead of this year’s WA and federal elections, Cook warned the “latte sippers” over east:

do not for a moment think that we will stand by idly and allow you to damage our economy because, ultimately, it will damage your standard of living.

Is a deal possible?

Across Australia, there is broad support for environmental law reform, because the current national laws are seen as not fit for purpose.

Murray Watt came to the role of environment minister with a reputation as a fixer. The question now is, what will he trade to get the miners on side?

The industry will be cautious and will insist on much more detail about any changes. It’s possible a deal could be struck. But we can expect to continue to see very strong pushback if Watt tries to expand federal powers into what is seen as state responsibilities.

The industry will also expect greater federal resourcing for delivery of timely approvals. Nationally important industries don’t like to wait.The Conversation

Diane Dowdell, PhD Candidate in Sustainable Mining, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia could become the world’s first net-zero exporter of fossil fuels – here’s how

Photo by Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images
Frank JotzoAustralian National University and Annette ZouAustralian National University

Australia is among the world’s top three exporters of LNG and second-largest exporter of coal. When burned overseas, these exports result in 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year – almost three times Australia’s domestic emissions.

Emissions embedded in Australia’s exports do not count towards our national emissions targets. But they contribute to climate change – and they’re the reason for Australia’s international reputation as a fossil-fuel economy.

On the bright side, Australia boasts huge potential for low-cost renewable energy and a knack for resource industries.

We can, and should, become a “renewable energy superpower”. This term refers to the potential for Australia to use its bountiful renewable energy resources to make commodities such as iron, ammonia and other products and fuels in “green” or low-emissions ways.

So how does Australia give salience to this idea on the global stage, while our fossil fuel exports continue? The solution could be a new net-zero target for Australia, in which emissions from green exports are tallied up against those from fossil fuel exports.

a solar farm in dry landscape with mountain backdrop
Australia can become a renewable energy superpower. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Reinvigorating Australia’s climate policy

If the clean energy transition eventuates, green exports from Australia will rise over time. This will help reduce the use of coal, gas and oil elsewhere in the world.

Meanwhile, coal exports – and later, gas exports – will fall. This will happen irrespective of Australia’s policies, as the world economy decarbonises and demand for fossil fuels slows.

At some point, we can expect emissions avoided by our green commodity exports to surpass those from remaining coal and gas exports. Australia would then reach what could be termed “net-zero export emissions”.

Adopting this net-zero target as a national policy would give a concrete yardstick to Australia’s green-export ambitions. It could also invigorate Australia’s climate policy and boost investor confidence.

A different approach would be to set targets only for green exports, and this could be how we get started. Ultimately, a net-zero target wrapping up both green and fossil-fuel exports would speak most directly to the goal of tackling climate change, and is likely to have more impact on the international stage.

People walk on beach in front of industrial plant billowing steam.
A net-zero export target would give a concrete yardstick to Australia’s ambition to develop green export industries. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Getting to net-zero exports

The below chart shows an illustrative decline in emissions embedded in Australia’s coal and LNG (liquified natural gas) exports, out to 2050.*

A three-column graph showing a decline between 2023 and 2050.
Authors' calculations based on Australian Energy Update 2024, Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2024, IEA World Energy Outlook 2024

It’s hard to pin down when Australia might reach net-zero exports. It depends on several factors. How quickly will the cost of clean energy and green-commodity technologies fall? How competitively can Australia produce green goods compared to other nations? What policies will be adopted in Australia and overseas – and will they work?

The magnitudes are sobering. Take iron, for example. Australia currently exports 900 million tonnes of iron ore a year. This is processed overseas to about 560 million tonnes of iron.

To fully compensate for emissions currently embedded in Australia’s coal and gas exports, Australia would need to process about the same amount of green iron – around 550 million tonnes – on home soil every year.

To reach this figure, we assume 0.1 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent is created per tonne of green iron, compared to about 2.1 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent per tonne of iron resulting from conventional blast furnace production.

Achieving this would require keeping iron ore production at current levels and processing it all in Australia, which is unlikely to be realistic.

Thankfully, the task of reaching net-zero export emissions will be smaller in future, as global coal and gas demand falls. But exactly how this will translate to Australian exports is highly uncertain.

Let’s suppose Australia’s exports evolved on the same trajectory as they might under current climate policies and pledges for the global coal and gas trade.

In this case, embedded emissions from Australia’s coal and gas exports would be about 360 million tonnes in 2050. This includes about 120 million tonnes from LNG exports – much of it locked in by the extension to Woodside’s North West Shelf project off Western Australia.

Hypothetically, the 360 million tonnes of emissions could be negated by a mix of green exports. They include 102 million tonnes of green iron (saving 204 million tonnes of CO₂), and 11 million tonnes of green ammonia (saving about 23 million tonnes of CO₂), and the remainder covered by a combination of green aluminium, silicon, methanol and transport fuels.

Judgement calls would be needed about which commodities to include in the target. The composition of green exports suggested above is akin to assumptions about Australia’s potential global market share outlined by The Superpower Institute.

Importantly, it’s hard to predict with certainty the greenhouse gas emissions displaced elsewhere in the world by Australia’s green exports. So, the estimates should be understood as broad illustrations, and not as exact as the accounting used to calculate countries’ domestic emissions.

The precise year chosen for reaching a net-zero target for export emissions may well be less important than the commitment that, at some point, Australia’s green energy exports will exceed fossil fuel exports. This would establish the notion that Australia has the capacity and willingness to help the world decarbonise.

Wind turbines at the edge of a lake.
At some point, Australia’s green energy exports will exceed fossil fuel exports. David Gray/Getty Images

A positive agenda for change

The export target could be part of Australia’s updated emissions pledge due to be submitted to the United Nations by September this year. The pledge, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), is required by signatories to the Paris Agreement.

Each nation is expected to detail its national emissions target for 2035. But nations can make additional pledges towards the world’s climate change effort. You could call it an “NDC+”.

So Australia could outline an indicative goal for net-zero exports – perhaps alongside other pledges such as leveraging climate change finance for developing countries, or helping our Pacific neighbours adapt to climate change impacts.

As a large fossil fuels exporter, Australia would earn kudos for showing it has a positive agenda for change.

And if Australia wins the bid to host the COP31 climate conference next year, a plan to reduce export emissions could be a major rallying point.


* Underlying data for the chart showing an expected decline in future emissions embedded in Australia’s coal and LNG exports:

Exports in 2022–23: coal, 9.6 exajoules (EJ); LNG, 4.5 EJ, from Australian Energy Update. This was multiplied by an emissions factor 90.2 for coal (MtCO₂-e/EJ) and 51.5 for LNG (MtCO₂-e/EJ), as drawn from the Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors

Exports for 2035 and 2050: this assumes a trend aligned with the IEA’s Announced Pledges Scenario, as outlined in the World Energy Outlook 2024. Note the percentage changes from 2023 to 2035 and 2050 for coal (-45% and -73% respectively) and for LNG (+9% and -47% respectively.) These figures do not distinguish between steam coal for power and metallurgical coal.


Correction: an earlier version of this article said Australia was the world’s third-largest gas exporter. This wording has been amended to refer specifically to LNG, and to reflect that the order of the top gas-exporting nations changes from year to year.The Conversation

Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National University and Annette Zou, Senior Researcher, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘Guerrilla rewilding’ aims for DIY conservation – but it may do more harm than good

Fidel Fernando / Unsplash
Patrick FinnertyUniversity of SydneyAlex CartheyMacquarie UniversityBenjamin PitcherMacquarie UniversityJohn MartinUniversity of Sydney, and Thomas NewsomeUniversity of Sydney

Ever since modern environmentalism took off in the 1960s, people have tried to undo the damage humans have caused to nature. Efforts have ranged from reducing threats, to restoring habitats, to reintroducing vanished species – and the results have been mixed.

However, these efforts have helped shape modern conservation science. This branch of knowledge uses ecological, genetic and behavioural insights to guide smarter, more ethical conservation actions.

Governments often use this science to decide whether restoration projects should be approved. However, approval processes may be slow, under-resourced and complex, leaving passionate people feeling shut out.

In response, some have turned to “guerilla rewilding” without approval, and often without due consideration of the potential for unintended impacts. As a recent ABC investigation showed, these passionate souls may release species into the wild or build self-managed sanctuaries, often dismissing scientists as “purists”.

What is rewilding?

Rewilding aims to restore wildlife and natural processes to ecosystems where they’ve been lost, often due to land clearing, agriculture or other human activities.

It may involve reintroducing a species that has disappeared from a landscape, or using a similar surrogate species to revive lost ecological functions. The goal is to rebuild functioning, self-sustaining systems. It’s not just about individual species, but the roles they play in sustaining nature.

In Australia, rewilding typically takes place in fenced reserves or on islands where invasive predators such as foxes and cats have been removed. These barriers offer protection, but require intensive planning, long-term management and ongoing funding.

A fence in the outback.
Rewilding often occurs in fenced sanctuaries. Stephen Mabbs / Unsplash

The term “rewilding” itself has been criticised for harking back to a pre-colonial “wilderness”, overlooking First Nations’ connections to Country. But the goal of these projects is to restore ecological function and self-sustaining wildlife populations in shared, lived-in landscapes – including urban environments.

When done well, rewilding can support species recovery, repair ecosystems, and help reconnect people with nature. But success depends on evidence-based design, clear goals, ongoing monitoring, and (often) additional management over time (such as adding or removing animals).

Guerilla rewilding is risky

Guerrilla rewilding can go wildly wrong. Ecology, evolution, behaviour and welfare are deeply complex — and every species is a unique part of a much larger puzzle.

Scientists and conservationists are still learning how different animals survive and thrive in changing environments. Restoring these delicate systems without unintended consequences is also a challenge.

Without rigorous planning, there is a risk of inbreeding or a mismatch between animals and their environment. Animals raised inside fences may become overabundant, or too naive to survive in the wild. Disease, overgrazing and long-term habitat degradation are other risks.

Learning from science, not bypassing it

Successful rewilding draws on decades of ecological insight — genetics, behaviour, predator-prey dynamics, health, and ecosystem function.

Guerilla rewilders may see these as unnecessary academic add-ons. But when reintroductions fail, it’s often because one of these elements was overlooked. Frequently reported problems include animal behaviour, monitoring difficulties, quality of release habitat, and lack of baseline knowledge.

However, accessing the science – and navigating the approvals that rely on it – isn’t always easy. Conservation processes are often slow, under-resourced and opaque. It’s no surprise some view them as “green tape”.

A piled of felled trees on cleared land, with a stand of intact trees in the background.
In Australia, it can be easier to get permission to clear land than to restore it. Matt Palmer / Unsplash

Indeed, in Australia, it’s harder to get a restoration project approved than it is to get approval for land clearing.

Yet bypassing this system risks repeating old mistakes. So if we want rewilding to work, we need to make it easier to engage with evidence, expertise and ethical safeguards.

Engagement may be as simple as working with the right partners from the outset. This may include Traditional Owners, universities, non-government organisations, and local conservation and environmental community groups.

Collaboration, not conflict

A lot of people and groups have the same goal: to restore thriving wild animal populations as part of more complete, diverse and resilient ecosystems. That outcome is best achieved through collaboration, sharing of expertise, and trust.

Traditional Owners, scientists, carers, zoos, non-government organisations and government agencies all bring crucial knowledge. By turning shared passion into practical, evidence-based action, we can ensure rewilding efforts contribute to real, lasting outcomes for Australian and global biodiversity.

So what does this look like in practice? First of all, it’s about getting connected.

People with land or passion to contribute can contact organisations such as the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, WWF-Australia, Arid Recovery, several universities, or state parks and wildlife services. These groups have likely already done the groundwork, from habitat assessment to long-term planning. Joining existing efforts may get more done than starting solo.

Policymakers can contribute not only funding, but also transparency. More open and understandable approval processes may lower the barriers for community-led rewilding efforts.

As for scientists like us, we need to step beyond peer-reviewed papers. That means clearer communication, real-world partnerships, and embracing outreach – particularly in urban or accessible rewilding projects.


The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Peter Banks, Donna Houston, Phil McManus, Catherine Grueber and Mareshell Wauchope to this article.The Conversation

Patrick Finnerty, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in conservation and wildlife management, University of SydneyAlex Carthey, Senior Lecturer Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityBenjamin Pitcher, Research Fellow in Behavioural Biology, Macquarie UniversityJohn Martin, Adjunct associate and ecological research scientist, University of Sydney, and Thomas Newsome, Associate Professor in Global Ecology, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Seabed mining is becoming an environmental flashpoint – NZ will have to pick a side soon

Getty Images
Myra WilliamsonAuckland University of Technology

Seabed mining could become one of the defining environmental battles of 2025. Around the world, governments are weighing up whether to allow mining of the ocean floor for metal ores and minerals. New Zealand is among them.

The stakes are high. Deep-sea mining is highly controversial, with evidence showing mining activity can cause lasting damage to fragile marine ecosystems. One area off the east coast of the United States, mined as an experiment 50 years ago, still bears scars and shows little sign of recovery.

With the world facing competing pressures – climate action and conservation versus demand for resources – New Zealand must now decide whether to fast-track mining, regulate it tightly, or pause it entirely.

Who controls international seabed mining?

A major flashpoint is governance in international waters. Under international law, seabed mining beyond national jurisdiction is managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

But the US has never ratified UNCLOS. In April this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to bypass the ISA and allow companies to begin mining in international waters.

The ISA has pushed back, warning unilateral action breaches international law. However, the declaration from the recently concluded UN Ocean Conference in France does not urge countries to adopt a precautionary approach, nor does it ban deep seabed mining.

The declaration does “reiterate the need to increase scientific knowledge on deep sea ecosystems” and recognises the role of the ISA in setting “robust rules, regulations and procedures for exploitation of resources” in international waters.

So, while the international community supports multilateralism and international law, deep-sea mining in the near future remains a real possibility.

Fast-track approvals

In the Pacific, some countries have already made up their minds about which way they will go. Nauru recently updated its agreement with Canadian-based The Metals Company to begin mining in the nearby Clarion Clipperton Zone. The deal favours the US’s go-it-alone approach over the ISA model.

By contrast, in 2022, New Zealand’s Labour government backed the ISA’s moratorium and committed to a holistic ocean management strategy. Whether that position still holds is unclear, given the current government’s policies.

The list of applications under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 – described by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones as “arguably the most permissive regime” in Australasia – includes two controversial seabed mining proposals in Bream Bay and off the Taranaki coast:

  • Trans-Tasman Resources’ proposal to extract up to 50 million tonnes of Taranaki seabed material annually to recover heavy mineral sands that contain iron ore as well as rare metal elements titanium and vanadium.

  • McCallum Brothers Ltd’s Bream Bay proposal to dredge up to 150,000 cubic metres of sand yearly for three years, and up to 250,000 cubic metres after that.

Legal landscape changing

Māori and environmental groups have opposed the fast-track policy, and the Treaty of Waitangi has so far been a powerful safeguard in seabed mining cases.

Provisions referencing Treaty principles appear in key laws, including the Crown Minerals Act and the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act.

In 2021, the Supreme Court cited these obligations when it rejected a 2016 marine discharge application by Trans-Tasman Resources to mine the seabed in the Taranaki Bight. The court ruled Treaty clauses must be interpreted in a “broad and generous” way, recognising tikanga Māori and customary marine rights.

But that legal landscape could soon change. The Regulatory Standards Bill, now before parliament, would give priority to property rights over environmental or Indigenous protections in the formulation of new laws and regulations.

The bill also allows for the review of existing legislation. In theory, if the Regulatory Standards Bill becomes law, it could result in the removal of Treaty principles clauses from legislation.

This in turn could deny courts the tools they’ve previously used to uphold environmental and Treaty-based protections to block seabed mining applications. That would make it easier to approve fast-tracked projects such as the Bream Bay and Taranaki projects.

Setting a precedent

Meanwhile, Hawai’i has gone in a different direction. In 2024, the US state passed a law banning seabed mining in state waters – joining California (2022), Washington (2021) and Oregon (1991).

Under the Hawai’i Seabed Mining Prevention Act, mining is banned except in rare cases such as beach restoration. The law cites the public’s right to a clean and healthy environment.

As global conflict brews over seabed governance, New Zealand’s eventual position could set a precedent.

Choosing to prohibit seabed mining in New Zealand waters, as Hawai'i has done, would send a strong message that environmental stewardship and Indigenous rights matter more than short-term resource extraction interests.

If New Zealand does decide to go ahead with seabed mining, however, it could trigger a cascade of mining efforts across New Zealand and the Pacific. A crucial decision is fast approaching.The Conversation

Myra Williamson, Senior Lecturer in Law, Auckland University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year

Vik Dunis/iNaturalistCC BY-NC
Eric WarrantUniversity of South Australia

It’s a warm January summer afternoon, and as I traverse the flower-strewn western slopes of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, I am on the lookout for a tell-tale river of boulders that winds its way down into the alpine valleys below.

Here, hidden in cave-like hollows and crevices formed deep within the river of boulders, is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the insect world – the summer mass gathering of an iconic Australian insect, the bogong moth (Agrotis infusa).

Tightly huddled together in their dim cool cavernous world, with each moth’s head pushed slightly under the wings of the moth just ahead, millions of bogong moths sleep out the summer, slumbering in a state of dormancy known as “aestivation”.

Their little bodies coat the stone surfaces in an endless soft brown carpet, with 17,000 of them tiling each square metre of cave wall. It’s a sight that never fails to take my breath away.

The wall of a cave carpeted with a thick layer of brown moths.
Bogong moths sleep through the summer heat clinging to the walls of caves in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. Eric Warrant

Marathon migrations

To get here, these moths have flown from all over southeast Australia through the spring, arriving from as far away as south-eastern Queensland and far-western Victoria. Converted to human body length, these journeys of roughly 1,000 kilometres would be equivalent to a person circumnavigating Earth twice.

The moths’ marathon voyages to the Alps are likely undertaken to escape the lethal heat of the coming summer in their breeding areas. When the cool of autumn arrives, the moths leave the mountains to produce their own offspring and die.

Map of southeast Australia showing arrows from western Victoria, northwest NSW, and southern Queensland leading to the mountains in the southeast.
Every summer, bogong moths travel up to 1,000 kilometres to sleep through the heat in cool mountain caves. Eric Warrant

But how on Earth do they know how to find these caves? How do they know the direction to travel and how do they know when they’ve arrived?

These questions have fascinated me and the other members of my research group for many years. It turns out bogong moths possess a most extraordinary ability to navigate, harnessing Earth’s magnetic field and the stars as compasses to follow their inherited migratory direction.

Moths, magnets and stars

We made these remarkable discoveries in a specialised lab we built a few years ago near Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.

First we light-trapped bogong moths that were either migrating towards the Alps in spring or away again in autumn. We next placed them in a special flight arena inside the lab, and finely controlled Earth’s magnetic field (with magnetic coils around the arena) and the starry night sky (by projecting a highly realistic starry night sky on the roof of the arena).

Because we already knew bogong moths have a magnetic sense, we used the coils to completely remove, or null, the magnetic field in the arena. This ensured any orientation using the stars was not confounded by the ability to detect Earth’s magnetic field.

Diagram showing different star patterns and directions of moth movement.
The orientation of the nighttime sky determines the moths’ direction of movement. When researchers showed moths random star patterns, they flew in random directions. Dreyer et al./Nature

What we found next astounded us. Using only the local Australian starry night sky projected above them, bogong moths flying in our arena were able to discern and follow their inherited migratory direction – both in spring and in autumn.

If we turned this projected sky by 180°, the moths turned and flew in exactly the opposite direction. If we then took all of the stars in this projected natural sky and randomly distributed them across the roof of the arena, the moths became completely confused and lost their ability to migrate in their inherited migratory direction.

Navigators with tiny brains

In the absence of all other possible cues, bogong moths clearly used the stars as a true compass to discern a geographic direction relative to north.

This is the first invertebrate we so far know of that can do this. Only human beings and some species of night-migratory birds are known to have this ability.

But in moths this ability is even more remarkable considering their brain is approximately one-tenth the volume of a grain of rice and their eyes only a couple of millimetres wide.

A magnetic backup system

We made a final discovery when we moved our flight arena up onto the hill behind the lab under the magnificent dome of the natural starry sky. As expected, the moths were beautifully oriented in their inherited migratory direction.

But on one of these nights the sky was heavily overcast with cloud. To our great surprise, the moths remained oriented in their migratory direction, even though the stars were obscured.

The only remaining cue that could have been used was Earth’s magnetic field, which showed very clearly that moths rely on two compasses – a magnetic compass and a stellar compass.

But of course, two compasses will always be better than one – if one becomes corrupted or drops out, the other can take over. Nature’s perfect solution for robust navigation!

Bogong moths under threat

Despite its fantastic abilities, this tiny navigator is under threat. A result of anthropogenic climate change, the recent drought in Australia saw bogong moth numbers fall by a jaw-dropping 99.5%.

The Snowy Mountains near Mt Kosciuszko
Endless thousands of generations of bogong moths have slept through summer in a few specific caves dotted across these outcrops. Eric Warrant

Endangered alpine marsupials that depend on the moth’s arrival in spring for food – such as the mountain pygmy possum – suffered heavily as a result.

Droughts in southeast Australia are only predicted to worsen in both frequency and intensity. The future of the bogong moth, as well as the fragile alpine ecosystem that depends on it, does not look very bright.The Conversation

Eric Warrant, Professor of Zoology at the University of Lund, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Koalas on the brink: Precision DNA test offers a lifeline to Australia’s icons

June 16, 2025
A University of Queensland-led project has developed a tool to standardize genetic testing of koala populations, providing a significant boost to conservation and recovery efforts.

Dr Lyndal Hulse from UQ's School of the Environment said the standardized koala genetic marker panel provides a consistent method for researchers nationwide to capture and share koala genetic variation, enabling improved collaboration and data integration across studies.
"Koalas in the wild are under increasing pressure from habitat loss, disease and vehicle strikes, forcing them to live in increasingly smaller and more isolated pockets with limited access to breeding mates outside their group," Dr Hulse said.

"Population inbreeding can mean detrimental effects on their health.

"A standardized panel for directly comparing genetic markers enables researchers, conservationists and government agencies to better understand the genetic diversity of koala populations, allowing for greater collaboration to ensure their survival."

Saurabh Shrivastava, Senior Account Manager at project partner the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF Ltd), said the new screening tool was a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array that used next-generation sequencing technologies.

"The Koala SNP-array can accommodate good quality DNA, so is suitable for broad-scale monitoring of wild koala populations," Mr Shrivastava said.

"Importantly, it is available to all researchers and managers."

Dr Hulse said ideally the tool could help guide targeted koala relocations across regions.

"There are very strict rules about relocating koalas, but this could be key to improving and increasing the genetics of populations under threat," she said.

"These iconic Australian marsupials are listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT - and in 50 years we may only be able to see koalas in captivity.

"Understanding the genetic diversity of different populations of koalas is crucial if we're going to save them from extinction."

The project included researchers from the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group at the University of New South Wales.

AGRF Ltd is a not-for-profit organisation advancing Australian genomics through nationwide access to expert support and cutting-edge technology across a broad range of industries including biomedical, health, agriculture and environmental sectors.

Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever

Shane Myers Photography/Shutterstock
John LongFlinders University and Heather L. RobinsonFlinders University

It’s been 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws first cast a terrifying shadow across our screens.

At a low point during production, Spielberg worried he’d only ever be known for “a big fish story”. The film, however, did not tank.

Jaws broke box office records and became the highest-grossing movie at the time, only surpassed by the first Star Wars released two years later in 1977.

A combination of mass advertising, familiar “hero” tropes and old-school showmanship launched Jaws as the first modern blockbuster.

Hollywood, and our relationship to oceans and the sharks within them, would never be the same.

Photo of a dog-eared paperback copy of Jaws book next to a poster of the movie.
The novel Jaws was based on was a bestseller in its own right. Snap Shot/Shutterstock

An unrealistic monster

In Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that Jaws is based on, the shark is 6 metres long. For added screen excitement, in the movie it grew to a whopping 7.6 metres.

However, that’s unrealistically large.

The average size of a mature great white (Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the white shark) is between 4.6 and 4.9 metres for female sharks and up to 4 metres for male sharks.

The largest recorded living specimens peak at about 6 metres, with one monster specimen caught in Cuba in 1945 reaching 6.4 metres.

Earth’s oceans have seen bigger predatory sharks in the past. The biggest one of all time was the megalodon (Otodus megalodon) which lived from 23 to 3 million years ago, and may have been up to 24 metres in length. However, it looked nothing like the modern white shark.

We don’t know precisely how big the megalodon was, but certainly larger than the great white shark. Steveoc 86/Wikimedia CommonsCC BY-SA

They’re not even directly related – another thing scientists learned quite recently.

Who was the megalodon, then?

White sharks first evolved between 6 and 4 million years ago in the shadows of the megalodon. A recent study showed the megalodon’s large serrated teeth show signs of it being a supreme opportunistic super-predator.

That means it ate just about anything, but especially liked whales and marine mammals.

But white sharks are not directly related to the megalodon, whose lineage began with a shark called Cretalamna during the age of dinosaurs about 100 million years ago.

By contrast, the white shark lineage began with an ancient mako shark, Carcharodon hastalis. It was 7 to 8 metres long and had large, similarly shaped teeth to the modern white shark but lacking serrated edges.

A fossil intermediate species, Carcharodon hubbelli shows the transition over time from weakly serrated to strongly serrated teeth.

Left, fossil tooth of the extant white shark; right, unserrated tooih of the giant extinct mako that gave rise to white sharks.
White shark fossil species. Left, the serrated fossil tooth teeth of the extant white shark; right, a similarly shaped unserrated tooth of the extinct giant mako shark which gave rise to white sharks. John LongCC BY

How did Jaws affect white shark populations?

Last year, the International Shark Attack File reported 47 unprovoked shark bites to humans worldwide, resulting in seven fatalities. This was well below the previous ten-year average of 70 bites per year; your chances of getting bitten by a shark are extremely rare.

Following the movies that made up the Jaws franchise, there was an increase in hunting and killing sharks – with a particular focus on great white sharks that were already going into a decline due to overfishing, trophy hunting and lethal control programs.

Between 80% and 90% of white sharks have disappeared globally since the middle of the 20th century. Recent estimates calculate there are probably less than 500 individual white sharks in Australian waters right now.

When Jaws first aired, scientists didn’t know how long sharks took to reproduce, or how many offspring a white shark could have each year. We now know it takes about 26 years for a male and 33 years for a female to sexually mature before they can start having pups.

Data about white shark births is sparse, but recently a 5.6-metre-long female caught on a drum line off the coast of Queensland had just four large pups inside her. This is a very small number. Some large sharks, such as the whale shark, can give birth to up to 300 young.

Now that we know just how slow they are to breed, it’s clear it will take many decades to reestablish the “pre-Jaws” population of white sharks – important apex predators in the marine ecosystem.

Charlie Huveneers from Flinders University about to take a tissue sample for research on white sharks. There is still a lot we don’t know about their biology. Andrew Fox, AdelaideCC BY

Will white sharks survive?

White sharks are currently listed as vulnerable.

This classification means if we don’t change the current living conditions for white sharks, including impacts caused by human activities such as commercial fishing, and the impacts of climate change and ocean pollution, they will continue to decline and eventually could go extinct.

Currently, white sharks are protected in several countries and form the basis for an important tourist industry in Australia, South Africa, western United States and most recently Nova Scotia, Canada.

These sharks are iconic apex predators that fascinate people. One of us (John) went cage diving with them recently off the Neptune Islands of South Australia and can attest to how breathtaking it is to watch them in their natural environment.

In terms of economic impact, they are worth far more alive than dead.

White sharks are a growing tourism draw in several countries. Andrew Fox, AdelaideCC BY

There’s still much we don’t know about white sharks

The complete white shark genome was first published only in 2019. It has 4.63 billion base pairs, making it much larger than the human genome (3.2 billion base pairs).

The genome revealed some surprising things, like how white sharks show strong molecular adaptations for wound-healing processes, and a suite of “genome stability” genes – those used in DNA repair or DNA damage response.

The transcriptome (or sum total of the messenger RNA) of the white shark showed greater similarity to the human transcriptome than to that of other fishes. This hints that “unexpressed genes” in the shark could one day play a role in uncovering genetic pathways for potential cures in human diseases.

Jaws and its sequels certainly brought white sharks to the attention (and nightmares) of humans, with devastating impacts on how we treated them as a species.

Our relationship with white sharks reflects our relationship with nature more broadly – a feared antagonist within the current capitalist paradigm; an enemy to be tamed, contained or consumed.

As we learn more of the peril and potential of these remarkable creatures, we can learn how to live with them, to see beyond our fears and value their role within our delicate ocean ecosystems.The Conversation

John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University and Heather L. Robinson, Research Associate in Cultural Studies. "Beyond the Books: Culture, value, and why libraries matter" will be published late 2024 through Wakefield Press., Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sharks come in many different shapes and sizes. But they all follow a centuries-old mathematical rule

Rachel Moore
Jodie L. RummerJames Cook University and Joel GayfordJames Cook University

From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes.

Despite these differences, they all face the same fundamental challenge: how to get oxygen, heat and nutrients to every part of their bodies efficiently.

Our new study, published today in Royal Society Open Science, shows that sharks follow a centuries-old mathematical rule – the two-thirds scaling law – that predicts how body shape changes with size. This tells us something profound about how evolution works – and why size really does matter.

What is the two-thirds scaling law?

The basic idea is mathematical: surface area increases with the square of body length, while volume increases with the cube. That means surface area increases more slowly than volume, and the ratio between the two – crucial for many biological functions – decreases with size.

This matters because many essential life processes happen at the surface: gas exchange in the lungs or gills, such as to take in oxygen or release carbon dioxide, but also heat loss through skin and nutrient uptake in the gut.

These processes depend on surface area, while the demands they must meet – such as the crucial task of keeping the body supplied with oxygen – depend on volume. So, the surface area-to-volume ratio shapes how animals function.

A small shark held in a human hand.
Whale sharks are as big as buses, while dwarf lanternsharks (pictured here) are as small as a human hand. Chip Clark/Smithsonian Institution

Despite its central role in biology, this rule has only ever been rigorously tested in cells, tissues and small organisms such as insects.

Until now.

Why sharks?

Sharks might seem like an unlikely group for testing an old mathematical theory, but they’re actually ideal.

For starters, they span a huge range of sizes, from the tiny dwarf lantern shark (about 20 centimetres long) to the whale shark (which can exceed 20 metres). They also have diverse shapes and lifestyles – hammerheads, reef-dwellers, deep-sea hunters – each posing different challenges for physiology and movement.

Plus, sharks are charismatic, ecologically important and increasingly under threat. Understanding their biology is both scientifically valuable and important for conservation.

A school of sharks swimming through a coral reef.
Sharks are ecologically important but are increasingly under threat. Rachel Moore

How did we test the rule?

We used high-resolution 3D models to digitally measure surface area and volume in 54 species of sharks. These models were created using open-source CT scans and photogrammetry, which involves using photographs to approximate a 3D structure. Until recently, these techniques were the domain of video game designers and special effects artists, not biologists.

We refined the models in Blender, a powerful 3D software tool, and extracted surface and volume data for each species.

Then we applied phylogenetic regression – a statistical method that accounts for shared evolutionary history – to see how closely shark shapes follow the predictions of the two-thirds rule.

3D models of various kinds of sharks.
Sharks follow the two-thirds scaling rule almost perfectly, as seen in this 3D representation. Joel Gayford et al

What did we find?

The results were striking: sharks follow the two-thirds scaling rule almost perfectly, with surface area scaling to body volume raised to the power of 0.64 – just a 3% difference from the theoretical 0.67.

This suggests something deeper is going on. Despite their wide range of forms and habitats, sharks seem to converge on the same basic body plan when it comes to surface area and volume. Why?

One explanation is that what are known as “developmental constraints” – limits imposed by how animals grow and form in early life – make it difficult, or too costly, for sharks to deviate from this fundamental pattern.

Changing surface area-to-volume ratios might require rewiring how tissues are allocated during embryonic development, something that evolution appears to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

But why does it matter?

This isn’t just academic. Many equations in biology, physiology and climate science rely on assumptions about surface area-to-volume ratios.

These equations are used to model how animals regulate temperature, use oxygen, and respond to environmental stress. Until now, we haven’t had accurate data from large animals to test those assumptions. Our findings give researchers more confidence in using these models – not just for sharks, but potentially for other groups too.

As we face accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, understanding how animals of all sizes interact with their environments has never been more urgent.

This study, powered by modern imaging tech and some old-school curiosity, brings us one step closer to that goal.The Conversation

Jodie L. Rummer, Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University and Joel Gayford, PhD Candidate, Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A solar panel recycling scheme would help reduce waste, but please repair and reuse first

tolobalaguer.com, Shutterstock
Deepika MathurCharles Darwin University and Robin GregoryCharles Darwin University

Australia’s rooftop solar industry has renewed calls for a mandatory recycling scheme to deal with the growing problem of solar panel waste. Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled. The rest are stockpiled, sent overseas or dumped in landfill.

One in three Australian homes now have rooftop solar panels, and new systems are being installed at the rate of 300,000 a year. Meanwhile, older systems are being scrapped – often well before the end of their useful life.

This has made solar panels Australia’s fastest-growing electronic waste stream. Yet federal government plans for a national scheme to manage this waste appear to have stalled.

Clearly, solar panel waste is a major problem for Australia. Recycling is one part of the solution. But Australia also needs new rules so solar panels can be repaired and reused.

Millions of solar panels dumped as upgrades surge (ABC News, June 12, 2025)

What are product stewardship schemes?

The Smart Energy Council, which represents the solar industry, is calling for a national product stewardship scheme.

Product stewardship schemes share responsibility for reducing waste at the end of a product’s useful life. They can involve people all along the supply chain, from manufacturers to importers to retailers.

Such schemes may be voluntary, and industry-led, or mandatory and legislated. Alternatively, they can be shared – approved by government but run by an organisation on behalf of industry.

Existing schemes manage waste such as oil, tyres, paper and packaging, mobile phonestelevisions and computers.

Depending on the product, a levy is paid by the manufacturer, product importer, network service provider (in case of mobile muster), retailer or consumer – or a combination of these. The money raised is then invested in recycling, research or raising awareness and administering the scheme.

Establishing a solar panel product stewardship scheme

Solar panel systems were added to a national priority list for a product stewardship scheme in 2017.

In December 2020, the federal government called for partners to help develop the scheme, but later stated that no partnership would be struck.

The government released a discussion paper for comment in 2023. The scheme has not yet been established.

This is particularly problematic given Australia’s commitment to renewable energy, which will entail a rapid expansion of solar technology.

Recycling should be the last resort

Product stewardship schemes assume recycling is the main solution to the waste problem.

Australia’s National Waste Policy also focuses on on recycling, rather than reuse or repair. This is despite recycling being the last resort on the “waste hierarchy”, just slightly above disposal.

Solar photovoltaic panels are built to last 30 years or more, and are “not made to be unmade”. They are not easy to dismantle for recycling because they are built to withstand harsh conditions.

It’s difficult for Australia to influence the design of solar panels, given 99% are imported. Just one manufacturer, Tindo Solar in Adelaide, assembles solar panels on Australian soil, using imported silicon cells.

Many solar panels are being removed well before their end of life, generating waste ahead of time. This is rarely because they have stopped producing power.

In our previous research, we found many reasons why people chose to take solar panels down. Consumers are often advised to replace the whole system when just a few panels are faulty. Or they may simply be upgrading to a larger, more efficient system. Sometimes it’s because they want to access a new renewable energy subsidy.

Renewable subsidies and other solar panel policies should be redesigned to keep panels on roofs for longer.

Functioning solar panels removed before the end of their life should be reused. This would require new regulations including quality-control measures certifying second-hand solar panels, and second-hand markets. This is a much neglected field of research and development.

What else should such a scheme include?

Others have discussed what a solar panel product stewardship scheme could include and the possible regulatory environment.

We think the scheme should also involve collecting and transporting panels around Australia, including remote areas.

Unfortunately, existing product stewardship schemes do not differentiate between urban, regional and remote areas. The same is likely to be the case for a solar panel collection and recycling scheme.

This leaves regional and remote areas with fewer recycling facilities and collection points. With a growing number of large solar projects in Northern Australia, reducing waste is imperative.

Remote island communities in the Northern Territory bundle up their recyclables and ship it to Darwin. Removed solar panels are then transported to urban Victoria, New South Wales or South Australia for processing. Who should bear the cost of transporting this waste? Consumers, remote regional councils with small ratepayer bases, or manufacturers and retailers?

A well-designed scheme would help recover valuable resources across Australia for reuse in new products.

However, large volumes of solar panels would be required for recycling schemes to become commercially viable. That’s why the solar recycling industry is concerned about exporters and scrap dealers collecting panels rather then certified solar panel recyclers.

Even if the technology for recycling solar panels is nascent in Australia, it’s worth stockpiling panels in Australia for later.

Considering these issues in the design of a product stewardship scheme would help ensure we can maximise the benefits of renewable energy, while minimising waste.The Conversation

Deepika Mathur, Senior Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University and Robin Gregory, Adjunct Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A weird group of boronias puzzled botanists for decades. Now we’ve solved the pollination mystery

Andy Young
Douglas HiltonCSIRO

Boronias, known for their showy flowers and strong scent, are a quintessential part of the Australian bush. They led Traditional Owners to the best water sources and inspired Australian children’s author and illustrator May Gibbs to pen one of her earliest books, Boronia Babies.

But a weird group of boronias has puzzled botanists for decades. They have closed flowers that thwart most insect visitors. Those that do gain entry may encounter alternating sterile and fertile anthers (the male part that produces pollen) and sometimes, an enlarged stigma (the female part that receives pollen).

Since the early 1960s, scientists speculated this group of boronias relied on an “unusual agent for effective pollination”. Moths were occasionally mentioned in the botanical literature as potential pollinators, but the full story remained elusive – until now.

As my colleagues and I detail in our new research, moths are indeed the mystery pollinators of this strange group of flowers. This knowledge is crucial to ensuring their long-term survival.

One of May Gibbs' illustrations of a Boronia Baby amid _Boronia megastigma_ flowers.
May Gibbs pictured a Boronia Baby hiding inside a Boronia megastigma flower. 2025 © The Northcott Society and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

Sweeping plants, far and wide

My interest in the boronia pollinators began 15 years ago. I was studying a family of moths in my spare time, with a group of friends.

These moths, called Heliozelidae, are tiny. Their wings are just a few millimetres long, smaller than a grain of rice.

They fly during the day and are seldom attracted to lights, so they are poorly represented in museum collections. The best way to find them is to sweep plants with a butterfly net then look inside it.

A man standing with his head inside a net while searching for moths
The author searching for moths in Western Australia. Douglas Hilton

After sweeping plants all over Australia, we discovered this country is a hotspot for Heliozelidae. Hundreds – if not thousands – of these species are new to science and yet to be described. In comparison, only 90 species of Heliozelidae have been described from the rest of the world.

We consistently found one group of 15 moth species on the boronias with the weird flowers in the biodiversity hotspot of Western Australia’s South West. Each moth species was found only on a specific boronia species.

When we took a closer look, we found each of the 15 Heliozelidae has an intricate structure at the tip of its abdomen that collects pollen. There’s nothing else quite like this in the 150,000 known species of moths and butterflies. At last, the mystery of the boronia pollinators was solved.

A closeup of the pollen collecting structure on the tip of the moth's abdomen as seen under a scanning electron microscope
Pollen-collecting structure, replete with pollen, on the dorsal tip of the abdomen of the moth that pollinates Boronia crenulata. Dr Qike Wang

The process of pollinating boronias

In spring, female moths lay many eggs inside flowers. While moving about inside the flower, she collects pollen in the little structure on her abdomen. She enters and exits multiple flowers, pollinating as she goes.

When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat some of the flowers’ developing seeds. When they are fully grown, they leave the flower and burrow into the soil to pupate in a cocoon. When they emerge in spring as moths, the flowers are blooming again and the life cycle repeats.

For some species, such as brown boronia, the moths may be the only visitor the flowers ever receive. This suggests the moth and the plant have a reciprocal relationship, depending on each other for reproduction and ultimately, survival.

This is unusual in nature. The poster-child for this type of relationship is the figs and fig wasps.

A species of Heliozelidae moth resting on a flower of _Boronia megastigma_
Tiny metallic day-flying moths are the boronia pollinators. Andy Young

What’s in a name?

When a scientist discovers and officially describes a new species in the academic literature, they have to name it. Scientific names have two parts. The first part is the genus or group of closely related species and the second identifies the individual species.

We built a family tree which included the new pollinating moths using their DNA sequences. We showed the pollinators belong to the genus Prophylactis meaning “to guard before”, which previously contained four non-pollinating species. This gives us the first part of the name.

For the second part, we used the name of the plant each moth pollinates and added the suffix -allax, meaning “alternately” or “in exchange”. This shows their close relationship to the plant.

So, the moth that pollinates Boronia megastigma is called Prophylactis megastigmallax. The moth that pollinates the endangered Boronia clavata is Prophylactis clavatallax – and so on.

Much to learn

The pollinating moths are more closely related to each other than to other species in the Prophylactis genus. This suggests they inherited their pollen-collecting structure from a long-gone common ancestor.

As with all good science, this research leads to new questions. For example, we are now studying which moth-plant pairs fully depend on each other.

Other Australian plant species may also have intimate relationships with moths. Current field work is exploring which of Australia’s 486 plant species in the citrus-family (Rutaceae) are linked to moths and how often moths have evolved to pollinate them.

Bush secrets brought to life

Our research shows just how much of Australia’s biodiversity is yet to be understood and protected.

As climate change and land-clearing drive biodiversity loss at an unprecedented rate, this is a challenge we must tackle with renewed urgency. Otherwise our children and grandchildren may only experience the full glory of Gibb’s characters on a page, and not in the natural world.The Conversation

A coloured illustration of Boronia Babies and the flowering plant _Boronia megastigma_ by the children's author and illustrator May Gibbs
Boronia Babies on Boronia megastigma 2025 © The Northcott Society and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

Douglas Hilton, Chief Executive, CSIRO

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The historic High Seas Treaty is almost reality. Here’s what it would mean for ocean conservation

J Nel/Shutterstock
Sarah LothianUniversity of Wollongong

The high seas are set to gain a greater level of protection when a long-sought after treaty finally enters into force.

For almost 20 years, nations have debated the need for the High Seas Treaty, intended to protect marine life in the high seas and the international seabed. These marine areas together account for nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean and harbour a rich array of unique species and ecosystems. The treaty is formally known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.

Many hoped last week’s United Nations Oceans Conference would result in enough nations ratifying the treaty to bring it into force. As of today, 50 states of the 60 required have done so, while another 19 have promised to do so by the year’s end. A greater level of protection for our high seas is well and truly in sight.

By United Nations standards, this is a cracking pace. The treaty-making process itself can take years, particularly as states need to incorporate the treaty into their domestic laws. This speaks to the urgency of the moment. Researchers and authorities have warned that the world’s oceans are now in deep trouble, threatened by climate change effectsoverfishing, plastic pollution and other human-caused issues.

Once the treaty enters into force, nations can begin to propose high seas marine protected areas, which could limit fishing and other activities. The question then will be how to police these marine protected areas.

How did we get here?

In June 2023, the High Seas Treaty was adopted by consensus at the UN Headquarters in New York. It was a long time coming.

For decades, nations argued and negotiated over what this treaty might look like. How could the marine genetic resources of this global commons be shared fairly and equitably? How could protected areas be designated and managed? What was eventually thrashed out was a comprehensive international legal framework able to better protect and safeguard the rich and diverse web of life inhabiting the deep sea.

Getting to this point was a real achievement.

But for this treaty to enter into force, 60 countries have to ratify it. This means their governments must consent to be legally bound by the terms of the treaty.

While Australia has pledged to ratify the treaty, it is still working through the ratification and domestic legal process. On a positive note, Environment Minister Murray Watt has indicated this will happen before the end of the year.

What will the treaty actually do?

At present, the high seas are regulated by a patchwork of global, regional and sectoral frameworks, instruments and bodies. However, none of these have a core mandate of protecting the biodiversity of the oceans.

In 1982, the Law of the Sea Convention was adopted, giving every coastal nation rights over the waters extending to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from their coastline.

Once you are past this, you’re in the high seas – the swathes of ocean not controlled by any one nation.

If and when it comes into effect, the High Seas Treaty would give the world a way to set up large marine protected areas in the high seas. It would also apply to the international seabed – the seabed, subsoils and ocean floor lying beyond the continental shelf of a coastal state.

Any new protected areas would likely have restrictions on activities such as fishing and shipping. But this will need to be done in consultation with relevant international bodies such as the International Maritime Organisation and regional fisheries management organisations.

The treaty would go a long way to reaching key conservation goals set under the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Pact, which calls for protection of at least 30% of the world’s marine and coastal habitats by 2030.

The treaty also sets up a mechanism for the sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources, financial and otherwise. Bacteria living in deep-sea ecosystems have attracted much scientific and commercial attention for potential use in medical research or pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries. Genetic resources from sea sponges have given rise to antiviral drugs targeting COVID and HIV as well as anti-cancer drugs.

These resources were a major sticking point during the long negotiations.

Many coastal countries lack the ability to participate in high seas research. As a result, they can miss out on these and other benefits. The High Seas Treaty recognises this and sets up a strong framework for capacity-building, technology transfer and technical assistance for developing nations.

Fishing trawlers close together.
As nations fish out their territorial waters, some send fishing boats into the unregulated high seas. Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock

When will the oceans get a reprieve?

Once the 60th nation ratifies the High Seas Treaty, it will enter into force 120 days later. This date could be as soon as May 1 next year, if the threshold is reached on January 1.

Once this happens, this will be the date upon which the treaty gains legal force, meaning nations will have to comply with its obligations.

That doesn’t mean huge new marine parks will come into being. There’s still much work to do to hash out the mechanics of how the treaty would actually work, how it would be overseen and how it would work with the International Seabed Authority which oversees deep-sea mining and the Antarctic Treaty System, among others. Negotiators face more work ahead to solve these outstanding issues before the real work can begin.

That’s not to diminish this achievement. The progress on this treaty has been very hard won. Once it’s in effect, it will make a concrete difference.The Conversation

Sarah Lothian, Senior Lecturer in Maritime Law and Academic Barrister, University of Wollongong

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Ancient termite poo reveals 120 million-year-old secrets of Australia’s polar forests

Witsawat.S/Shutterstock
Alistair EvansMonash University and Anthony J. MartinEmory University

Imagine a lush forest with tree-ferns, their trunks capped by ribbon-like fronds. Conifers tower overhead, bearing triangular leaves almost sharp enough to pierce skin. Flowering plants are both small and rare.

You’re standing in what is now Victoria, Australia, about 127 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Period. Slightly to your south, a massive river – more than a kilometre wide – separates you from Tasmania. This river flows along the valley forming between Australia and Antarctica as the two continents begin to split apart.

During the Early Cretaceous, southeastern Australia was some of the closest land to the South Pole. Here, the night lasted for three months in winter, contrasting with three months of daytime in summer. Despite this extreme day-night cycle, various kinds of dinosaurs still thrived here, as did flies, wasps and dragonflies.

And, as our recently published research in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology reveals, termites also chewed through the decaying wood of fallen trees. This is the first record of termites living in a polar region – and their presence provides key insights into what these ancient forests were like.

Home makers, not homewreckers

Termites might have a public reputation as homewreckers.

But these wood-eating bugs are a key part of many environments, freeing up nutrients contained in dead plants. They are one of the best organisms at breaking down large amounts of wood, and significantly speed up the decay of fallen wood in forests.

An artwork depicting a dinosaur walking through a fern-filled forest.
Ancient polar forests roughly 120 million years ago in southeastern Australia were dominated by conifer trees. Bob Nicholls

The breakdown of wood by termites makes it easier for further consumption by other animals and fungi.

Their role in ancient Victoria’s polar forests would have been just as important, as the natural decay of wood is very slow in cold conditions.

Although the cold winters would have slowed termites too, they may have thrived during long periods of darkness, just as modern termites are more active during the night.

The oldest termite nest in Australia

Our new paper, led by Monash University palaeontology research associate Jonathan Edwards, reports the discovery of an ancient termite nest near the coastal town of Inverloch in southeastern Victoria. Preserved in a 80-centimetre-long piece of fossilised log, the nest tunnels carved out by termites were first spotted by local fossil-hunter extraordinaire Melissa Lowery.

Without its discoverers knowing what it was then, the log was brought into the lab and we began investigating the origins of its structures.

Understanding the nest was challenging at first: the tunnels exposed on the surface were filled with what looked like tiny grains of rice, each around 2 millimetres long. We suspected they were most likely the coprolites (fossilised poo) of the nest-makers. Once we took a look under the microscope we noticed something very interesting: this poo was hexagonal.

A microscopic image of wood dotted with hexagons.
Termite poo has a distinct hexagonal shape, as seen in these thin sections of the fossilised log we examined. Jonathan Edwards & William Parker

How did this shape point to termites as the “poopetrators”?

Modern termites have a gut with three sets of muscle bands. Just before excretion, their waste is squeezed to save as much water as possible, giving an almost perfect hexagonal shape to the pellets.

The size, shape, distribution and quantity of coprolites meant we had just discovered the oldest termite nest in Australia – and perhaps the largest termite wood nest from dinosaur times.

A global distribution

We continued to investigate the nest with more specific methods.

For example, we scanned parts of it with the Australian Synchrotron – a research facility that uses X-rays and infrared radiation to see the structure and composition of materials. This showed us what the unweathered coprolites inside the log looked like.

A scan of a wood log filled with colourful pellets.
MicroCT imagery of termite coprolites within the nest. Jonathan Edwards

We also made very thin slices of the nest and looked at these slices with high-powered microscopes. And we analysed the chemistry of the log, which further supported our original theory of the nest’s identity.

The oldest fossilised termites have been found in the northern hemisphere about 150 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic Period.

What is exciting is that our trace fossils show they had reached the southernmost landmasses by 127 million years ago. This presence means they had likely spread all over Earth by this point.

The termites weren’t alone

Surprisingly, these termites also had smaller wood-eating companions.

During our investigation, we also noticed coprolites more than ten times smaller than those made by termites. These pellets likely belonged to wood-eating oribatid mites – minuscule arachnids with fossils dating back almost 400 million years. Many of their tunnels ring those left by the termites, telling us they inhabited this nest after the termites abandoned it.

Two round shapes, one much larger than the other.
CT reconstructions of termite and mite coprolites show the huge difference in size between them. Jonathan Edwards

Termite tunnels may have acted as mite highways, taking them deeper into the log. Moreover, because both groups ate the toughest parts of wood, these two invertebrates might have directly competed at the time. Modern oribatid mites only eat wood affected by fungi.

Regardless, our study documents the first known interaction of wood-nesting termites and oribatid mites in the fossil record.

This nest also provides important support for the idea that Australia’s polar forests weren’t dominated by ice, as modern termites can’t tolerate prolonged freezing.

This is the first record of termites living in a polar region, and their presence suggests relatively mild polar winters — something like 6°C on average. Termites would’ve been key players in these ecosystems, kickstarting wood breakdown and nutrient cycling in an otherwise slow environment.

So maybe next time you spot a termite nest, you’ll see a builder, not a bulldozer.


The authors would like to acknowledge the work of Jonathan Edwards who led the research and helped prepare this article.The Conversation

Alistair Evans, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University and Anthony J. Martin, Professor of Practice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Colonisation cleared 95% of these woodlands – Indigenous cultural burning is bringing it back

Elle BowdAustralian National UniversityBraithan Bell-GarnerIndigenous KnowledgeDavid LindenmayerAustralian National UniversityDean FreemanIndigenous Knowledge, and Geoff CaryAustralian National University

For millennia, First Nations people have shaped Australian ecosystems through the purposeful and skilful use of fire. This cultural burning is an important way for Aboriginal people to connect to and care for Country.

Under climate change, Earth is experiencing more frequent and severe bushfires. This has prompted a rethink of Western approaches to fire management, and triggered the development of cultural burning programs supported by government agencies.

At the same time, First Nations people have been calling to revitalise cultural burning as part of a generations-long pursuit of self-determination.

Our new research details the results of a Indigenous-led cultural burning program in critically endangered woodlands in New South Wales. It shows how Western science can support cultural burning to deliver benefits across cultures – as well as for nature.

What we did

Box-gum grassy woodland has been extensively cleared for agriculture, and only about 5% of its original extent remains. The woodlands are endangered in NSW and critically endangered across eastern Australia.

They feature diverse eucalypt trees, sparse shrubs and native tussock grasses, and support native fauna including the critically endangered regent honeyeater and swift parrot.

Our project brought together First Nations communities, ecologists from the Australian National University and officers from Local Land Services. It also involved the Rural Fire Service.

Cultural burns are relatively cool, slow fires. They trickle through the landscape, enabling animals to escape the flames. They promote the germination of plants, including culturally important food and medicine plants, among other benefits.

Cultural burns are important to First Nations people for a variety of cultural and social reasons. The practice is part of a broader suite of inherited cultural responsibilities shared through generations.

Our project involved cultural burns in the winter and spring of 2023. Wiradjuri people burned their Country around Young and Wagga Wagga, and Ngunnawal people burned their Country near Yass.

The burns took place on travelling stock reserves – remnant patches of vegetation historically used to move cattle from paddock to market. These reserves are very important for Aboriginal people because they often trace Songlines and Dreaming tracks. They are also important for farmers as places to graze cattle during drought.

Alongside the cultural burning program, ANU research ecologists monitored how the woodlands responded to the burns. They did this by surveying plants, soils and biomass before and about eight months after the burns, as well as in unburnt areas.

What we found

We measured plant responses by counting the number of plant individuals and recording germination.

Many native plant species germinated after the burn. They included native peas – one an endangered species, the small scurf pea, which germinated exclusively after the burns.

Germination was greater in burned than unburned sites, including for sensitive species that commonly respond well to fire such as native glycine (a herb) and lomandra grasses.

Importantly, the condition of a site before the burn affected how well plants responded. Condition refers to factors such as the diversity of native plants (including sensitive species) and the presence of weeds.

After the burn, native plants were more abundant on sites with a better starting condition, than on those in poor condition. This highlights the importance of improving the health of poor-condition areas after burns.

The type of appropriate management will depend on the site, but may include weed control and planting or seeding native species. More monitoring will also help quantify longer term responses after burning.

Investing in community and nature

Indigenous community members led the burns on their Country and were represented by women and men of multiple generations. They were paid for their work and offered fire-safety training and personal protective equipment.

The burns were often community events – days of connection and sharing knowledge within communities, and between cultures. This fostered opportunities for “two-way learning” and “two-eyed seeing” – ways of respectfully bringing together Indigenous and Western knowledge.

Our project shows how cross-cultural partnerships can be central to conserving and restoring Australia’s unique and highly diverse ecosystems, during a period of environmental change. But for this to happen, cultural burning must be better integrated into mainstream land management.

This is especially needed in some parts of southern Australia, where government-funded programs have been less resourced than in parts of northern and Central Australia.

Government agencies and institutions can support Indigenous land stewardship in various ways.

These include:

  • designing projects with Indigenous people from the outset, and being directed by community aspirations which supports self-determination

  • forming meaningful cross-cultural partnerships across agencies to navigate complex bureaucratic processes

  • providing Indigenous people with resources and land access to manage Country, including funding for labour, training and equipment. Provisions for sufficient resources must be made from the beginning, in grant applications

  • protecting and acknowledging the rights of Indigenous people to their cultural heritage, such as traditional knowledge, through formal protection agreements.The Conversation

Elle Bowd, Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityBraithan Bell-Garner, Ngunnawal Man, Indigenous KnowledgeDavid Lindenmayer, Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityDean Freeman, Senior Officer (Cultural Burning), Riverina Local Land Services, Indigenous Knowledge, and Geoff Cary, Professor, Bushfire Science, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Brazil’s ‘bill of devastation’ pushes Amazon towards tipping point

Philip FearnsideInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)

bill essentially abolishing Brazil’s environmental licensing system is just days away from likely passage by the country’s National Congress. Despite the environmental discourse of President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, what is known as the “bill of devastation” (PL 2159/2021) apparently has his tacit approval. Even if Lula vetoes the bill, anti-environmental voting blocks in the National Congress have more than the 60% in each house needed to override a veto.

The “bill of devastation” has been promoted as relieving “low impact” projects of unnecessary bureaucracy, but it is very much more than this. First, it is for both “low” and “medium” impact projects, two categories that are vaguely defined, allowing projects with major impacts to be benefitted. The bill applies to licensing at both the state and federal levels, and at the state level there is expected to be a “race to the bottom” as states compete to attract investments by loosening environmental restrictions.

The “medium impact” category is a misnomer, as it includes most mining projects such as the mine tailings dams that broke in 2015 at Mariana and in 2019 at Brumadinho to create two of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters.

Under the bill, these “low” and “medium” impact projects would be licensed by what is known as “self-licensing,”. This eliminates the need for an environmental impact assessment, public hearings and specification of compensatory measures in the event of accidents or other impacts. Basically, this self-declared statement consists of checking a series of boxes on an online form.

Bypassing any public or committee debate, at the last minute before the Senate’s plenary vote the bill was modified with an amendment that increased its environmental impact even more. The amendment created a “Special Environmental License” that would allow any project considered to be “strategic” to have an accelerated approval process, regardless of the magnitude of its impacts.

The amendment is believed to be specifically intended to facilitate the controversial mouth-of-the-Amazon oil project, which has major potential impacts both from potentially uncontrollable oil spills and from its impact on climate change.

Brazil’s imminent climate disaster

Global climate and the Amazon forest are both approaching tipping points where the process of collapse escapes from human control. These imminent disasters are intertwined: if the Amazon forest were to collapse it would release more than enough greenhouse gases to push global temperatures beyond the point where human society loses the option to contain climate change by cutting emissions to zero, and if global temperatures rise uncontrollably, it would soon push the Amazon forest to collapse.

The Amazon forest is on the verge of tipping points in terms of temperature, the ongoing increase in dry season length, the percentage of forest cleared and a combination of various climatic and direct anthropogenic impacts.

The loss of the Amazon forest that would result from crossing any of these tipping points would, among other impacts, sacrifice the forest’s vital role in recycling water.

A volume of water greater than the Amazon River’s total flow is released as water vapor by the leaves of the trees, providing rainfall that not only maintains Amazon forest but also maintains agriculture and city water supplies in other parts of Brazil and in neighboring countries. The water vapor is transported by winds known as “flying rivers” to São Paulo, the World’s fourth largest city, which depends on this water supply.

Amazon destruction

Given these catastrophic prospects, Brazil’s government should be acting decisively to halt the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and to lead the World in combatting climate change. These necessities are interrelated, as effective leadership is done through example and Brazil cannot continue to merely exhort other countries to reduce their emissions when its domestic decisions are acting to increase global warming. This includes the “bill of devastation”.

Rapidly phasing out fossil fuel use is fundamental to containing global warming. The amount by which human society must reduce its emissions and the trajectory in time that this reduction must follow are determined by analysis of the best available data and climate models.

The “Global Stocktake” by the Climate Convention, released at COP-28 in 2023, showed that anthropogenic emissions must decline by 43% by 2030 compared to 2023, and by 84% by 2050 to stay within the limit currently agreed under the Paris Agreement of 1.5 ºC above the pre-industrial average global temperature.

This limit represents a tipping point both for the global climate system and for the Amazon forest. Above this point there is a sharp increase in the annual probability of uncontrollable feedbacks driving the system to a catastrophic shift or collapse.

The mouth-of-the-Amazon project is critical. A massive auction of drilling rights, both onshore and offshore, is scheduled for 17 June, including 47 blocks in the mouth of the Amazon River.

Environmental approval of the first “experimental” well (FZA-M-59) is viewed as the key to international oil companies being willing to bid on these blocks. The head of the Brazilian licensing agency (IBAMA) has been under intense pressure to approve the project.

Oil project

Within the licensing debate, the focus is almost entirely on whether Petrobras has the infrastructure and personnel to mount a rescue operation for marine wildlife in the event of an oil spill, rather than the more basic question of whether a leak could be plugged if it should occur.

Unfortunately, there are strong indications that a leak could not be plugged for months or years, as the site has double the 1.5-km water depth at the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico that spilled uncontrollably for five months in 2010, and the ocean currents are much stronger and more complex in the mouth of the Amazon.

Petrobras constantly brags about its long experience with offshore oil extraction, but neither Petrobras nor any other company has plugged a leak at a location with the depth and complexity of the mouth-of-the-Amazon site.

Containing global warming is inconsistent with opening new oil fields due to the economic logic of these projects, which is different from the economics of continued extraction of existing oilfields. This is what led the International Energy Agency (IEA) to recommend that no new oil or gas fields be opened anywhere in the World.

In the case of the mouth of the Amazon project, the expectation is that it would take five years to begin commercial production and another five years to pay for the investment; since no one will want to stop with zero profit, the project implies extracting petroleum for many years after that – far beyond the time when the World must stop using oil as fuel.

Petrobras claims that the mouth-of-the-Amazon project and other planned new oilfields are needed for Brazil’s “energy security” to guarantee that Brazilians will not lack fuel for their vehicles.

The falsity of this argument is obvious from the fact that Brazil currently exports over half of the oil it extracts, and this percentage is expected to rise with the planned expansion. The reserves in Brazil’s existing oilfields are far greater than what the country can consume before fossil-fuel use must cease. In other words, the expansion of oil extraction is purely a matter of money.

Another argument promoted by Petrobras and by President Lula is that the oil revenue is needed to pay for Brazil’s energy transition. While the energy transition must indeed be paid for, it should have a guaranteed place in Brazil annual budget, like health and education, and not be treated as something optional that depends on windfall financial gains.

President Lula’s sleepwalk

President Lula apparently lacks understanding of Brazil’s suicidal course towards a climate catastrophe. He has surrounded himself with proponents of projects with enormous climatic consequences, such as his minister of transportation who presses for Highway BR-319 and his minister of mines and energy and the president of Petrobras who push for the mouth-of-the-Amazon and other new oil and gas projects.

Clearly, Lula does not listen to his minister of environment and climate change on these issues. He lives in a “disinformation space,” to use the term coined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinski to describe Donald Trump. The question of whether President Lula will awake from his sleepwalk before COP-30 in November is critical, as this is his opportunity to assume global leadership on climate change. Although there is no indication that this is likely, efforts to penetrate his disinformation space must continue.The Conversation

Philip Fearnside, Biólogo e pesquisador titular (Departamento de Ecologia), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Wetland restoration is seen as sunk cost – but new research shows why it should be considered an investment

Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators
Wei YangTe Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

As extreme weather intensifies globally, governments are seeking nature-based solutions that deliver both climate and economic benefits.

The restoration of wetlands is an often overlooked opportunity. As our recent study shows, wetlands have long been treated as environmental “add-ons” but are in fact rising economic assets, delivering more value as they mature.

Restored coastal wetlands, particularly mangroves and saltmarshes, offer growing returns in the form of carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection and storm buffering. These benefits build up gradually, sometimes exponentially, over time.

But planning frameworks treat restorations as static costs, rather than compounding investments.

Using international data and economic modelling, we developed a framework to capture how wetland benefits evolve over decades. While we draw on global datasets, this approach can be applied in New Zealand to understand the value of local restoration projects.

Timing matters for wetland investment

Traditional cost-benefit analyses treat wetland restoration as a one-off expense with fixed returns. Our research shows this misses the bigger, long-term picture.

For example, coastal mangroves initially store a modest amount of carbon while seedlings develop. But as root systems establish and capture sediment, there is a critical threshold when carbon sequestration accelerates dramatically. Mature restored mangroves can store three times more carbon annually than during early years.

Saltmarshes follow a similar pattern. They develop from basic habitat into complex networks that buffer storm surges, filter nutrients and support productive fisheries.

For New Zealand, where many wetlands were historically drained or degraded, the implication is clear. Early investment in restoration is critical and will deliver increasing returns over time.

Our study highlights mangroves and saltmarshes as priority systems, but also points to peatlands and freshwater marshes as promising candidates.

A notice board near a small stream among beachgrass at the Kakaho wetlands restoration project.
Early investment in wetland restoration can deliver long-term returns. Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators

Risk from resource management reform

As part of a major reform of the Resource Management Act, the government is reviewing the environmental rules governing the work of local and regional councils, including policies on freshwater.

The law review and freshwater policy consultations present both opportunities and challenges for wetland valuation.

The amendment to the Resource Management Act regarding freshwater proposes:

quick, targeted changes which will reduce the regulatory burden on key sectors, including farming, mining and other primary industries.

While this may reduce the regulatory burden, it highlight the need for robust valuation tools that can weigh long-term benefits against immediate development returns.

The current consultation outlines specific changes, including clarifying the definition of a wetland. The amended definition would exclude wetlands “unintentionally created” through activities such as irrigation, while constructed wetlands would have a new set of objectives and consent pathways.

Councils would also no longer need to map wetlands by 2030, while restrictions on non-intensive grazing of beef cattle and deer in wetlands would be removed.

These definition changes could exclude wetlands that accumulate significant climate and biodiversity benefits over time, regardless of their origin. As our research suggests, the ecological and economic value of wetlands often increases substantially as systems mature.

The valuation gap

Despite growing international recognition of “blue carbon” initiatives (which store carbon in coastal and marine ecosystems), New Zealand lacks frameworks to capture the dynamic value of wetlands.

Earlier research shows coastal ecosystems contribute about US$190 billion annually to global blue carbon wealth, with wetlands storing about half of all carbon buried in ocean sediments despite occupying less than 2% of the ocean.

New Zealand has no wetland-specific financial instruments to attract private investment and wetlands are not integrated into the Emissions Trading Scheme, the government’s main tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This creates a fundamental mismatch. Policy frameworks treat restoration as static costs while science reveals appreciating assets.

Our modelling framework offers a pathway to bridge this gap. By tracking how different wetland types accumulate benefits over time, decision makers can better understand long-term returns on restoration investment.

Australia is already developing wetland carbon markets. International blue carbon financial initiatives are emerging and recognising that today’s restoration investment delivers tomorrow’s climate benefits.

For New Zealand, this could mean:

  • integrating wetland valuation into environmental assessments, moving beyond upfront costs to consider decades of accumulating benefits across different wetland types

  • aligning finance with restoration timelines and developing funding mechanisms that capture growing value rather than treating restoration as sunk costs

  • building regional datasets and generating location-specific data on how New Zealand’s diverse wetlands develop benefits over time, reducing investment uncertainty.

With sea-level rise accelerating and extreme weather becoming more frequent, wetlands represent critical infrastructure for climate adaptation. Unlike built infrastructure (stop banks, for example) that depreciates, wetlands appreciate, becoming more valuable as they mature.

The current policy consultation period offers an opportunity to embed this thinking into New Zealand’s environmental frameworks. Rather than viewing wetlands as regulatory constraints, dynamic valuation could reveal them as appreciating assets that increase resilience for coastal communities.

Restoring coastal wetlands is not just about repairing nature. It’s about investing in a living, compounding asset that ameliorates climate impacts and protects our coasts and communities.The Conversation

Wei Yang, Senior Scientist in Environmental Economics, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Trade in a mythical fish is threatening real species of rays that are rare and at risk

These ‘pez diablo,’ or devil fish, are actually guitarfishes that have been caught, killed, dried and carved into exotic shapes. Bryan Huerta-BeltránCC BY-ND
James Marcus DrymonMississippi State UniversityBryan Huerta-BeltránThe University of Southern MississippiNicole PhillipsThe University of Southern Mississippi, and Peter KyneCharles Darwin University

From the Loch Ness monster to Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, to the jackalope of the U.S. West, mythical animals have long captured human imagination.

Some people are so fascinated with mythical creatures that they create their own, either working from pure fantasy or by modifying real animals. In a newly published study, we show that in countries such as Mexico, people are catching, drying and shaping guitarfishes – members of the rhino ray family, one of the most threatened groups of marine fishes – to create mythical specimens called “pez diablo,” or devil fish.

Depending on where these curios are sold, they might also be referred to as Jenny Hanivers, garadiávolos or rayas chupacabras. The origin and meaning of the term “Jenny Haniver” is unclear, but the most accepted explanation is “Jeune d'Anvers,” or “young girl from Antwerp” in French.

We found that pez diablo are made for many reasons, including as curios for the tourist trade and as purported cures for cancer, arthritis and anemia. Some are simply used for hoaxes. Regardless, the pez diablo trade could threaten the survival of guitarfishes.

Young guitarfishes on display at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

Fishy talismans

Skates and rays, including guitarfishes, are flat-bodied fishes related to sharks and are found worldwide. Together, they make up a group known as elasmobranchs, which are characterized by their unique skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone like most other fishes.

Skates have long been used to craft mythical creatures. The earliest known examples date back to 1558 in Europe, where they were fashioned to resemble dragons. These objects were thought to offer pathways to the divine or medicinal cures.

In the mid-20th century, dried guitarfishes emerged as a new generation of mythical creatures. This may be because their unique shape can be fashioned into more humanlike forms. Their long nostrils, which are positioned just above their mouths, can resemble eyes.

Three dried guitarfishes, each with two slanting, eye-like slits
The ‘eyes’ of these dried guitarfishes are actually nostrils on top of the fishes’ long, pointed snouts. Bryan Huerta-BeltránCC BY-ND

The first known case of a modified guitarfish was described in 1933. Since then, specimens have made their way into museums, and dozens of North American newspapers have published stories featuring modified guitarfishes.

A real and endangered fish

Guitarfishes are one of the most threatened vertebrate groups on the planet: Without careful management, they are at risk of global extinction. As many as two-thirds of all guitarfishes are classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List, a global inventory that assesses extinction risks to wild species.

Guitarfishes are found in warm temperate and tropical oceans around the world. Fishers target them as an inexpensive source of protein. Guitarfishes may also be caught accidentally or collected live for the aquarium trade.

Ultimately, however, these species are worth more as pez diablo than for other uses. For example, an entire fresh guitarfish in Mexico is worth approximately US$2, whereas guitarfish that have been killed, dried and carved into pez diablo can be worth anywhere from $50–$500 on eBay and other e-commerce sites.

Curbing the pez diablo trade

Internationally, the guitarfish trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement between governments. This agreement requires member countries to manage guitarfish trade across international borders.

Most countries where guitarfishes occur, however, do not have national regulations to protect these species. As a result, people who create or sell pez diablo are likely unaware that these fishes are threatened.

There are as many as 37 species of guitarfish, some of which are at higher risk of extinction than others. Yet to the untrained eye, it can be hard to distinguish one guitarfish species from another. It’s especially hard to identify dried and mutilated guitarfishes that have been processed into pez diablo and look very different from their natural form.

A view from above of a flat ray-like fish and a dried specimen that has been carved into a devil-like figure.
An intact guitarfish, left, and a carved, dried version. Bryan Huerta-BeltránCC BY-ND

This is a common challenge for agencies that monitor trade in animal products. The global wildlife trade is an enormous market, involving billions of animals moving through both legal and illegal channels. Many wildlife products are heavily altered, which makes it hard to identify the species and determine where the product came from.

Another source of confusion is that many people in Mexico also refer to an invasive freshwater fish that has overrun lakes and rivers across the nation as pez diablo. This “other” pez diablo is actually a suckermouth catfish and is not at all related to any of the threatened guitarfishes. Local education efforts need to distinguish clearly between these two species, since the desired outcome is to protect guitarfish while removing the invasive catfish.

View from above of a dried white fish and a dark fish with a rounded head
A dried and modified guitarfish, left, compared with an invasive suckermouth catfish. Bryan Huerta-BeltránCC BY-ND

Guitarfish CSI

Fortunately, advances in wildlife forensics offer a way to distinguish between species. Molecular techniques have been used to identify many illegally traded species, including guitarfishes. By taking a small skin sample, scientists can use DNA to identify the species of individual pez diablo. This method can help protect endangered species by helping to ensure that laws against wildlife trafficking are followed.

Refining this kind of molecular tool is the most promising way to improve traceability in the trade of guitarfishes. By documenting where and how pez diablo are traded, scientists and conservationists can help clarify the threats to these species. The pez diablo is an imaginary creature, but it is doing real harm to threatened guitarfishes in the world’s warm oceans.The Conversation

James Marcus Drymon, Associate Extension Professor in Marine Fisheries Ecology, Mississippi State UniversityBryan Huerta-Beltrán, Graduate Student, The University of Southern MississippiNicole Phillips, Associate Professor of Biology, The University of Southern Mississippi, and Peter Kyne, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Declining soil health is a global concern – here’s how AI could help

The arid Loess plateau landscape of northern China. yang1498/Shutterstock
Nima ShokriUnited Nations University

One-third of the Earth’s land surface is already degraded. The UN estimates that more than 2.6 billion people are harmed by land degradation, with countries losing up to US$10.6 trillion (£7.8 trillion) a year because of damage to “ecosystem services”, including the benefits people get from nature such as water and food.

Unhealthy soil is a major contributor to land degradation. This can lead to loss of biodiversity, harm plants and animals, cause sand and dust storms and affect crop yields.

These consequences affect the regulation of the planet’s climate and water cycle, socioeconomic activities, food security and forced migration of people.

Emerging smart technologies such as artificial intelligence, satellite remote sensing and big data analysis offer a chance to protect our soils. These tools can help track soil health in real time. This will support farmers, landowners, government agencies and local communities in making better decisions to care for the soil.


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As a professor of geo-hydroinformatics – a field that combines geoscience, hydrology and information technology – my research focuses on using AI, algorithms and advanced modelling tools to better analyse and predict soil health.

My team and I have developed the first global map of soil salinisation (accumulation of salt in soil) under various climate scenarios using AI-powered techniques. Soil salinisation is one of the leading contributors to soil degradation and can happen naturally or because of human activities, such as using salty irrigation water or poor drainage systems.

With increasing climate uncertainty, our models help identify regions most vulnerable to salinisation. Our AI-driven analysis predicts that by the year 2100, dryland regions in South America, southern and western Australia, Mexico, the southwestern US and South Africa will be key hotspots of soil salinisation.

In another key study, we used satellite data, AI and big data tools to investigate the interaction between soil salinity and soil organic carbon – an important part of healthy soil that stores nutrients, holds water and supports plants.

Part of this analysis revealed a general negative correlation between salinity levels and soil organic carbon content. As salinity increased, we found that the soil organic carbon content tended to decrease.

Our two studies underscore the transformative potential of AI technologies and big data analytics in understanding soil degradation. With a deeper understanding, land can be better managed through more effective mitigation policies and sustainable land use planning.

Restoration at scale

Large-scale land restoration can transform degraded soils. In the Loess plateau in China, centuries of deforestation and unsustainable farming have led to significant ecological challengesLoess soils (a type not limited to this location in China, formed essentially by the accumulation of wind-blown dust) are easily eroded because they are made up of fine and loose particles.

Degradation here has led to more frequent floods, droughts and dust storms because soil degradation is often associated with compaction. This reduces the ability of soil to absorb and hold water.

In the 1990s, this prompted the Chinese government to invest in reforestation and sustainable agriculture. This led to the landmark Loess plateau watershed rehabilitation project, with the main goal of boosting farming and incomes on 15,600km² of land in the Yellow River’s tributary area. The total project cost of US$150 million, partly funded by the World Bank, was approved in 1994.

Elsewhere, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the EthioTrees project was launched in 2016 to tackle land degradation through community-based reforestation, enclosures to limit grazing, and reinvestment of funds generated through climate finance mechanisms.

Green landscape of Tigray in Africa
Tree planting and other efforts have transformed the Tigray region of Ethiopia into a more fertile landscape. Jon Duncan/Shutterstock

Despite challenges including drought and limited financial resources, these large-scale restoration projects have transformed the landscape and lives of people living there.

But the Loess plateau and Tigray projects have been complex and expensive. A lot of coordination between people across huge regions and in different sectors is required to ensure a successful, integrated approach. AI can take these successful but resource-intensive restoration efforts and help scale them up.

I’m also involved with a European Commission-funded project called AI4SoilHealth, which aims to advance the use of AI to monitor and quantify soil health across Europe. This project shows how data-driven initiatives can support more sustainable land management policies by providing timely, actionable information to governments, farmers and other stakeholders such as landowners, agribusiness companies and local communities.

By integrating satellite imagery with accurate data about soil properties in different locations, AI can help develop robust, scalable models that cross local boundaries. Knowing where best to invest money, resources and effort in scaling up soil health solutions will help protect people, businesses and ecosystems from extreme events in the future.


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Nima Shokri, Professor, Applied Engineering, United Nations University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Week Three June 2025 (June 10 - 15)

Clever Cockatoos learning to drink from public water fountains

They have previously been caught hot-footed prying opening wheelie bins to forage for food. Now Sydney’s crafty cockies have been spotted cooling off – by learning how to turn the handles on public drinking fountains.

New research by Max Planck Institute, University of Vienna, Western Sydney University and Australian National University published in the international journal, Biology Letters, has tracked populations of sulphur-crested cockatoos in Western Sydney and filmed their behaviour as they learned to turn the handles on water fountains and help themselves to a drink.

The research team, which included Dr John Martin who is an honorary researcher at the University’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, filmed the cockatoos in action using motion-triggered wildlife cameras.

Across a number of local reserves and sports fields in the Western Sydney area, the cockatoos were observed over a number of weeks successfully starting the fountain’s water flow and obtaining a gulp of water 41 per cent of the time.

These findings follow the team’s previous research which observed populations of sulphur-crested cockatoos learning bin-opening behaviour across greater Sydney so they could forage for food waste.

Dr Martin described the ingenious tactics the birds utilised to help themselves to the water.

“We watched the cockatoos operating the drinking fountain using coordinated actions with both feet. More often than not, the bird would place one foot – mainly the right –on the twist-handle or the valve, with the other foot used to gripping the rubber spout or bubbler. Sometimes they would also use both feet on the valve,” explained Dr Martin.

“The weight of the bird would then be lowered to turn the twist-handle clockwise and keep it from springing back. We would observe the bird then turning its head to access the flowing water.”

He said the behaviour appears to be widely adopted in the local cockatoo population, suggesting it is spread through social learning, much like the bin-opening behaviour.

Dr Martin said most of the visits to the drinking fountains were during dawn and dusk time, in line with the scientists’ expectations for when the birds would likely use the fountains as a water resource. Often there was a queue of birds perched on a nearby fence, waiting their turn.

Unlike the bin-opening habits which heavily-favoured male birds, the researchers this time found little difference between male and female cockatoos when it came to their drinking fountain behaviour.

Dr Martin said the findings show that wild cockatoos are highly successful at adapting their behaviours to the challenges and opportunities that come from living in big cities and urban areas.

“The research shows that despite challenges like loss of habitat, cockatoos are very successful urban adaptors,” said Dr Martin.

“It’s the first time we are aware of wild parrots developing this kind of innovative drinking behaviour.

“We know that cockatoos have a particularly high level of innovativeness and problem-solving, and are attracted to novelty.

“It shows that this kind of drinking innovation can be learned and then spread amongst a local bird population, forming a new urban-adapted tradition.”

Read: Emergence of a novel drinking innovation in an urban population of sulphur-crested cockatoos, Cacatua galerita

Coming in to land: A cockatoo heads to the park drinking fountain - Photo credit: Klump et al, Biology Letters

Snowy Hydro to pay $400,000 to protect endangered frog

June 2025

The EPA of NSW has announced the Snowy Hydro Limited (Snowy Hydro) will pay $400,000 to help protect the iconic Northern Corroboree Frog as part of a legally binding agreement with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

The recently finalised enforceable undertaking (EU) was negotiated with Snowy Hydro in relation to a 2023 pollution incident involving elevated nitrate levels in surface water and groundwater at Lobs Hole, on the Snowy 2.0 construction site in Kosciuszko National Park.

Under the EU, the company has committed to paying $400,000 to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to establish two new frog enclosures in the wild, aimed at protecting the critically endangered Northern Corroboree Frog from the threat of the deadly chytrid fungus.  

The EU also requires the company to pay the EPA’s legal and investigation fees, totalling $90,000.

Director of Operations Steve Orr said the EU reflects the EPA’s strong stance on environmental breaches in sensitive areas.  

“National parks, including Kosciuszko, are State protected areas and strict environmental laws are in place to protect their delicate ecosystems,” Mr Orr said.  

“The EPA expects licence holders to comply with these laws and to take all necessary steps to prevent harm to the environment.

“This EU was considered an appropriate regulatory response to the incident because it provides tangible and long-term benefits for the surrounding environment. In this case, the $400,000 funding commitment will go directly to on-the-ground conservation to assist NPWS’ efforts to re-populate and protect this vulnerable frog.”  

Snowy Hydro was issued with a Clean-Up Notice in response to the incident in December 2023, requiring them to immediately stop adding material containing high nitrate levels to spoil areas on the construction site.

Following this, the company implemented a range of enhanced monitoring programs, established lined emplacement areas, installed new water treatment facilities and adopted a Nitrogen Management Plan to manage nitrates at the site (the first of its kind in NSW). 

The EPA states there is no evidence the pollution from this incident had any impact on the Northern Corroboree Frog or it’s close sibling, the Southern Corroboree Frog, which is only found in Kosciuszko National Park.  

Welcoming winter gardens: BirdLife Australia

Winter might seem like the off-season in the garden, but in much of Australia it’s when the show really starts, especially if you’ve got a native garden. Grevilleas, correas, banksias and more are flowering, making the garden look gorgeous and attracting in a host of different birds. With cooler air and softer soils, it’s also the perfect time to step back, make a few smart tweaks, and set your space up for an even more bird-friendly spring.

Eastern spinebill feeding on the nectar of a Grevillea flower. Photo: Joseph C Boone

Here are five winter actions I will be taking to keep my garden a welcoming space for birds:

1. Fertilise native plants lightly but purposefully.

With soil moisture up and temperatures down, this is a great time to give native plants a gentle nutrient boost. Use a low-phosp, native-specific fertiliser on shrubs and small trees to encourage flowering and growth for spring. Think of it as fuelling the next wave of nectar, fruit and insects for birds.

2. Divide and conquer the clumping plants.

Kangaroo paws, dianellas and lomandras all benefit from being lifted and divided in winter. Be prepared to prune back their foliage by half and make sure each division has a few healthy shoots. Not only does this help maintain vigorous growth and better flowering, it’s also a great way to multiply your plants for free, ideal if you’re expanding habitat or sharing with neighbours.

3. Transplant with care, depending on your climate.

If you’re in a warmer zone, now’s a good time to relocate established native plants while soil’s soft and rainfall can help them re-establish. In colder regions, I hold off until early spring to avoid frost damage.

4. Observe, and maybe plant.

Autumn is prime planting time in much of Australia, but you can often sneak in a few new natives now too, especially tubestock. Just avoid planting during frosty periods or if your region regularly drops below 2 °C.

5. Prune with purpose (but don’t overdo it).

While some natives are flowering now, others are resting, making it a good time to tidy up leggy growth or shape woody shrubs that have finished blooming. I focus on pruning just enough to maintain structure and encourage bushier regrowth come spring.

Celebrate the winter flowers and don’t forget to enjoy them! Native plants put on a great show at this time of year, and they’re drawing in a host of great birds. I still pinch myself when the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos hang out in my Coastal Banksias. Sit back, spot who’s visiting, and take note of what plants are doing the work. Don’t forget to do a Birds in Backyards seasonal survey as well or visit Birdlfe Australia's FREE Habitat Gardening for Birds online course

Discover Sydney’s blooming spectacular Muogamarra

Each year, the Muogamarra, on the Hawkesbury River near Cowan, transforms with a stunning display of colour when many of its glorious collection of over 900 species of native plants come into bloom.

Magnificent wildflowers such as waratahs, majestic angophoras, old-man banksias, pink boronias and delicate native orchids are set against a backdrop of spectacular views of the lower Hawksbury River.

During this time the Nature Reserve is open to the public for just a few weeks to protect its unique historic and Aboriginal heritage and fragile ecosystem.

The only way for visitors to experience what is arguably Sydney's best wildflower display is with a pre-booked tour.

The Muogamarra Discovery season is extremely popular and just as the blooms are fleeting so too are tickets with each year booking out quickly.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is encouraging nature-lovers to get in early and book a tour of the popular nature reserve to ensure they do not miss out on glimpsing this unique place with friends or family.

John Duncan Tipper established Muogamarra as a private sanctuary in 1934 and public access has always been limited to subscription visits and special wildflower days to protect the vulnerable ecosystem.

See;  Muogamarra Nature Reserve in Cowan celebrates 90 years: a few insights into The Vision of John Duncan Tipper, Founder 

The nature reserve is also home to 14 native animal species including the swamp wallaby, brush tail possum and echidnas, while birdwatchers may glimpse a soaring wedge-tail eagle or the endangered glossy black-cockatoo.

Walking tracks around the nature reserve offer stunning views of the Hawkesbury River and Berowra Creek, as well as expansive views of Bar, Milson and Spectacle islands.

In 1969, management of the area was transferred to the newly established NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service where the reserve became known as Muogamarra Nature Reserve.

The Muogamarra Discovery Season has been staffed by the dedicated and knowledgeable Chase Alive Volunteers since 1989.

Pre booked tours are only between 9 August and 15 September with tickets ranging from $15 to $55 for adults. Children, concession and family pricing is also available. Find out more on the NSW national parks Muogamarra open season 2025 webpage.

Greg Kirby National Parks and Wildlife Service Area Manager said on Friday June 6:

"Every year Muogamarra Nature Reserve is open to the public for a short time and those who have experienced this unique area will be able to tell you just how special it is.

"For 90 years, workers, volunteers and stakeholders have ensured Muogamarra is a one-of-a-kind reserve, offering experiences that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. "I would like to thank each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication to this beautiful reserve."


Minister for the Environment, The Hon Penny Sharpe, gets one quiet moment in the Muogamarra Nature Reserve on Sunday 1 September 2024.

House Mice are now killing adult Wandering Albatrosses on Marion Island – not just their chicks

June 11, 2025

Published in Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels news

Michelle Risi (Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa) and colleagues have published in the journal Biological Conservation on their observations of introduced House Mice attacking and killing adult Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans (Vulnerable) on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  The publication includes three short videos as electronic supplementary material depicting mouse attacks.

A. Frame from a motion-activated infrared camera of a House Mouse attacking an adult male Wandering Albatross, inset close-up of the scalp wound.  B. An adult male Wandering Albatross brooding its chick with a severe wound to the elbow joint of its wing.  C. An adult male brooding its chick, with a wound on its right tibiotarsal joint, bleeding onto the bird’s rump.  D. A minor wound was detected on the right elbow of an adult male Wandering Albatross (from the publication)

The paper’s abstract is:

“Invasive rodents severely impact native species, especially on oceanic islands.  House mice Mus musculus are known predators of seabird chicks, and there is growing concern about their attacks on adult birds.  On sub-Antarctic Marion Island, the single largest breeding site for wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans, invasive mice, the sole introduced mammal, pose an escalating threat to this Vulnerable species.  We report the first direct evidence of mice attacking adult wandering albatrosses, and record mouse attacks on adult wandering albatrosses beyond the localised incidents reported in 2023.  Of 2,979 wandering albatross nests counted island-wide in January 2024, 2,295 remained active in April, with 1,102 attended by adults brooding or guarding chicks.  Of these, 11 adults (1%) exhibited mouse-inflicted wounds (including a scalp injury, as well as the more common wing joint wounds), and two fresh adult carcasses were discovered.  Injured adults and carcasses were distributed across all wandering albatross breeding colonies.  Wounds predominantly affected males (10 of 11); one adult succumbed to its injuries within six weeks.  The 11 nests with injured adults had a 45% breeding success rate, below the island-wide average of 61%.  At Cape Davis, where mice were first recorded attacking adults in 2023, breeding success was just 28%.  This expansion in attack range and severity underscores the urgent need to eradicate mice from Marion Island to conserve wandering albatrosses and other threatened biota.”

Reference:

Risi, M.M., Jones, C.W., Connan, M., Gill, R., Stephen, V., Cunningham, S.J. &·Ryan, P.G. 2025.  Escalating threats: house mouse attacks on adult wandering albatrosses spread across Marion Island.  Biological Invasions 27. 149.  doi.org/10.1007/s10530-025-03610-8.

2025 World Albatross Day: 19 June

Friday June 8 2025 Article by BirdLife Australia

Confronting the silent threat of disease​

On 19 June 2025, we mark the sixth annual World Albatross Day, with the theme ‘Effects of Disease’. While albatrosses have long faced threats like fisheries bycatch and climate change, disease is an emerging and often overlooked peril.​

The hidden menace: disease in albatross populations

Albatrosses are among the most remarkable seabirds on the planet, known for their vast movements across the world’s oceans. But this globe-trotting lifestyle may expose them to a wider array of parasites and pathogens than many other birds. Albatrosses are long-lived—Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan Albatross, is the world’s oldest known wild bird—and they have dense, communal nesting habits, both factors which increase the risk of transmission of disease within breeding colonies.

Emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza, avian pox and avian cholera are already affecting some albatrosses, and they can have devastating impacts, reducing breeding success and chick survival, which places further pressure on already vulnerable populations.

Australia’s unique albatross: the Shy Albatross

Australia’s only endemic albatross, the Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta), breeds on just three isolated islands off Tasmania. They are already at risk from threats like fisheries bycatch and climate change, and now disease poses an additional—and significant—challenge.

Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) in flight. Photo: Glen Fergus

On Albatross Island, breeding colonies have been affected by a virus that is transmitted by ticks. Infected chicks often show symptoms of avian pox, and over 40% of pre-fledging birds are affected in some years, though outbreaks vary in severity and distribution. Nevertheless, they often lead to substantial declines in breeding success due to infected chicks losing weight and dying. Reflecting these ongoing pressures on their survival, the Shy Albatross was listed as nationally Endangered in Australia in 2020.

Climate change and disease

Climate change can exacerbate the spread and impact of disease among populations of seabirds. Warmer temperatures and altered weather patterns can increase stress levels and the prevalence of pathogens—such as viruses and parasites—making seabirds more susceptible to illness. Researchers are working hard to understand the processes behind the effects of a changing climate and disease.

 Albatross off Barrenjoey headland - picture by A J Guesdon, 2015

Avian Influenza and albatrosses

Avian influenza or bird flu is an infectious disease caused by strains of the Influenza A virus. The H5N1 strain or H5 bird flu is a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that affects birds and mammals associated with water—ducks, gulls and seabirds such as albatrosses, as well as sea lions and elephant seals. The virus causes severe neurological and respiratory symptoms and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of birds and mammals all around the world—with the exception of Australia and New Zealand.

H5N1 has been detected in Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) on the subantarctic island of South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur). This outbreak, which began with Brown Skuas in October 2023, has since affected other seabirds and seals. Recent outbreaks on the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands have prompted fears for the birds of Heard and Macquarie Islands, a mere 400 kilometres away. The spread of bird flu in remote island ecosystems threatens already vulnerable species with high mortality rates, particularly those with slow reproductive rates. In addition, biosecurity measures are difficult to implement effectively in such isolated environments, and any intervention must be carefully balanced to avoid disturbance to breeding colonies. The outbreak also complicates long-term monitoring and research activities, with restricted access and increased risk to both wildlife and people working in the field.

Conservation efforts and the path forward

The H5 bird flu virus cannot be stopped, but there is still plenty we can do to support populations of our precious albatrosses and other seabirds. BirdLife Australia is working with local and international organisations, such as the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, to address the challenges faced by these species by promoting research and conservation strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of the disease. Efforts include monitoring outbreaks, implementing biosecurity measures and supporting habitat protection.​

How you can help

Stay Informed:

Educate yourself about the threats facing albatrosses and share this knowledge with others.​ If you want to learn more about albatrosses and Avian Influenza, please join us the Birds Meet Webinar at 7pm on 19 June 2025.

Support Conservation:

Contribute to organisations dedicated to seabird conservation.​

Advocate:

Encourage policymakers to implement and enforce measures that protect albatross habitats and address the threats.​

Chemical CleanOut: June 28-29 at Mona Vale Beach

Runs: 9am to 3.30pm

You can take household quantities of the following household chemicals and items – up to a maximum of 20 litres or 20 kilograms of a single item.

  • Solvents and household cleaners
  • Floor care products
  • Ammonia-based cleaners
  • Pesticides and herbicides
  • Poisons
  • Pool chemicals
  • Hobby chemicals
  • Motor fuels
  • Fluorescent globes and tubes
  • Acids and alkalis
  • Smoke detectors
  • Paint and paint-related products
  • Gas bottles
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Car and household batteries
  • Motor oils and cooking oils

This is a NSW Government program

Surfrider Foundation: June 2025 Surf Swap

🌊Sun 22 June - Surfrider 3rd Annual Surf swap & Repair Market
Venue: Surfrider Gardens, 50 Oceans St, Narrabeen
Time: 11 - 3pm 
Ride the Use Wave - Sell, Swap, Repair or repurpose your preloved Surf gear.
Meet shapers and makers of sustainable surfboards, local innovators of upcycling waste into surf accessories
Upcycle your ‘end of life’ wetsuit with Ripcurl, attend minor board repair workshops
Chill to smooth beats in the winter sun and enjoy killer coffee from the local cafes
This event is held with the support of the Northern Beaches Council.
Free to attend and a waste free event!
Event Registration here - Day traders and Stallholders

Whale Census Day 2025: June 29

Water exemptions made to speed up new homes

June 12, 2025
The Minns Labor Government has announced it is fast-tracking the delivery of new homes and infrastructure with temporary groundwater license exemptions now in place to speed up construction, slashing red tape and costs for developers.

The government states the exemptions are ''estimated to support the delivery of 377,000 new homes by 2029, making it easier for eligible projects to access the water they need while maintaining essential environmental safeguards''.

''Previously, developers required a license to remove more than 3 megalitres of water during excavation and construction activities – a process known as infrastructure dewatering.

''Short-term dewatering is common, especially in coastal areas where groundwater tables can be higher, causing water to funnel into work sites, tunnels and foundations. This water must be extracted so projects can proceed safely and efficiently.''

The licence exemptions apply to:
  • coastal construction projects until June 2029
  • essential infrastructure projects including road, rail, utility and other works delivered by public authorities across NSW
  • water infrastructure projects delivered by private bodies with approved schemes under the Water Industry Competition Act 2006.
Eligible works are automatically exempt from needing a water licence; however, developers will still need to comply with the relevant water management rules and regulatory requirements throughout the course of construction.

These requirements may include gaining a water supply work approval through WaterNSW and recording and reporting water take to the Natural Resources Access Regulator.

The reforms involve changes to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018 and are part of the commitments made in the Housing Approvals Reform Action Plan announced in February.

For more information, visit the Groundwater access licence exemptions web page.

Minister for Water Rose Jackson stated:

“This is about removing pointless delays and getting homes built. We're making it easier to start building the homes and infrastructure our communities need, while keeping strong environmental protections in place. Tackling the housing crisis means backing practical solutions that get homes built across NSW.

“We’re using every lever at our disposal to supercharge housing and infrastructure for New South Wales, by slashing unnecessary red tape and streamlining approvals to allow builders to get shovels in the ground sooner.

“We asked NSW Government agencies to work together to find smarter solutions to fast-track the housing and infrastructure we desperately need.

“Importantly, there are no changes to the existing approvals processes, which thoroughly assess all projects and can place appropriate caps on dewatering on a case-by-case basis.

“These exemptions are a great step forward, addressing industry concerns and getting homes and critical infrastructure built faster.”

Have your say on council's climate change policy

The Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula is particularly vulnerable to impacts associated with climate change which are likely to increase in future years according to the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan.

The council states it has delivered numerous initiatives to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of, climate change and has now drafted a new Climate Change Policy that will guide how it manages climate change risks and continues to reduce emissions. The council is now seeking feedback from the community on its draft Policy.

The risks include increasingly severe and complex impacts associated with coastal hazards and flooding, and more frequent extreme weather, bush fires, high winds, heatwaves and drought. 

Mayor Sue Heins said the council is committed to doing its part to reduce emissions, but importantly also focusing on building community resilience to these impacts.

“Such impacts can go beyond these physical hazards, creating challenges and driving changes across the community, natural environment and economy,” Mayor Heins said. 

“Recent bush fire, storm and flooding events have directly impacted the local community, through property damage and increased clean-up, repair and insurance costs, as well as causing stress, fatigue and uncertainty.    

“We want to ensure that we’re not just reducing emissions, but importantly we’re adapting to projected climate change and building community resilience.

“This requires preparedness for both council and the community and we welcome feedback from our community on the draft policy” Mayor Heins said.

Palm Beach stormwater drain opposite Wilshire Park creek, July 6, 2024, filled with plastic bag encased sandbags

Snapperman Beach seawall in March 2022 with plastic filled sandbags now deep into the beach itself - was damaged in storm of March 2021 - was finally repaired in February through March 2023

The council's Climate Change draft Policy has the following 13 Principles:

1. Ensure that Council’s Integrated Planning and Reporting framework incorporates suitable measures to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of climate change across its assets, functions, services and reporting.

2. Adopt a proactive and adaptive approach to managing the impact of climate change, informed by the best available science and guidance, and adjusted regularly for changes in data, technology, and policy.

3. Maintain up to date greenhouse gas emission  reduction targets for Council and the community that are monitored, reviewed, and publicly reported against.

4. Ensure consistency with state, national, and international legislation, guidelines, benchmarks and targets, as appropriate. 

5. Prioritise the management of risk to people, property, and the environment from the impacts of climate change in accordance with Council’s obligations and its Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

6. Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from Council activities as far as possible. Council may offset the remaining emissions to meet its adopted targets.

7. Incorporate the range of climate projections aligned to emission scenarios SSP2 and SSP3 when managing Council assets and services and when developing studies, management plans and in land use planning. When making decisions, use SSP2 for short-term scenarios and SSP3 for longer-term scenarios.

8. Work with the community and key stakeholders to reduce emissions, address climate risks and enhance resilience across the Northern Beaches.

9. Ensure Council decisions consider the impacts of climate change for current and future generations.

10. Identify and manage climate change impacts and obligations through Council’s systems and frameworks. This includes project management, enterprise risk management, procurement, business and financial planning, as well as strategic and land use planning  frameworks.

11. Reduce current and future risks to the community and the environment by locating new development out of high-risk hazard areas (particularly those expected to be at greater risk from climate change), and/or incorporating appropriate measures to reduce the risk to an appropriate level in accordance with relevant guidelines and statutory controls (including utilising appropriate land zoning).

12. Consider the options of protection, accommodation, avoidance, nature-based adaptations and relocation where climate change poses a significant risk to existing development and land uses.

13. Advocate for, and where possible implement, better building and construction standards, delivery of multi-agency projects, waste minimisation and management, zero emissions transport, sustainable finance and equitable community support to reduce the causes, risks and impacts of climate change.

Policy's Scope and application

This Policy applies to officials of the Northern Beaches Council and will be implemented across Council’s assets, functions and services.

Policy's Definitions for Adaptation responses

• Nature-based: Nature based solutions such as protecting and augmenting dunes, revegetating foreshore buffers or undertaking rehabilitation of natural coastal habitats such as mangrove, saltmarsh and salt-tolerant transitional vegetation.

• Accommodation: Design new structure and/or altering existing structure to reduce vulnerability to impacts. Example: raising the floor height of a flood-prone building.

• Avoidance: Minimising intensification of existing exposure and preventing new development in areas subject to current or future risks. Example: prohibiting new development in areas subject to bush fire risk.

• Protection: Implementing temporary or permanent works that provide a barrier between a structure and a hazard. Example: hard protection such as seawalls or levees or soft protection (often referred to as ecosystem-based adaptations) such as dunes, sand nourishment or planting of bush fire resistant vegetation. 

• Relocation:  Removal or relocation of existing exposed structure or asset out of an at-risk area.

Policy Document's definitions

Carbon offset A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. A carbon offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission  reduction of one metric tonne of CO2-e. The purchaser of an offset credit can ‘retire’ it to claim the reduction towards their own emission reduction goals.

Climate change Change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Throughout this policy, the term refers to changes to the climate  attributable to human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions or land use changes.

Climate risk Refers to potential negative or positive impacts of natural hazards and climate under the influence of rising global  greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions Greenhouse gases released from human activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.

Hazard A potential natural or human-induced physical event, trend or disturbance with negative consequences.

NARCliM The NSW Government provides high-quality regional climate  projections and information for public use through the NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project. Resilience The capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, and  systems to survive, adapt and thrive in response to chronic stresses and acute shocks.

SSPs Shared Socioeconomic Pathways are a range of scenarios for climate change that consider different levels of greenhouse gas emissions, population, economics, social factors, and other key concepts. They help assess potential climate futures and their impacts.

SSP2 and SSP3 

The SSP2 scenario assumes that global trends continue without major shifts. Some countries make good progress, while others struggle. Environmental degradation continues, but resource and energy use become more efficient.

SSP3 scenario assumes countries prioritise security and economic independence, leading to slow technological progress and high challenges for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Targets Includes Council’s targets, aspirations, commitments, benchmarks, and actions as outlined in all Council policies, strategies, and action plans.

The draft Climate Change Policy has been prepared to update and replace the current policies and guide the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation action across the council’s assets, functions and services. 

The policy is on exhibition from Friday 23 May to 22 June. For more information and to have your say visit the council's Climate Change Policy - draft; consolidating existing former council policies webpage


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.

Council's Draft Land Dealings Policy: Have your Say

  • Submissions opened: Fri 23 May 2025
  • Submissions close: Mon 23 Jun 2025

The council has made available its Draft Land Dealings Policy.

The council states its ''draft Policy is an integral part of the council's adopted Property Management Framework (PMF), ensuring that Land Dealings are conducted transparently, accountably, and in the best interests of the community.

If adopted, the draft Policy will replace 5 policies of the 3 former Councils (available in the Attachments Booklet for the May 20 2025 Council Meeting).

Under the Policy ''Land assets will be subject to ongoing review in relation to their purpose, usability, viability, and overall community benefit, in accordance with this Policy and the Property Management Framework.''

The 'Draft Council Policy NB-P-42 Land Dealings' is a 2 1/2-page policy which also refers to a 'Land Dealings Guidelines' - however, that document, or guidelines, have not been made available, so it would b difficult to provide informed feedback based on being able to scrutinise the document/s or guideline/s named in the policy. 

The policy further states:

'Proposals for Land Dealings, where required, will be reported to the relevant Council Committees and the elected Council for consideration in accordance with Council’s adopted Property Management Framework.

Confidential reporting may be necessary under certain circumstances where there may be legal, commercial or privacy/safety issues should the information be made publicly available.'

In closing the document states:

This Council policy relates to the Community Strategic Plan Outcome of:

• Good governance - Goal 19 Our Council is transparent and trusted to make decisions that reflect the values of the community.

The feedback webpage, Draft Land Dealings Policy, provides a 1 question survey you can take or provide written feedback via the email/postal method.

Council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing: Have Your Say

The council is inserting the phrase from Chapter 6 of the State Government's - 'Chapter 6, Part 2 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (the Housing SEPP); ''Where there is any inconsistency between the controls in this DCP and the Housing SEPP, the Housing SEPP prevails.''

Stage 1 started on 1 July 2024, permitting dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings in all R2 low density residential zones.

Stage 2 started on 28 February 2025, allowing townhouses, terraces and small apartment buildings (up to 9.5 metres high) in R1 and R2 zones within 800 metres of nine identified town centres on the peninsula. It also permits apartment buildings up to 6 storeys (22-24 metres) in R3 medium density residential zones within 400 metres of these centres, and up to 4 storeys (17.5 metres) within 400-800 metres.

The 9 identified town centres on the peninsula are:

  • Balgowlah
  • Brookvale
  • Dee Why
  • Forestville
  • Forest Way
  • Frenchs Forest
  • Manly
  • Manly Vale
  • Mona Vale

See last week's report: Pittwater MP slams the Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy for turning on the tap for developers

The council states it is also making proposed changes to existing development control plans (DCPs) to protect the local character, amenity, heritage and streetscapes and safeguard the valued tree canopy.  

The proposed changes are a response to the NSW Government’s change to planning laws, known as the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Reforms, which have recently allowed greater building heights and density surrounding town centres and train stations and the introduction of dual occupancy development in all R2 zoned land in the LGA.

Currently, separate DCPs for the former Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Councils provide detailed guidance for development including building setbacks, trees and landscaping areas, heritage protection and car parking requirements. 

The council states they do not include controls that adequately address development types now permitted under the new reforms.

The council states their proposed DCP amendments aim to promote best practice and create greater consistency, so that the same rules apply to these developments as to other similar developments in the NBC LGA area.

The council states the Northern Beaches Council is one of the first councils to consider DCP amendments in response to the State Government reforms.

Mayor Sue Heins said the council’s power had been reduced in relation to applications submitted under the new State Government rules. 

“The new one-size-fits-all approach to planning has implications for our area, increasing heights and density up to 6-storeys in and around 9 town centres, without corresponding development controls that protect the character we value,” Mayor Heins said.  

“While council has been stripped of the power to refuse applications that comply with the new rules, we can amend our Development Control Plans to ensure any new townhouse, apartment or terrace style development is at least subject to the same controls as others like them outside the new town centre zones. 

“Controls like how much space is allocated to landscaping and trees, the streetscape appearance, parking requirements, electric vehicle charging, ventilation and natural sunlight and consideration of privacy, separation and views. 

“We are also moving to protect our local heritage, especially in the Manly Conservation Area, strengthening protection and consideration of the unique historic character of the area in the development controls. 

“All the changes being proposed to the DCPs can have a real impact on the lifestyle of those living in the town centres and to the look and feel of our much-loved neighbourhoods. I encourage the community to have their say.”

The proposed changes to the DCPs will be on exhibition from Friday 23 May to Sunday 22 June. 

For more information and to provide feedback visit council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing webpage

Weed of the Week: Morning Glory - please get it out of your garden

Blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica) photo by A J Guesdon

Morning glory weed is fast-growing, twining vines that can be troublesome weeds due to their ability to smother native vegetation.

First Strategy to protect NSW heritage released

Community members and heritage stakeholders are being invited to have their say on the first NSW Heritage strategy. It will seek to update the approach to heritage by recognising, protecting, enhancing and celebrating our state’s rich history.

The Minns Labor Government’s vision is for a heritage system that recognises the rich places, people and experiences that have shaped NSW. 

The draft strategy examines ways to modernise the approach to heritage and at the same time ensuring that housing can be built. 

The draft strategy has been informed by more than 1,750 submissions from heritage experts, advocacy groups, government bodies and members of the public.

Key questions within the strategy are how to:

  • recognise and protect a broader range of stories and values to represent the diverse history and communities of NSW within the heritage system
  • improve alignment between the heritage and planning systems including simplifying approval processes
  • enhance support for heritage owners and custodians
  • encourage new uses for heritage places, including government-owned heritage
  • champion activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces to create significant social and economic benefits
  • work with Aboriginal communities to better acknowledge, celebrate and protect cultural heritage
  • promote climate adaptation and sustainability upgrades to heritage places and objects
  • establish a more robust State Heritage Register and underpinning legislation.

Individuals and organisations can provide feedback on the draft NSW heritage strategy and submit ideas on the Have your say web page.

Consultation is open until 13 July 2025. 

Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe, said:

“Establishing the state’s first heritage strategy is a significant step to ensure we protect and celebrate the heritage items that reflect and resonate with all members of our community. 

“The strategy reflects the diverse and changing needs of our community. I encourage you to have your say about how NSW can make our heritage system world leading.”

WIRES 2025 Grants Applications Now Open 

WIRES National Grants Program

National Support for Critical Wildlife Projects

WIRES’ National Grants Program (NGP) is designed to support best practice wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, an increase in emergency preparedness for wildlife, and native species recovery projects, to improve long-term outcomes in Australia.

Program Objectives

  • The NGP was developed to provide ongoing support for wildlife, and their habitats, across Australia. WIRES’ focus is on proposals that have tangible, positive, and ideally long-term, outcomes for wildlife. Program objectives include:
  • Building capacity and capability for the Australian wildlife rescue and rehabilitation sector,
  • Improving emergency preparedness and response capabilities to assist wildlife,
  • Preserving species and their habitat through projects leading to long term positive outcomes for native wildlife,
  • Raising community awareness and inspiring broader community involvement in supporting Australian wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and preservation.

Funding Categories

Up to $1 million is available across these tiers annually, and eligible applicants are invited to submit proposals for:

  • Tier 1: Individually Licensed Wildlife Rescuers and Carers (maximum $2,000)
  • Tier 2: Licensed Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Organisations (maximum $8,000)
  • Tier 3: Environmental NGOs and Community Groups (maximum $20,000)
  • Tier 4: Consortia/Multi-partner Collaborations (maximum $50,000)
Application process
Key dates for 2025 applications:

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Applications open - 19th May 2025

Online webinar #1 - 12.30pm AEST 21st May Register Here

Online webinar #2 - 7.30pm AEST 3rd June - Register Here

Applications close – 20th June (5pm AEST)

Successful applicants notified - September 2025 

Grant announcements and unsuccessful applicants notified - October 2024 

Reports due - Final for 6-month progress for – March 2026

Final Report due and project completed - 12-month month projects - September 2026.

How to Apply

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Click on APPLY NOW link when available to access the WIRES Grant Portal.
  • Create account or log in. Please note that you will need to tick “Yes” to receiving notifications if you wish to be sent confirmation of application submission.
  • Read information on the home page
  • Click on “Start application”
  • Select your State/Territory
  • Select “WIRES National Grants Program 2025” and then the appropriate tier.
  • If you wish to leave a partially completed application, make sure you press ‘Save + close’ and log out.
  • You can log back in and continue to edit your application form until you are ready to submit.
  • To submit your application, select the ‘Submit application’ button.
  • Note, no changes can be made once this is selected.
You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been successfully received. If you do not receive an email, please ensure you check your junk mail and add us to your safe sender list.

Visit this page on May 19 when the apply now link becomes available to commence your application.

First NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan released

The Minns Labor Government has released a draft of NSW’s Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan, which is needed to prevent Greater Sydney running out of landfill. Without intervention, waste collection and disposal services could be severely impacted by 2030, forcing councils to transport rubbish to regional areas or interstate.

Failure to tackle this would drive up the cost of kerbside bin collections and lead to costs for residents and businesses increasing by around 20%.

A slowdown in rubbish collection would also impact critical infrastructure projects, such as new housing developments. It’s estimated that it could cost the economy around $23 billion.

The first chapter of the draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan will consult councils, industry and the community on the next steps to build the infrastructure required across Greater Sydney.

Future chapters are expected to be released later this year and will focus on enhancing recycling infrastructure and addressing the unique waste challenges facing regional and remote NSW.

The release of this chapter lays out how the NSW Government will:
  • safely manage the waste we don’t recycle and avoid Greater Sydney’s imminent shortfalls in landfill capacity
  • collect and process increased volumes of organic waste, as source-separated FOGO collections are rolled out across Greater Sydney.
The Minns Labor Government recognises that a state government cannot do this alone. A new Ministerial Advisory Committee will be established to guide the plan’s implementation and advise on local barriers, identify opportunities for investment and report on progress.

This plan follows the NSW Government’s recent mandate of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling. FOGO will reduce the volume of food waste sent to landfill, by diverting up to 950,000 tonnes of each year.

To have your say by 25 June 2025, visit the Draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan web page.

Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said:
“For too long, state governments have ignored the fact that Greater Sydney is running out of landfill.

“Waste collection is an essential service.

“This draft plan is the first of its kind and is long overdue.

“We can no longer kick this problem down the road. I look forward to working with local councils, industry and local communities to urgently address the problem.”

Solar for apartment residents: Funding

Owners corporations can apply now for funding to install shared solar systems on your apartment building. The grants will cover 50% of the cost, which will add value to homes and help residents save on their electricity bills.

You can apply for the Solar for apartment residents grant to fund 50% of the cost of a shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system on eligible apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings in NSW. This will help residents, including renters, to reduce their energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Less than 2% of apartment buildings in NSW currently have solar systems installed. As energy costs climb and the number of people living in apartments continue to increase, innovative solutions are needed to allow apartment owners and renters to benefit from solar energy.

A total of $25 million in grant funding is available, with up to $150,000 per project.

Financial support for this grant is from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

Applications are open now and will close 5 pm 1 December 2025 or earlier if the funds are fully allocated.

Find out more and apply now at: www.energy.nsw.gov.au/households/rebates-grants-and-schemes/solar-apartment-residents 

The Snowy Owls of Logan Airport

Film by Anna Miller - April 2025

Norman Smith has dedicated his life to protecting and relocating the snowy owls from Boston’s busiest airport runways. Called “the Owl Man of Logan Airport,” Smith has single-handedly relocated more than 900 snowy owls, creating the blueprint for how airports across the US and Canada can manage wildlife conflict.

‘1080 pest management’

Applies until Friday August 1st 2025. 

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will be conducting a baiting program using manufactured baits, fresh baits and Canid Pest Ejectors (CPEs) containing 1080 poison (sodium fluroacetate) for the control of foxes. The program is continuous and ongoing between 1 February 2025 and 31 July 2025 in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Don’t touch baits or ejector devices. Penalties apply for non-compliance.

All baiting locations are identifiable by signs.

Domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks and reserves. Pets and working dogs may be affected (1080 is lethal to cats and dogs). In the event of accidental poisoning seek immediate veterinary assistance.

Fox baiting in these reserves is aimed at reducing their impact on threatened species.

For more information, contact the local park office on:

  • Forestville 9451 3479 or Lane Cove 8448 0400 (business hours)
  • NPWS after-hours call centre: 1300 056 294 (after hours).

Volunteers for Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours needed

Details:

Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Recycling Batteries: at Mona Vale + Avalon Beach

Over 18,600 tonnes of batteries are discarded to landfill in Australia each year, even though 95% of a battery can be recycled!

That’s why we are rolling out battery recycling units across our stores! Our battery recycling units accept household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries as well as mobile phones! 

How To Dispose Of Your Batteries Safely: 

  1. Collect Your Used Batteries: Gather all used batteries from your home. Our battery recycling units accept batteries from a wide range of products such as household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries.
  2. Tape Your Terminals: Tape the terminals of used batteries with clear sticky tape.
  3. Drop Them Off: Come and visit your nearest participating store to recycle your batteries for free (at Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Mona Vale and Avalon Beach).
  4. Feel Good About Your Impact: By recycling your batteries, you're helping support a healthier planet by keeping hazardous material out of landfills and conserving resources.

Environmental Benefits

  • Reduces hazardous waste in landfill
  • Conserves natural resources by promoting the use of recycled materials
  • Keep toxic materials out of waterways 

Reporting Dogs Offleash - Dog Attacks to Council

If the attack happened outside local council hours, you may call your local police station. Police officers are also authorised officers under the Companion Animals Act 1998. Authorised officers have a wide range of powers to deal with owners of attacking dogs, including seizing dogs that have attacked.

You can report dog attacks, along with dogs offleash where they should not be, to the NBC anonymously and via your own name, to get a response, at: https://help.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/s/submit-request?topic=Pets_Animals

If the matter is urgent or dangerous call Council on 1300 434 434 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

If you find injured wildlife please contact:
  • Sydney Wildlife Rescue (24/7): 9413 4300 
  • WIRES: 1300 094 737

Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs

The Berry Collective at 1691 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale collects them for Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who recycle the plastic.

Berry Collective is the practice on the left side of the road as you head north, a few blocks before Mona Vale shops . They have parking. Enter the foyer and there's a small bin on a table where you drop your bread ties - very easy.

A full list of Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs is available at: HERE 


Stay Safe From Mosquitoes 

NSW Health is reminding people to protect themselves from mosquitoes when they are out and about.

NSW Health states Mosquitoes in NSW can carry viruses such as Japanese encephalitis (JE), Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), Kunjin, Ross River and Barmah Forest. The viruses may cause serious diseases with symptoms ranging from tiredness, rash, headache and sore and swollen joints to rare but severe symptoms of seizures and loss of consciousness.

A free vaccine to protect against JE infection is available to those at highest risk in NSW and people can check their eligibility at NSW Health.

People are encouraged to take actions to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of acquiring a mosquito-borne virus by:
  • Applying repellent to exposed skin. Use repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Check the label for reapplication times.
  • Re-applying repellent regularly, particularly after swimming. Be sure to apply sunscreen first and then apply repellent.
  • Wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks.
  • Avoiding going outdoors during peak mosquito times, especially at dawn and dusk.
  • Using insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units and mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes (mosquito coils should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas)
  • Covering windows and doors with insect screens and checking there are no gaps.
  • Removing items that may collect water such as old tyres and empty pots from around your home to reduce the places where mosquitoes can breed.
  • Using repellents that are safe for children. Most skin repellents are safe for use on children aged three months and older. Always check the label for instructions. Protecting infants aged less than three months by using an infant carrier draped with mosquito netting, secured along the edges.
  • While camping, use a tent that has fly screens to prevent mosquitoes entering or sleep under a mosquito net.
Remember, Spray Up – Cover Up – Screen Up to protect from mosquito bite. For more information go to NSW Health.

Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land: Survey

This survey aims to document mountain bike related incidents on public land, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K88PSNP

Sent in by Pittwater resident Academic for future report- study. 

Report fox sightings

Fox sightings, signs of fox activity, den locations and attacks on native or domestic animals can be reported into FoxScan. FoxScan is a free resource for residents, community groups, local Councils, and other land managers to record and report fox sightings and control activities. 

Our Council's Invasive species Team receives an alert when an entry is made into FoxScan.  The information in FoxScan will assist with planning fox control activities and to notify the community when and where foxes are active.



marine wildlife rescue group on the Central Coast

A new wildlife group was launched on the Central Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast (MWRCC) had its official launch at The Entrance Boat Shed at 10am.

The group comprises current and former members of ASTR, ORRCA, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, WIRES and Wildlife ARC, as well as vets, academics, and people from all walks of life.

Well known marine wildlife advocate and activist Cathy Gilmore is spearheading the organisation.

“We believe that it is time the Central Coast looked after its own marine wildlife, and not be under the control or directed by groups that aren’t based locally,” Gilmore said.

“We have the local knowledge and are set up to respond and help injured animals more quickly.

“This also means that donations and money fundraised will go directly into helping our local marine creatures, and not get tied up elsewhere in the state.”

The organisation plans to have rehabilitation facilities and rescue kits placed in strategic locations around the region.

MWRCC will also be in touch with Indigenous groups to learn the traditional importance of the local marine environment and its inhabitants.

“We want to work with these groups and share knowledge between us,” Gilmore said.

“This is an opportunity to help save and protect our local marine wildlife, so if you have passion and commitment, then you are more than welcome to join us.”

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast has a Facebook page where you may contact members. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076317431064


Watch out - shorebirds about

Summer is here so watch your step because beach-nesting and estuary-nesting birds have started setting up home on our shores.
Did you know that Careel Bay and other spots throughout our area are part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)?

This flyway, and all of the stopping points along its way, are vital to ensure the survival of these Spring and Summer visitors. This is where they rest and feed on their journeys.  For example, did you know that the bar-tailed godwit flies for 239 hours for 8,108 miles from Alaska to Australia?

Not only that, Shorebirds such as endangered oystercatchers and little terns lay their eggs in shallow scraped-out nests in the sand, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Threatened Species officer Ms Katherine Howard has said.
Even our regular residents such as seagulls are currently nesting to bear young.

What can you do to help them?
Known nest sites may be indicated by fencing or signs. The whole community can help protect shorebirds by keeping out of nesting areas marked by signs or fences and only taking your dog to designated dog offleash area. 

Just remember WE are visitors to these areas. These birds LIVE there. This is their home.

Four simple steps to help keep beach-nesting birds safe:
1. Look out for bird nesting signs or fenced-off nesting areas on the beach, stay well clear of these areas and give the parent birds plenty of space.
2. Walk your dogs in designated dog-friendly areas only and always keep them on a leash over summer.
3. Stay out of nesting areas and follow all local rules.
4. Chicks are mobile and don't necessarily stay within fenced nesting areas. When you're near a nesting area, stick to the wet sand to avoid accidentally stepping on a chick.


Possums In Your Roof?: do the right thing

Possums in your roof? Please do the right thing 
On the weekend, one of our volunteers noticed a driver pull up, get out of their vehicle, open the boot, remove a trap and attempt to dump a possum on a bush track. Fortunately, our member intervened and saved the beautiful female brushtail and the baby in her pouch from certain death. 

It is illegal to relocate a trapped possum more than 150 metres from the point of capture and substantial penalties apply.  Urbanised possums are highly territorial and do not fare well in unfamiliar bushland. In fact, they may starve to death or be taken by predators.

While Sydney Wildlife Rescue does not provide a service to remove possums from your roof, we do offer this advice:

✅ Call us on (02) 9413 4300 and we will refer you to a reliable and trusted licenced contractor in the Sydney metropolitan area. For a small fee they will remove the possum, seal the entry to your roof and provide a suitable home for the possum - a box for a brushtail or drey for a ringtail.
✅ Do-it-yourself by following this advice from the Department of Planning and Environment: 

❌ Do not under any circumstances relocate a possum more than 150 metres from the capture site.
Thank you for caring and doing the right thing.



Sydney Wildlife photos

Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed

Pittwater Online News has interviewed Lynette Millett OAM (WIRES Northern Beaches Branch) needs more bird cages of all sizes for keeping the current huge amount of baby wildlife in care safe or 'homed' while they are healed/allowed to grow bigger to the point where they may be released back into their own home. 

If you have an aviary or large bird cage you are getting rid of or don't need anymore, please email via the link provided above. There is also a pressing need for release sites for brushtail possums - a species that is very territorial and where release into a site already lived in by one possum can result in serious problems and injury. 

If you have a decent backyard and can help out, Lyn and husband Dave can supply you with a simple drey for a nest and food for their first weeks of adjustment.

Bushcare in Pittwater: where + when

For further information or to confirm the meeting details for below groups, please contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or visit Council's bushcare webpage to find out how you can get involved.

BUSHCARE SCHEDULES 
Where we work                      Which day                              What time 

Avalon     
Angophora Reserve             3rd Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Dunes                        1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Golf Course              2nd Wednesday                 3 - 5:30pm 
Careel Creek                         4th Saturday                      8:30 - 11:30am 
Toongari Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer) 
Bangalley Headland            2nd Sunday                         9 to 12noon 
Catalpa Reserve              4th Sunday of the month        8.30 – 11.30
Palmgrove Park              1st Saturday of the month        9.00 – 12 

Bayview     
Winnererremy Bay                 4th Sunday                        9 to 12noon 

Bilgola     
North Bilgola Beach              3rd Monday                        9 - 12noon 
Algona Reserve                     1st Saturday                       9 - 12noon 
Plateau Park                          1st Friday                            8:30 - 11:30am 

Church Point     
Browns Bay Reserve             1st Tuesday                        9 - 12noon 
McCarrs Creek Reserve       Contact Bushcare Officer     To be confirmed 

Clareville     
Old Wharf Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      8 - 11am 

Elanora     
Kundibah Reserve                   4th Sunday                       8:30 - 11:30am 

Mona Vale     
Mona Vale Beach Basin          1st Saturday                    8 - 11am 
Mona Vale Dunes                     2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday     8:30 - 11:30am 

Newport     
Bungan Beach                          4th Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
Crescent Reserve                    3rd Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
North Newport Beach              4th Saturday                    8:30 - 11:30am 
Porter Reserve                          2nd Saturday                  8 - 11am 

North Narrabeen     
Irrawong Reserve                     2nd Saturday                   2 - 5pm 

Palm Beach     
North Palm Beach Dunes      3rd Saturday                    9 - 12noon 

Scotland Island     
Catherine Park                          2nd Sunday                     10 - 12:30pm 
Elizabeth Park                           1st Saturday                      9 - 12noon 
Pathilda Reserve                      3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon 

Warriewood     
Warriewood Wetlands             1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 

Whale Beach     
Norma Park                               1st Friday                            9 - 12noon 

Western Foreshores     
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay      2nd Sunday                        10 - 1pm 
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay           1st Monday                          9 - 12noon

Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities

Bush Regeneration - Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment  
This is a wonderful way to become connected to nature and contribute to the health of the environment.  Over the weeks and months you can see positive changes as you give native species a better chance to thrive.  Wildlife appreciate the improvement in their habitat.

Belrose area - Thursday mornings 
Belrose area - Weekend mornings by arrangement
Contact: Phone or text Conny Harris on 0432 643 295

Wheeler Creek - Wednesday mornings 9-11am
Contact: Phone or text Judith Bennett on 0402 974 105
Or email: Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment : email@narrabeenlagoon.org.au

Gardens and Environment Groups and Organisations in Pittwater


Ringtail Posses 2023

As Antarctic sea ice shrinks, iconic emperor penguins are in more peril than we thought

Dana M BergstromUniversity of Wollongong

When winter comes to Antarctica, seals and Adélie penguins leave the freezing shores and head for the edge of the forming sea ice. But emperor penguins stay put.

The existence of emperor penguins seems all but impossible. Their lives revolve around seasons, timing and access to “fast ice” – sea ice connected to the Antarctic coast. Here, the sea ice persists long enough into summer for the penguins to rear their chicks successfully.

But climate change is upending the penguins’ carefully tuned biological cycles. The crucial sea ice they depend on is melting too early, plunging the chicks from some colonies into the sea before they are fully fledged.

In the latest bad news for these penguins, research by the British Antarctic Survey examined satellite images from 2009 to 2024 to assess fast-ice conditions at 16 emperor penguin colonies south of South America. They noted an average 22% fall in numbers across these colonies. That translates to a decrease of 1.6% every year.

This rate of loss is staggering. As the paper’s lead author Peter Fretwell told the ABC, the rate is about 50% worse than even the most pessimistic estimates.

emperor penguin colony chicks and adults.
Emperor penguin colonies can number in the tens of thousands. But these numbers obscure an alarming trend. Robert Harding Video/Shutterstock

Breeding while it’s freezing

Just like polar bears in the Arctic, emperor penguins are the iconic species threatened by climate change in Antarctica.

Emperor penguins are a highly successful species. They’re the tallest and heaviest penguin alive today. They evolved about one million years ago, and are highly adapted to life in one of Earth’s harshest environments. As of 2009, the emperor penguin population was estimated at just shy of 600,000 birds.

Unfortunately, they are now in real trouble, because their breeding habitat appears to be reducing.

At the beginning of every Antarctic winter, the surface of the ocean begins to freeze and sea ice forms. Over March and April, emperor penguins aggregate into raucous breeding colonies along the coast of the ice continent. They need about nine months to care for their chicks, until the young penguins can go to sea and look after themselves.

The males frequently huddle to keep each other warm and their eggs safe. Meanwhile, the females spend months at sea catching krill, squid and fish, returning in July/August to feed their hungry chicks. When summer finally comes in December, the chicks start to shed their down and grow a dense, waterproof plumage – like a feathery armour against the intensely cold seas off the icy continent.

Breeding locations are a kind of “Goldilocks” zone. When choosing a home, the penguins have to find a place that is safe but not too far from the fast ice edge where they go to start hunting.

The greater the distance they have to travel, the longer it takes to return to their offspring, and the chicks may miss out on meals. But if a colony is too close to the edge of the fast ice, the risk increases that the ice breaks up before the chicks are ready to go to sea. Although fast ice can cover vast areas of the ocean surface, its edge is exposed to the swell of the Southern Ocean.

In recent years, the fast ice in different parts of Antarctica has been breaking up early, before the chicks have moulted into their adult plumage. Without waterproof plumage, chicks perish because the cold water kills quickly. As this happens more often, the size of a colony shrinks.

How bad is it?

We don’t yet know if this rate of loss is happening right across Antarctica. The study only covers a the part of the continent that includes the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea.

What we do know is that Antarctica and its unique biodiversity are not immune to the consequences of still-rising global greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2021, emperor penguins were listed as endangered by the United States, because the risk of extinction by century’s end had increased. Australia has not yet listed the emperor penguin as a threatened species.

The new research suggests the future of these iconic birds is not looking good. Until the world gets serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions, sea ice will retreat – and more chicks will fall into the icy water before they are ready to launch.


Seabird ecologist Dr Barbara Wienecke contributed to this article.The Conversation


Dana M Bergstrom, Honorary Senior Fellow in Ecology, University of Wollongong

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘Like an underwater bushfire’: SA’s marine algal bloom is still killing almost everything in its path

Paul Macdonald of Edithburgh Diving
Erin BarreraUniversity of Adelaide

South Australian beaches have been awash with foamy, discoloured water and dead marine life for months. The problem hasn’t gone away; it has spread.

Devastating scenes of death and destruction mobilised locals along the Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. The state government has hosted emergency meetings, most recently with marine and environment experts from around Australia, and issued weekly updates.

Unfortunately, there are few ways to stop the bloom. Scientists had hoped strong westerly winds would break it up and push it out to sea. But so far, the wild weather has just pushed it through the Murray Mouth into the Coorong. And even if the bloom is washed away this winter, it could return in spring.

This bloom represents a stark warning to coastal communities, as well as tourism, seafood and aquaculture industries. It’s a sign of what’s to come, in Australia and around the world, as the oceans warm.

A person holds a dead leafy sea dragon up to the camera, against a backdrop of discoloured sea foam with cliffs and ocean in the distance
South Australia’s marine emblem, the leafy sea dragon, washed up on Stokes Bay in Kangaroo Island during the harmful algal bloom. RAD KI

An unprecedented algal bloom

The first sign of trouble came in March this year, when dozens of surfers and beachgoers fell ill. Many reported sore eyes, coughing or trouble breathing.

Water testing soon revealed the cause: a harmful algal bloom of Karenia mikimotoi.

Most people felt better within hours or days of leaving the beach. But marine life of all kinds was washing up dead or dying.

Fish habitat charity OzFish set up a new citizen science project to capture the data, using iNaturalist.

OzFish SA project manager Brad Martin told a public forum the bloom was like an “underwater bushfire”, adding:

It’s suffocating fish, it’s taking the oxygen out of the water and it’s producing toxins.

Photos of dead fish, seahorses, octopuses and rays were already circulating on social media. So OzFish encouraged people to start using iNaturalist, to identify the species and capture the data.

The data shows more than 200 species of marine creatures died, including 100 types of fish and sharks. This includes popular recreational fishing species such as flathead, squid, crabs and rock lobsters.

Almost half the deaths were ray-finned fish species. A quarter were sharks and ray species. Then came soft-bodied “cephalopods” such as cuttlefish and octopus, and crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and prawns.

Most of these species live on or near the sea floor with small home ranges. As in a bushfire, they have little chance of escape. Other fish that live in the open ocean, such as whiting, snapper and tuna, can swim away.

A chart showing iNaturalist records of dead marine life over time, showing a vast increase in recorded deaths since March 15, 2025
Ray-finned fish, sharks and rays dominate the death toll from the marine algal bloom, as recorded on iNaturalist. Brad Martin, OzFish

The culprit

K. mikimotoi is a type of microalgae. It uses sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow and divide, releasing oxygen.

In calm conditions, with plenty of light and warmth, the algal cells divide rapidly. Ideal conditions for algal growth are becoming more common as the climate changes and seas warm.

Algal toxins are known to cause illness and sometimes death in humanspets and livestock.

K. mikimotoi is lethal to marine life, not humans. But the toxic effects in marine life are complicated and poorly understood.

The algae irritates fish gills, causing cell death and bleeding. It also causes hypoxia, or lack of oxygen in the blood. And when the algae die off, decomposition consumes huge amounts of oxygen – leaving marine life to suffocate.

Scientists now suspect other Karenia species may be involved too, due to the detection of brevetoxins in shellfish. This is the first detection of brevetoxins in Australia.

Grim scenes greeted divers in murky water at Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula. (Paul Macdonald of Edithburgh Diving)

What can be done?

A marine heatwave is largely to blame. Sea surface temperatures have been 2.5°C warmer than usual since September. Relatively calm conditions, with little wind and small swells, also enabled the bloom to grow. Now it’s a matter of waiting for strong westerly winds to blow it all away.

The latest update shows sea surface temperatures have stabilised. But deeper gulf and shelf waters remain 1–2°C above average for this time of the year.

Climate change is making future blooms more likely. So tackling climate change is one way to help.

Another is minimising the runoff of nutrients into waterways. Microalgae can be found anywhere with enough water, light and nutrients. So reducing pollution can help reduce the risk of algal blooms.

This includes better management of fertiliser on farms and in home gardens. Lower levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous will reduce the risk of future blooms in marine and inland waterways.

When it comes to blue-green algae, flushing with freshwater and stirring it up can disperse the colonies and prevent a bloom.

Monitoring is also important. OzFish encourages South Australians to continue providing photo reports via iNaturalist. Any new fish kills should also be reported to the state government.

The harmful algal bloom has transformed the reef at Edithburgh Jetty on the Yorke Peninsula. (Great Southern Reef)

Microalgae are not all bad

It’s worth remembering life on Earth wouldn’t exist without microalgae. These tiny organisms produced 60% of the oxygen in the atmosphere today, and play an important role in balanced ecosystems.

The algae spirulina is a common dietary supplement. Microalgae are also potentially useful for water recycling, as a renewable biofuel and for capturing and storing greenhouse gases.

Heeding the lessons

Once a harmful algal bloom begins, it will persist for as long as conditions remain suitable.

This bloom already has lasted three months, and there’s no guarantee the end is near.

Recovery will be slow, as shown in the historical record and other parts of the world. And the risk of a repeat event is high.

Further research is needed to keep these ancient organisms in check.

With thanks to OzFish SA project manager Brad Martin, who contributed to this article.The Conversation

Erin Barrera, PhD Candidate, School of Public Health, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

As livestock numbers grow, wild animal populations plummet. Giving all creatures a better future will take a major rethink

Toa55/Shutterstock
Clive PhillipsCurtin University

As a teenager in the 1970s, I worked on a typical dairy farm in England. Fifty cows grazed on lush pastures for most of their long lives, each producing about 12 litres of milk daily. They were loved and cared for by two herdsmen.

About 50 years later, I visited a dairy farm in China. There, 30,000 cows lived indoors. Most of these selectively bred animals wore out after two or three years of producing 30–40 litres of milk every day, after which they were unceremoniously killed. The workers rarely had contact with the cows. Instead, they sat in offices, programming machines which managed them.

This speaks to a huge and very recent shift in how we treat animals. Over the last half century, the human population has soared – and so too our demand for meat, milk and many other animal products. As a result livestock populations have ballooned while living conditions for animals permanently kept inside have drastically worsened.

Even as farmed animals have multiplied, populations of wild animals have crashed. The two trends are deeply connected. Humans convert wildlife habitat into pastures and farms, expanding living space for farm animals at the expense of many other animals.

This cannot continue. Humans must reckon with how we treat the myriad other species on the planet, whether we rely on them or not. As I argue in my new open access book, the growing scarcity of animal species should make us grasp our responsibility towards the welfare of all animal species on the planet, not just those in farms.

Efforts to enshrine rights for animals is not enough. The focus has to be on our responsibilities to them, ensuring they lead good lives if in our care – or are left well alone if they are not.

Should we care?

In the last 50 years, two-thirds of all wild animal populations have been lost.

The main cause is habitat loss, as native forest is felled to grow grass for cattle or corn and soya for livestock.

By weight, the world’s farm animals and humans now dwarf the remaining wild animals. Farm animals weigh 630 million tonnes and humans 390 million tonnes, while wild land mammals now weigh just 20 million tonnes and marine mammals 40 million tonnes.

Wildlife numbers have fallen off a cliff across many kingdoms of life. Three quarters of flying insects are gone from monitored areas of Western Europe. One in eight bird species is threatened with extinction worldwide.

pinned beetles in museum.
Insect populations are plunging, endangering the many animal species who rely on them. David Pineda Svenske/Shutterstock

On animal welfare, philosophers have long argued one of two positions. The first is known as “utilitarianism”. This approach argues for minimising the bad things in the world and maximising the good things, regardless of who benefits from them, humans or other animals. This theory-heavy approach does little to restore our relationship with wild animals because of the difficulties in deciding what is good and bad for animals.

The second has more to recommend it. This is the view that animals have the right to be looked after well. This approach has also been used to give rights to riversnature and even the atmosphere.

But this doesn’t recognise the fact that only humans can attribute such rights to animals, who themselves do not have any concept of “rights”. It also doesn’t tackle the issue that most humans would not accord the same rights to a blue whale and an insect.

A better approach might be to recognise our responsibilities to animals, rather than attribute rights to them.

This would acknowledge the increasing rarity of animal species on Earth and the fact that – as far as we know – they’re unique in the universe. So far, no reliable signs have been found indicating life evolved on any other planets.

Earth formed just over 4.5 billion years ago. Some evidence suggests simple animal life began just 400 million years later.

The evolution of complex multicellular life on earth probably only happened once when a single celled organism – one of the ancient archaea, perhaps – engulfed a bacterium without digesting it. Instead, it found something better: putting it to work as an internal energy factory as the first mitochondrion. After that came life’s great flowering.

But now we’re currently losing between 0.01–0.1% of all species each year. If we use an average species loss rate of 0.05% and assuming human pressures remain similar, life on Earth could have only 2,000 years left.

Do we have responsibility to care for something just because it’s rare? Not always. But life is beautiful. We marvel when we are able to connect with wildlife. Other social animals also appear to derive pleasure from such relationships.

If we destroy wild animal life, we could undermine the natural systems humans depend on. Pollinators are essential for orchards, forests protect topsoil and produce clean drinking water and predators prevent herbivore populations from soaring out of control and destroying crops. As wilder areas shrink, the chance of another animal virus spillover into humans increases.

orang utan swinging in natural habitat.
The habitat available for many wild animals has shrunk rapidly in recent decades. MohdFadhli_83/Shutterstock

From small scale to industrial

For almost all of human history, livestock herds were small enough that people could build relationships with the animals they depended on.

But in only a couple of human generations, we’ve turned farm animal production into a factory process with billions of animals.

For centuries, farm animals were walked to market. That, too, has changed. In 2005, I was undertaking research on a livestock ship alongside 80,000 sheep being transported from Australia to the Middle East. Hundreds of sheep die from the stress of these journeys, while many survivors arrive exhausted and terrified.

These changes have made it possible for humans all around the globe to eat meat or dairy products at every meal. But it has come at a real cost to livestock and wild animals.

Correcting this will not be easy. We have to learn to eat fewer animals or preferably none at all, restore habitat for wildlife and curb our consumption of the world’s natural resources.

It’s not too late to restore animal habitat. Rewilding efforts are drawing back long-missing wild animals. There are hopeful signs for farm animal welfare too. The live export of Australian sheep will end in 2028. Battery cage production of eggs is dying out.

These are big issues. But to paraphrase a quote reputedly by Confucius:

The man who asks big questions is a fool for a minute. The man who does not ask, is a fool for life.The Conversation

Clive Phillips, Adjunct Professor in Animal Welfare, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

9 myths about electric vehicles have taken hold. A new study shows how many people fall for them

Christian BretterThe University of QueenslandMatthew HornseyThe University of Queensland, and Samuel PearsonThe University of Queensland

More people believe misinformation about electric vehicles than disagree with it and even EV owners tend to believe the myths, our new research shows.

We investigated the prevalence of misinformation about EVs in four countries – Australia, the United States, Germany and Austria. Unfortunately, we found substantial agreement with misinformation across all countries.

People who endorsed false claims about EVs were, not surprisingly, significantly less likely to consider buying one.

Electric vehicles are vital in the fight against climate change. But pervasive misinformation is a significant challenge to the technology’s uptake and has serious implications for the shift away from fossil fuels.

Widespread agreement with false EV claims

We conducted a survey of 4,200 people who did not own an electric vehicle across the four countries. We measured the extent to which they agreed with these nine misleading claims about electric vehicles:

What we found

To tally the results, we looked at participants’ responses for all nine misinformation statements – more than 36,000 responses in all. We then calculated how many of these responses indicated agreement or disagreement.

Of the 36,000 responses, 36% were in agreement with a statement and 23% were in disagreement. A further 24% were undecided and 17% did not know.

Misinformation agreement was highest in Germany and lowest in the US, but the differences between nations were small.

The most widely believed myth was that electric vehicles are more likely to catch fire than petrol cars. Some 43–56% of people agreed with the statement, depending on the country.

Agreement with misinformation was strongly correlated with a lack of support for electric vehicle policies and a lack of intention to buy an EV in future.

A separate part of the research involved 2,100 people in the US, about half of whom owned an electric vehicle. Surprisingly, EV owners did not significantly differ in their agreement with misinformation compared to non-owners. This underscores how embedded the problem has become.

People look at an EV in a car dealership.
Agreement with misinformation was strongly correlated with a lack of buying intention. Photo by Sebastian Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

It’s not about education

We also examined the factors that make individuals more susceptible to EV misinformation.

The strongest predictor was people who scored highly on a “conspiracy mentality” – in other words, they believed conspiracies were common in society, they saw the world through a lens of corruption and secret agendas, and distrusted institutions.

People with progressive political and environmental views were less likely to endorse misinformation about EVs.

A person’s scientific knowledge or level of education was not a predictor. This finding aligns with previous research, and suggests the pervasive endorsement of misinformation stems from distrust in institutions and expertise rather than from a lack of education.

Aerial view of hundreds of electric vehicles.
People with progressive political views were less likely to endorse EV misinformation. Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Grounds for optimism

We tested whether misinformation could be reduced with two interventions among a different sample of US participants. One group was asked to converse with ChatGPT about their views on EV misinformation. The second was asked to read a traditional EV fact sheet from the US Department of Energy. On a third “control” group, no intervention was tested.

Participants who engaged with either ChatGPT or the fact sheet before we surveyed them showed significantly lower endorsement of EV misinformation compared to the control group. This persisted at a follow-up session ten days after the survey.

Notably, ChatGPT did not produce any misinformation about EVs. These results build upon existing research demonstrating ChatGPT’s potential to reduce endorsement of conspiracy theories.

A worker inspects an EV being manufactured.
Misinformation about EVs poses significant challenges to uptake of the technology. Florian Wiegand/Getty Images

How to tackle EV misinformation

Our findings show misinformation about electric vehicles has a substantial foothold in Western nations. Susceptibility is not a matter of education or knowledge, but rather stems from distrust of established institutions and expertise.

We also found people who engage with facts about electric vehicles are less likely to endorse misinformation.

This suggests a dual strategy is needed to reduce misinformation about EVs. First, those who deliberately spread misinformation should be held accountable. And second, evidence-based information, including accessible AI tools, can be used to build public resilience against false claims.The Conversation

Christian Bretter, Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Psychology, The University of QueenslandMatthew Hornsey, Professor, University of Queensland Business School, The University of Queensland, and Samuel Pearson, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia’s government is pledging better protection for our vulnerable seas – but will it work?

Nigel Marsh/Getty
Carissa KleinThe University of QueenslandAmelia WengerThe University of Queensland, and James WatsonThe University of Queensland

Ahead of this week’s crucial United Nations ocean conference, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt promised that by 2030, 30% of Australian waters would be “highly protected”.

This is a telling pledge. After all, 52% of Australian waters are now protected following years of rapid expansion. But many are “paper parks” – lines on a map with very little real protection.

Watt is proposing to expand the area under gold-standard protection, meaning fishing, mining and drilling would be banned inside the parks. This is welcome. But it must be done strategically, protecting ecologically representative and high biodiversity areas.

If Watt is serious, he must ensure these upgraded marine parks cover poorly protected habitats important for biodiversity. These include shallow coastal zones, submarine canyons, seamounts and rocky reefs on the continental shelf. It’s not just about protecting 30% of the seas – marine parks must protect the full range of species and habitats in Australia.

fishing trawler returning to port
Bottom trawling and other fishing practices can do great damage to underwater ecosystems. mjstudio.lt/Shutterstock

Impressive on paper

Australia’s waters cover all five of the world’s climate zones, from the coral reefs of the tropics to the icy shores of Antarctica. At least 33,000 marine species are found in the nation’s marine boundaries – the most on Earth. Australia also has the most endemic marine species.

For more than 30 years, successive federal and state governments in Australia have claimed global leadership roles in conserving ocean areas. Just last year, the Albanese government claimed the latest expansion meant Australia now protected “more ocean than any other country on earth”.

When 196 countries committed to the goal of “30% by 2030” – the effective protection and management of at least 30% of the world’s coastal and marine areas by decade’s end – Australia was already well past that in terms of the size of areas considered marine protected areas.

About 45% of marine waters were protected in 2022, up from 7% in 2002. Now that figure is 52%.

Job done? Not even close. Even as Australia’s marine protected areas have rapidly expanded, marine species populations have shrunk while entire ecosystems hover on the brink.

More than half of Australia’s marine parks allow commercial fishing and mining. The latest large protection around the sub-Antarctic Heard and McDonald Islands doesn’t give strong protection to species-rich areas such as seamounts and undersea canyons.

Losses everywhere

Tasmania’s giant kelp forests once ringed the island state. At least 95% have vanished since the 1990s, wiped out by warmer waters and voracious sea urchins.

Before European settlement, oyster reefs carpeted shallow sea floors in temperate east coast waters. But 99% of these have gone.

Half the Great Barrier Reef’s coral cover died between 1995 and 2017 – a period with only two mass bleaching events. Bleaching has become more regular and more severe since then.

Many marine species are in serious trouble. The most comprehensive assessment to date found populations of 57% of species living on coral, rocky and kelp reefs had fallen between 2011 and 2021. In 2020, a Tasmanian endemic species, the smooth handfish, became the first marine fish officially listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

As the oceans get hotter, coral reefs are forecast to be wiped out. Poor marine water quality is drowning coastal species and ecosystems in sediments, nutrients, chemicals, and pathogens, including in The Great Barrier Reef.

That’s not to say marine park expansion and other government efforts have been worthless. Far from it.

Some whales have rebounded strongly due to the moratorium on commercial whaling. Good management of the southern bluefin tuna led to its removal from the threatened species list last year.

Efforts to phase out gill net fishing are bearing fruit, while water quality has improved a little in the Great Barrier Reef.

But these wins don’t offset an overall rapid decline.

Action needed on climate and improving marine parks

Giving Australia’s marine parks better protection won’t solve the problem of hotter, more acidic oceans due to climate change.

Australia’s current emission target is consistent with a 2°C warming pathway. That level of warming would mean the loss of 99% of the world’s coral reefs.

Australia is one of the world’s biggest producers of coal and liquefied natural gas and still has one of the world’s highest rates of land clearing, accounting for up to 12% of the country’s total emissions in some years.

Protecting life in the seas means Australia must dramatically reduce emissions, end widespread land clearing and halt the approval of new coal and gas projects.

Better protection inside marine parks will stop other major threats, such as seabed mining, gas and oil exploration and fishing.

To date, Australia’s marine parks with high levels of protection are typically in remote areas with minimal human activity threatening biodiversity.

From paper parks to real conservation leadership

For decades, Australian leaders have touted their efforts to protect the seas. It’s now abundantly clear that paper protection isn’t enough.

To arrest the steep decline in marine life, Australia must properly protect its marine areas by preventing fishing and mining in areas important for all marine species, while expanding its highly protected marine parks to save unprotected ecosystems.

Minister Watt’s pledge is welcome. But it must actually prevent damaging human activities such as fishing and oil and gas extraction which are major contributors to the extinction crisis.

Leaders must also focus on sustainable production and consumption of seafood and ramp up their ambition to tackle climate change and marine pollution.

If Australia continues to expand paper parks without doing the hard work of genuine protection, it will set a dangerous precedent.The Conversation

Carissa Klein, Associate Professor in Conservation Biology, The University of QueenslandAmelia Wenger, Research Fellow in Conservation, The University of Queensland, and James Watson, Professor in Conservation Science, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Cheating by car makers, tampering by owners: crucial car pollution control is being sabotaged

Peter Cade/Getty
Robin SmitUniversity of Technology Sydney and Alberto AyalaWest Virginia University

Emission control systems in modern cars have slashed air pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.

But these systems face two major challenges: carmakers cheating on pollution tests and owner tampering. Cheating means high-polluting cars can be sold when they shouldn’t be, while tampering can increase some pollutants up to 100 times.

In our new research review, we found the impacts of cheating and tampering on emissions of pollutants are substantial across the globe. For instance, researchers in Spain found almost half the diesel trucks had been tampered with, while the Volkswagen Dieselgate cheating scandal uncovered in 2015 led to an estimated A$60 billion in health costs in the European Union. In California, researchers found one in 12 trucks had a damaged or malfunctioning diesel particulate filter – and these high-emitting trucks contributed 70% of the entire fleet’s emissions of tiny particulate matter.

The solutions? Better detection of tampering, cheating and malfunctioning emission systems – and vigilance to get high polluting cars off the road.

mechanic working on catalytic converter.
Catalytic converters and other emissions control systems have slashed air pollutant emissions from modern cars. Virrage Images/Shutterstock

How did we get here?

From the 1950s onwards, smog, air pollution and health issues from car exhausts led many regulators to require carmakers to reduce dangerous air pollutants.

These days, modern combustion-engine cars are complex computer-controlled systems optimised to balance engine performance, durability and emission control. When working properly, new vehicles can reduce air pollutant emissions by 90% or more. However, they can increase carbon dioxide emissions by using slightly more fuel.

But these pollutants can soar if emissions control systems malfunction – or suffer from intentional cheating or tampering.

Cheating and tampering are not new. Cheating was first reported in the 1970s and it’s still happening. Tampering, too, dates back to the 1970s.

Both issues worsen air quality. These excess air pollutants have substantial costs to human health, as they can trigger respiratory conditions and can cause disability and premature death.

While the numbers of electric vehicles are rising, they’re only about 5% of the global fleet – about 60 million compared to about 1.5 billion cars powered by petrol, diesel and gas.

Because cars have relatively long lifespans, many fossil-fuel powered cars will still be in use in 2050, now just 25 years away. Many will be exported from rich countries to developing economies. That means effective pollutant control still matters.

Cheating by manufacturers

It’s well established combustion engine cars produce substantially more emissions and pollutants during real-world driving than they do in regulatory tests.

There are many reasons for this, including natural wear and tear. But one big reason may be cheating.

Authorities in many nations rely on testing to see if a new model is emitting at rates low enough to meet emission standards.

Manufacturers can take advantage of the known quirks of official tests and intentionally alter how their vehicles operate during testing. To do this, they may install a “defeat device”, usually deep in the car’s engine or its computer code.

These devices shift the car to a special low-emissions mode if testing is detected. They’re typically easy for the automaker to install and difficult to detect.

car with hose on exhaust, emissions test.
Car makers can cheat on emission tests by installing defeat devices or other countermeasures. Belish/Shutterstock

Defeat devices are mainly found in diesel cars and trucks, since diesel emissions control systems are more complicated and expensive than petrol or LPG. Adding an emission control system to meet Euro 6 standards costs about $600 for a petrol car. For diesel, the cost can be three to five times higher.

In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California announced Volkswagen had been using a software-based defeat device to make its diesel cars appear substantially cleaner. The scandal drew worldwide attention and cost the company about $50 billion.

For those caught, large fines and mandatory recalls have followed. But this hasn’t been enough to stop the practice.

The way these tests are conducted usually has to be disclosed by law to ensure transparency and make results comparable and repeatable. Unfortunately, having detailed knowledge of the tests makes it easier to cheat.

Tampering by car owners

Tampering is largely done by owners of diesel cars and trucks. Owners can tamper with emission control systems to improve performance, rebel against laws they don’t agree with or avoid extra costs such as Adblue, a liquid needed to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions from diesel trucks.

Tampering is usually illegal. But that hasn’t stopped the production of aftermarket tampering devices, such as software which deactivates emission control systems. It’s not necessarily illegal to sell these devices, but it is illegal to install and use them.

In the road freight sector, the use of aftermarket tampering by vehicle owners also acts as an unfair economic advantage by undercutting responsible and law-abiding operators.

What should be done?

Combustion engine cars and trucks will be on the world’s roads for decades to come.

Ensuring they run as cleanly as possible over their lifetime will require independent and in-service emissions testing. Authorities will also need to focus on enforcement.

Creating an internationally agreed test protocol for the detection of defeat devices will also be necessary.

Combating tampering by owners as well as malfunctioning emissions systems will require better detection efforts, either through on-road emissions testing or during a car service.

One approach would be to add telemetry to the onboard diagnostics systems now common in modern cars. Telemetry radio transponders can report emissions problems to the owner and relevant authorities, who can then act.

Shifting to EVs offers the most robust and cost-effective way to combat fraud and cut exhaust pollutants and carbon emissions from road transport. But this will take decades. Authorities need to ensure diesel and petrol vehicles run as cleanly as possible until they can be retired.The Conversation

Robin Smit, Adjunct Professor of Transport, University of Technology Sydney and Alberto Ayala, Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering, West Virginia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A reversal in US climate policy will send renewables investors packing – and Australia can reap the benefits

Christian DownieAustralian National University

President Donald Trump is trying to unravel the signature climate policy of his predecessor Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act, as part of a sweeping bid to dismantle the United States’ climate ambition.

The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, is a A$530 billion suite of measures that aims to turbocharge clean energy investment and slash emissions in the US. Once hailed as a game-changer for the global clean energy transition, it set in train a fierce international competition for renewable energy investment.

But the policy is now hanging by a thread, after the US House of Representatives last month narrowly passed a bill to repeal many of its clean energy measures.

Should the bill pass the Senate, billions of dollars in renewables investment once destined for the US could be looking for a new home. Now is the time for the Albanese government to woo investors with a bolder program of climate action in Australia.

People walk by a projection of flames and commentary on the side of the Trump International Hotel
The Trump administration is seeking to wind back Biden’s signature climate policy. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Climate Power 2020

What is the Inflation Reduction Act?

The Inflation Reduction Act passed US Congress in 2022. It legislated billions of dollars in tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and geothermal plants, among other technologies.

It included around A$13 billion in rebates for Americans to electrify their homes, tax credits of almost A$11,000 to electrify their cars, and billions more to establish a “green bank” and target agricultural emissions.

The money flowed. Last year, almost A$420 billion was invested in the manufacture and deployment of clean energy – double that in 2021, the year before the legislation passed.

Even in the first quarter of this year, under a Trump presidency, A$103 billion was invested in clean energy tech – an increase on the first quarter results of 2024. Electric vehicle manufacturing projects, especially batteries, were standout performers.

a man wearing a suit smiles in front of small crowd
Then US president Joe Biden in August 2023, celebrating the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. The policy aimed to turbocharge the clean energy transition. Win McNamee/Getty Images

But then came the proposed repeal. The Trump administration wants to gut tax credits for clean energy technologies. The measures passed the House of Representatives and must now clear the US Senate, where the Republicans have a margin of three votes.

Initial modelling suggests the bill, if passed, could derail clean energy manufacturing in the US – including in Republican states where new projects were planned.

The potential economic damage has sparked concern even among Trump’s own troops. Some Republicans last week reportedly urged the scaling back of the cuts, despite voting for the bill in the House.

Opportunities for Australia

After the IRA was enacted, many countries followed the US’ lead – including Australia’s Albanese government, which legislated the A$22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package.

So how will Trump’s unravelling of the policy affect the rest of the world?

The economic impacts are still being modelled. Some studies suggest the US could cede A$123 billion in investment to other countries.

The US axing of tax credits for battery and solar technology paves the way for nations such as China and South Korea to capitalise – given, for example, they already dominate battery manufacturing.

Australia should be doing its utmost to attract investors that no longer see the US as an option. Our existing policies are a start, but they are not sufficient.

In February this year, Labor increased the investment capacity of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – Australia’s “green bank” – by A$2 billion. But more will be needed if the government is serious about crowding-in private investment in low-emission technologies exiting the US.

The government would also be wise to remove incentives that increase fossil fuel use. This includes the diesel fuel rebate, which encourages the use of diesel-powered trucks on mine sites. Fortescue Metals this week announced a push for the subsidy to be wound back – potentially providing the political opening Labor needs.

What about nuclear?

Trump has also promised a “nuclear renaissance”, signing four executive orders designed to reinvigorate the US nuclear energy industry.

But those measures are likely to fail, just as Trump’s 2016 promise to revive the coal industry never eventuated.

In fact, his cuts to the Loan Programs Office – which helps finance new energy projects including nuclear – threaten to undermine the viability of new nuclear plants. The office has been the guarantor for every new US nuclear plant this century, bar one.

If the US is struggling to scale up its existing nuclear industry, this does not bode well for the technology’s hopes in Australia. Here, the prospect of a nuclear energy policy still appears alive in the Coalition party room, even though the technology remains politically unpopular, and the economics don’t stack up.

What’s next?

Predicting US climate and energy policy is a fool’s errand, given the potential IRA repeal, flip-flopping tariff announcements and daily social media tirades from Trump, including a social media bust-up with former ally Elon Musk over the merits of the repeal itself.

Stepping back from the politics, we cannot ignore the climate harms flowing from a walk-back on US climate action.

The US is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. As climate change reaches new extremes, the policy vacuum created by Donald Trump must urgently be filled by the rest of the world.The Conversation

Christian Downie, Professor, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In most mammals, one gene determines sex. But 100 million years ago, platypuses and echidnas went their own way

Rob D / Shutterstock
Linda ShearwinUniversity of Adelaide and Frank GrütznerUniversity of Adelaide

For decades, scientists have known that platypuses and echidnas – Australia’s unique egg-laying mammals – have another developmental quirk: they don’t use the same genetic toolkit as other mammals to develop male and female embryos.

What’s more, just how they do it has been a mystery. Until now.

In a recent study published in Genome Biology, our research team has found strong evidence that monotreme sex comes down to a single gene – one that’s much more like what we see in some fish and amphibians than other mammals.

The search for the secret of monotreme sex

The Australian platypus and echidna are monotremes, the most ancient living group of mammals. These unique creatures are famously the only mammals to lay eggs, and they also have other reptile-like features.

Humans and many other mammal species have two sex-determining chromosomes, X and Y. An embryo with an XX pair of chromosomes will develop as female, while an XY pair leads to a male embryo.

In many mammals, the process that makes an embryo develop as male is triggered by a gene called SRY on the male Y chromosome. However, the SRY gene in monotremes has never been found.

About 20 years ago, it was discovered that monotremes have an entirely different system that uses multiple X and Y chromosomes. Scientists assumed the Y chromosomes must still hold a gene that determined sex, but very little was known about what it might be.

In 2008 a full genome sequence of a platypus was published, which was a step in the right direction. However, the genome was from a female so it had no information about Y chromosomes.

By 2021, a new and improved platypus genome and a first echidna genome included sequences of multiple Y chromosomes. A gene emerged as the frontrunner for the role of sex determination in monotremes: the anti-Muellerian hormone (or AMH), which is involved in the sexual development in many animals.

A 100-million-year-old change

Our new research provides the first real evidence that an adapted version of AMH found on one of the monotreme Y chromosomes (dubbed AMHY) is the sex determination gene in monotremes.

We showed that changes in the AMH gene long ago, early in the evolution of monotremes, could explain how AMHY arose and took on a role in male sexual development.

This event would have set the stage for the evolution of the novel sex chromosome system in the ancestor of today’s platypus and echidna, about 100 million years ago when the AMH gene on the XY chromosomes embarked on separated paths.

We showed that although the AMHY gene has changed significantly from the original AMH gene (AMHX), it has retained its essential features. Importantly, we could show for the first time that AMHY is turned on in the right tissue and at the right time to direct development of the testes during male development, which was an important missing piece of the puzzle.

A first for mammals

Unlike the other mammal sex determination genes, which act directly on the DNA to switch on other genes that lead to male development, AMHY is a hormone. It does not interact with DNA, but instead acts at the surface of cells to turn genes on or off.

There is growing evidence that AMHY also plays a role in sex determination in a number of fish and amphibian species. However, AMHY in monotremes would be the first known example of a hormone playing a sex-determining role in mammals.

What’s next? Our ongoing research investigate in detail how AMHX and AMHY work differently in monotremes compared to other mammals.


The work discussed in this article was carried out by researchers from the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Monash University and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.The Conversation

Linda Shearwin, Researcher, Comparative Genome Biology Laboratory, University of Adelaide and Frank Grützner, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘Find your path’ – NSW Great Walks put on the map

June 8, 2025

The NSW Government is rolling out a new ‘Find Your Path on a NSW Great Walk’ campaign that highlights seven spectacular multi-day walks across the state to address the growing interest in nature-based visitor experiences.

The new campaign highlights an impressive 275km of walking tracks in regional NSW that have opened to the public within the last two years. The walks showcase some of the state’s most breath-taking and diverse landscapes, from pristine coastline to ancient rainforest and alpine peaks.

Kicking off, on the 8 June 2025, the ‘Find Your Path on a NSW Great Walk’ campaign will target both experienced hikers and aspirational entry-level multi-day walkers offering self-guided and guided options, as well as camping and accommodation choices for overnight stays.

The campaign encourages visitors to explore multi-day walks including Snowies Alpine Walk (Snowy Mountains), Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk (Tweed/Byron Hinterland), Light to Light (Sapphire Coast), Murramarang South Coast Walk, Tomaree Coastal Walk (Port Stephens), Grand Cliff Top Walk (Blue Mountains) and Green Gully Track (Northern Tablelands).

In 2024, 9.9 million international and domestic visitors to NSW visited a national park or state park and spent more than $11.7 billion across the state during their trip.

Recent NPWS data shows that 23.7 million visits included a walk of up to or more than half a day. With the completion and promotion of these new Great Walks those numbers are set to climb.

For more information visit the NSW Great Walks webpage.  

Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said:

“National parks play a vital role in the NSW visitor economy especially in supporting regional businesses and jobs while also providing people with access to our state’s natural wonders.

“By promoting these fantastic NSW Great Walks, we are encouraging people to find their path and explore our regions in new and adventurous ways.”

Minister for Tourism and Jobs Steve Kamper said:

“NSW is home to the most diverse national parks on the planet and our ‘Find Your Path on a NSW Great Walk’ campaign will ensure they become bucket-list visitor experiences.

“Traversing our state’s spectacular unspoilt beaches, ancient rainforests and majestic mountain peaks, these walks have opened within the last 2 years and are truly spectacular.

“NSW national parks not only provide authentic connections with the state’s culture and stunning landscapes, they also support thousands of jobs and contribute millions of dollars in visitor expenditure to regional NSW.”

Blue Lake, Snowies Alpine Walk, Kosciuszko National Park. Image Credit: Daniel Parsons

Mussel power: how an offshore shellfish farm is boosting marine life

Emma SheehanUniversity of Plymouth and Llucia Mascorda-CabreUniversity of Plymouth

Over the past 50 years, global aquaculture including fish, mussel and seaweed farms has grown dramatically. Almost half of the world’s wild-caught fish is used to produce fishmeal and oils that feed farmed fish.

Mussel farming provides a more sustainable alternative protein source for human diets, because mussels filter feed on plankton and do not have to be fed wild-caught fish. Mussel farming also takes some pressure off the need for so much industrial agriculture and fish farming, and could therefore help reduce greenhouse gas emissions of food production – in line with the UK’s goal to reach net zero by 2050.

Most mussel farms are typically located in sheltered bays but as space to grow mussels inshore is limited, there isn’t always room to grow mussels at scale.

Some coastal mussel farms can damage the environment as the mussel waste accumulates and can deplete oxygen in sediments, which in turn affects the animals that live in and on the seabed. As a result, offshore mussel farming (growing and harvesting mussels far from the coast) is becoming increasingly attractive.

In Lyme Bay on the south coast of England, the UK’s first offshore mussel farm has been in operation since 2013. This farm has a licensed area of 6 square miles (15.4km²) and is located 2-6 miles away from the coast. To grow the mussels, the farmers deploy long ropes that are anchored to the seabed and kept afloat using large buoys.



Local science, global stories. This article is part of a series, Secrets of the Sea, exploring how marine scientists are developing climate solutions. In collaboration with the BBC, Anna Turns travels around the West Country coastline to meet ocean experts making exciting discoveries beneath the waves.


Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) naturally settle on these ropes. Hands-on input is minimal – the farmers need only distribute small mussels around the farm so they have space to naturally grow to the desired size, before they are harvested after 12-to-18 months. This farm is now producing more than 2,000 tonnes of high-quality, rope-grown mussels in a fully offshore marine environment.

The Lyme Bay mussel farm, managed by family-run company Offshore Shellfish Ltd, was the first in Europe to be certified for best aquaculture practices by the Global Aquaculture Alliance. Its infrastructure creates physical habitat for marine species such as fish and crabs to feed, breed and shelter. The rope farm structure also prevents destructive fishing such as trawling and dredging in the area.

Our team of marine researchers have been monitoring marine life in and around this mussel farm since before the first ropes were deployed in 2013 – with the help of the local fishing community. We use their boats as research vessels to monitor how the farm’s biodiversity has changed in the past decade.

We use a range of non-destructive, remote underwater video cameras and more traditional sampling techniques to count animals that live on the mussel ropes, on the seabed and in the water column inside the farm, as well as at reference sites to the east and west of the farm.

Before the first ropes were deployed, the habitat had been degraded from years of destructive fishing, so our early observations didn’t detect much marine life. That has changed over the life of the farm, and we now see significantly increased productivity and greater biodiversity.

Over many years, our studies have shown how some mussels from the farm have fallen to the seabed and regenerated lost shell reefsThe farm has also boosted populations of crabs, lobsters, scallops, starfish, fish, conger eels, sharks and rays.

Our team’s Defra-funded Ropes to Reefs project builds on this annual monitoring to help us understand the potential conservation benefits of the mussel farm. We are also studying how the farm affects the nearby Lyme Bay marine protected area, and recording any “spillover effect” as commercial fish breeding within the farm move out into local fishing grounds.

We use cutting-edge technology such as acoustic telemetry and an echosounder to tag and track lobsters, thornback rays and small-spotted catsharks, and measure the total amount of fish to better understand why and when species use the farm.

This new data will enable us to calculate the full value of the Lyme Bay mussel farm to species of both conservation and commercial importance. Our findings to date show that offshore aquaculture farms like this can have positive effects on the surrounding marine ecosystem.

By creating structure and excluding the damaging effects of bottom-towed fishing, offshore mussel farms can restore degraded fishing grounds and provide a sustainable and healthy source of marine protein.

As demand for mussels increases, offshore mussel farming and other types of shellfish farming can help improve the UK’s food security and economic resilience, and enhance its seafood industry, while contributing to marine conservation and net zero goals.

Listen to episode three of Secrets of the Sea here on BBC Sounds, presented by Anna Turns for The Conversation.


Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.The Conversation


Emma Sheehan, Associate Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Plymouth and Llucia Mascorda-Cabre, Postdoctoral Researcher, Applied Marine Ecosystem Research Unit, University of Plymouth

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Jacaranda, black locust and London plane: common street trees show surprising resilience to growing heat in Australia

Kokkai Ng/Getty Images
Manuel Esperon-RodriguezWestern Sydney UniversityMark G TjoelkerWestern Sydney UniversityMatthew BrookhouseAustralian National University, and Sally PowerWestern Sydney University

As Australian cities heat up and dry out, street trees are emerging as frontline defenders of urban liveability.

Street trees make city life more bearable during heatwaves. They also improve human health and wellbeing, filter pollutants and support biodiversity.

But as climate change intensifies droughts and dials up more extreme heat, can urban forests survive in a hotter, drier future?

To find out, we studied how ten of Australia’s most common non-native street trees grow and tolerate drought across seven cities. The familiar species we chose are the well-loved jacaranda and widely planted London plane tree as well as box elder, European nettle tree, honey locust, sweetgum, southern magnolia, callery pear, black locust and Chinese elm.

Unexpectedly, our new research shows several species tolerate drought better than predicted, including jacaranda and London plane. Some even put on growth spurts during droughts of unprecedented duration and heat. But others showed greater sensitivity than we had anticipated, including honey locust and black locust.

As cities plan for a hotter future, our research will help urban planners choose the toughest, most resilient street trees.

street trees in penrith
Penrith street trees faced the hottest conditions. Author provided

What did we do?

Street trees cool cities both through their shade and by giving off water through transpiration. These effects can lower local temperatures by several degrees, which helps offset the extra heat trapped by roads, rooftops and hard surfaces.

But the trees we rely on for cooling are vulnerable to mounting pressures from climate change. Drought, heatwaves and limited soil and water availability in cities can all threaten tree health, growth and survival.

To test how these species were coping, we chose more then 570 street trees in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Mildura in regional Victoria, Mandurah south of Perth and Parramatta and Penrith in Western Sydney.

We extracted small cores of wood from the trunk, in a process that leaves the tree alive and largely unaffected. The oldest tree we sampled was a 70-year-old southern magnolia in Sydney.

Growth rings in these cores let us reconstruct their growth histories and assess how they responded both to long-term climate patterns and extreme events such as the Black Summer of 2019–20 and the Millennium Drought from 1997–2009.

How resilient are these trees?

What we found was both reassuring and surprising.

Across all seven cities, the fastest average growth for all species was recorded in Mildura in northern Victoria. Overall, the slowest growth was found in the warmest location – Penrith.

Some species behaved predictably. The black locust grew faster in cooler, wetter cities such as Melbourne, as expected, while honey locust and Chinese elms grew more slowly in hotter cities.

But others defied expectations. Species such as London plane and southern magnolia showed consistent growth trends across cities despite the difference in heat, while others varied depending on local conditions.

Crucially, the growth records showed many street trees responded positively to wetter conditions during the warmest months, most likely due to the longer growing season and increased access to water.

Surprisingly, species such as box elder and Callery pear actually increased their growth during the very hot periods over the Black Summer of 2019–20 as well as during wetter La Niña periods in 2021–22. This suggests these species have adapted to warm urban environments – or that care and watering was provided.

Jacarandas on street in Sydney.
Jacarandas have become popular street trees in warmer cities. Snowscat/UnsplashCC BY-NC-ND

What happened during drought?

During drought, street trees generally demonstrated strong resistance. This means they maintained their growth during dry periods.

But their resilience – measured by their ability to bounce back to pre-drought growth rates – was often limited, especially in drier cities.

While many street trees can withstand short-term stress, this suggests repeated or prolonged droughts can still take a toll on their long-term health.

Interestingly, species identified as vulnerable in climate models did not always show greater sensitivity to drought or climate extremes in our real-world study.

Why? Local conditions and species-level characteristics such as leaf size, wood density and water use strategy may play a significant role in determining which individual trees will thrive as the climate changes.

We also know care provided by council staff or local residents is extremely useful. When trees are irrigated during stressful conditions, they can help get the tree through tough times.

Why no eucalypts?

During their growing season each year, many northern hemisphere trees produce growth rings. These rings make it possible to reliably reconstruct their growth histories using our methods.

But most eucalypts don’t form clear annual growth rings. This is why we didn’t include spotted gums and other common eucalypts seen on city streets.

Eucalypts tend to grow whenever conditions are favourable rather than being constrained by a strict annual cycle. Only a few native species reliably produce datable annual rings, such as snow gums and alpine ash. This is because they live in cold, high elevation areas, where winter consistently limits growth each year. These conditions aren’t found in any major Australian city.

What does this mean for city planners?

Our research shows that species selection matters a great deal.

Some street trees such as jacarandas, London plane and the European nettle tree can thrive even under extreme heat and drought, while honey locust and Chinese elms are more sensitive to local conditions.

Authorities can maximise the benefits of urban forests and reduce tree decline or loss by choosing resilient species and matching them to the specific climate of each city or neighbourhood.

As climate extremes become more common, even resilient species may face new challenges.

Planting and maintaining diverse, climate-adapted urban forests will help ensure our cities remain liveable, healthy, and green in the decades to come.The Conversation

Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityMark G Tjoelker, Professor of Ecology and Associate Director, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney UniversityMatthew Brookhouse, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Australian National University, and Sally Power, Professor of Ecology, Western Sydney University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Extreme weather could send milk prices soaring, deepening challenges for the dairy industry

Milena BojovicUniversity of Technology Sydney

Australia’s dairy industry is in the middle of a crisis, fuelled by an almost perfect storm of challenges.

Climate change and extreme weather have been battering farmlands and impacting animal productivity, creating mounting financial strains and mental health struggles for many farmers.

Meanwhile, beyond the farm gate, consumer tastes are shifting to a range of dairy substitutes. Interest and investment in alternative dairy proteins is accelerating.

Earlier this month, industry figures warned consumers to prepare for price rises amid expected shortages of milk, butter and cheese. Already mired in uncertainty, the dairy industry is now being forced to confront some tough questions about its future head on.

Dairy under pressure

Dairy is Australia’s third-largest rural industry. It produces more than A$6 billion worth of milk each year, and directly employs more than 30,000 people.

But the sector has been under sustained pressure. This year alone, repeated extreme weather events have affected key dairy-producing regions in southern and eastern parts of Australia.

In New South Wales, dairy farmers face increased pressure from floods. In May, many regions had their monthly rainfall records broken – some by huge margins.

In Victoria, drought and water shortages are worsening. Tasmania, too, continues to endure some of the driest conditions in more than a century.

Conditions have prompted many farmers to sell down their cattle numbers to conserve feed and water.

All of this heavily impacts farm productivity. Agriculture has long been predicated on our ability to predict climate conditions and grow food or rear animals according to the cycles of nature.

As climate change disrupts weather patterns, this makes both short and long-term planning for the sector a growing challenge.

High costs, low profits

Climate change isn’t the only test. The industry has also been grappling with productivity and profitability concerns.

At the farm level, dairy farmers are feeling the impacts of high operating costs. Compared to other types of farming (such as sheep or beef), dairy farms require more plant, machinery and equipment capital, mostly in the form of specialised milking machinery.

The price of milk also has many farmers concerned. The modest increase in farmgate milk prices – just announced by dairy companies for the start of the next financial year – left many farmers disappointed. Some say the increase isn’t enough to cover rising operating costs.

Zooming out, there are concerns about a lack of family succession planning for dairy farms. Many young people are wary of taking on such burdens, and the total number of Australian dairy farms has been in steady decline – from more than 6,000 in 2015 to just 4,163 in 2023.

What’s the solution?

Is there a way to make the dairy industry more productive, profitable and sustainable? Australian Dairy Farmers is the national policy and advocacy group supporting the profitability and sustainability of the sector.

In the lead up to this year’s federal election, the group called for $399 million in government investment to address what it said were key priorities. These included:

  • investment in on-farm technologies to improve efficiencies
  • funding for water security
  • upskilling programs for farmers
  • support for succession planning.
Person picks milk up off a shelf
Industry figures have warned consumers to brace for possible increases in the cost of dairy products. wisely/Shutterstock

However, as the industry struggles to grapple with a changing climate, financial strain and mental health pressures, there should also be pathways for incumbent farmers to transition, either to farming dairy differently (such as by reducing herd sizes) or exiting out of dairy farming and into something else.

Dairy without the cows

The push to make dairy production more sustainable and efficient faces its own competition. A number of techniques in development promise dairy products without the cows, through cellular agriculture – and more specifically, “precision fermentation”.

Australian company Eden Brew, in partnership with dairy giant Norco, has plans to produce and commercialise precision fermentation dairy proteins.

And last year, Australian company All G secured approval to sell precision fermentation lactoferrin (a key dairy ingredient in baby formula) in China – another animal-free milk product.

It is important to note that cost and scalability for cellular agriculture remains a challenge.

Nonetheless, Australia’s rapidly growing non-dairy milk market – soy, oat, and so on – is now worth over $600 million annually. This reflects the global shift towards plant-based options driven by health, environmental, and ethical concerns.

Is there a win-win outcome?

Is there a possible future where more funding is given to produce milk at scale through precision fermentation while we also look after incumbent dairy workers, farms and the rural sector at large to diversify or leave the sector altogether?

Some believe this future is possible. This is what researchers call “protein pluralism” – a market where traditional and alternative proteins coexist. Long-term planning from both the dairy industry and government would be needed.

Remember, while techniques like precision fermentation offer the promise of animal-free dairy products, their benefits are largely yet to materialise. How they will ultimately benefit the whole of society remains speculative.

What we can do now

For this reason, some scholars have argued we should prioritise actions that can be taken now. This includes support for practices such as agroecology, which seek to address injustice and inequity in food systems to help empower primary food producers.

recent study found Australian dairy farmers were interested in financial and technical advice to make decisions about where they take their business in future.

Despite growing recognition of the challenges facing the dairy sector, responses from government and alternative dairy remain uneven. A more coordinated approach is needed for affected farmers, helping them adapt or diversify with guidance from government and industry experts.The Conversation

Milena Bojovic, Lecturer, Sustainability and Environment, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

10-fold increase in rocket launches would start harming the ozone layer – new research

Han Jiajun/VCG via Getty Images
Laura RevellUniversity of Canterbury and Michele BannisterUniversity of Canterbury

The international space industry is on a growth trajectory, but new research shows a rapid increase in rocket launches would damage the ozone layer.

Several hundred rockets are launched globally each year by a mix of commercial companies and nation-state space programmes. These take place at around 20 sites, almost all in the northern hemisphere, with the most prolific launch rates currently from the United States, China, New Zealand and Russia.

Our latest research explores the tipping point when launching more rockets will begin to cause problems. Our findings show that once rates reach 2,000 launches a year – about a ten-fold increase on last year – the current healing of the ozone layer slows down.

We argue that with care, we can avoid this future. The economic benefits of industry growth can be realised, but it will take a collaborative effort.

Rocket launches thin the ozone layer

The ozone layer protects life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet (UV) rays. It is slowly healing from the effects of chlorofluorocarbons and other damaging chemicals emitted last century, thanks to global cooperative agreements under the Montreal Protocol.

Gases and particulates emitted by rockets as they punch through the atmosphere are known to thin the ozone layer. So far, they don’t cause appreciable ozone depletion, as relatively few launches take place each year.

However, launches are steadily increasing. In 2019, there were 102 launches. By 2024, that increased to 258 worldwide. There are expected to be even more in 2025. At multiple sites worldwide, the launch industry projects impressive levels of future growth.

For US-based launches, a three-fold increase in the number of rockets launched in 2023 is expected as soon as 2028.

One driver of this growth is the effort to build out satellite constellations to tens of thousands of units, positioned low in Earth’s orbit. These require many launches to create and are happening in several nations, run by a number of companies.

Once in place, these constellations require ongoing launches to keep them supplied with active satellites.

Potential delay in ozone recovery

To figure out how future launches could affect the ozone layer, we first built a database of ozone-depleting chemicals emitted by rockets currently in use. We then fed this database into a model of Earth’s atmosphere and climate, and simulated atmospheric composition under several scenarios of higher rates of rocket launches.

We found that with around 2,000 launches worldwide each year, the ozone layer thins by up to 3%. Due to atmospheric transport of rocket-emitted chemicals, we saw the largest ozone losses over Antarctica, even though most launches are taking place in the northern hemisphere.

Fortunately, the ozone losses are small. We wouldn’t expect to see catastrophic damage to humans or ecosystems. However, the losses are significant given global efforts underway to heal the ozone layer. The global abundance of ozone is still around 2% lower than before the onset of losses caused by chlorofluorocarbons.

Future ozone losses are not locked in

Encouragingly, we found no significant ozone loss in a scenario of more modest rates of around 900 launches per year. However, this is for the types of rockets that are in use right now around the world.

We focus on current launch vehicles because it is uncertain when the new and massive rockets currently in development will enter use. But these larger rockets often require far more fuel, which creates more emissions at each launch.

Rocket propellant choices make a big difference to the atmosphere. We found fuels emitting chlorine-containing chemicals or black carbon particulates have the largest effects on the ozone layer. Reducing use of these fuels as launch rates increase is key to supporting an ongoing recovery of the ozone layer.

Re-entering spacecraft and satellite debris can also cause damage. However, the global scientific community doesn’t yet fully understand the chemistry around re-entry. Our work provides a realistic “floor” for the lowest level of damage that will occur.

But it is important to remember that these effects are not locked in. It is entirely possible to create a launch industry where we avoid harmful effects, but that would require reducing use of chlorine-containing fuels, minimising black carbon emissions by new rockets and monitoring emissions.

It will take keen effort and enthusiasm from industry and regulators, working together with scientists. But this needs to start now, not after the damage is done.The Conversation

Laura Revell, Associate Professor in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Canterbury and Michele Bannister, Senior Lecturer in Astronomy, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Week Two June 2025 (June 2 - 9): King's Birthday Honours Edition

Discover Sydney’s blooming spectacular Muogamarra

Each year, the Muogamarra, on the Hawkesbury River near Cowan, transforms with a stunning display of colour when many of its glorious collection of over 900 species of native plants come into bloom.

Magnificent wildflowers such as waratahs, majestic angophoras, old-man banksias, pink boronias and delicate native orchids are set against a backdrop of spectacular views of the lower Hawksbury River.

During this time the Nature Reserve is open to the public for just a few weeks to protect its unique historic and Aboriginal heritage and fragile ecosystem.

The only way for visitors to experience what is arguably Sydney's best wildflower display is with a pre-booked tour.

The Muogamarra Discovery season is extremely popular and just as the blooms are fleeting so too are tickets with each year booking out quickly.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is encouraging nature-lovers to get in early and book a tour of the popular nature reserve to ensure they do not miss out on glimpsing this unique place with friends or family.

John Duncan Tipper established Muogamarra as a private sanctuary in 1934 and public access has always been limited to subscription visits and special wildflower days to protect the vulnerable ecosystem.

See;  Muogamarra Nature Reserve in Cowan celebrates 90 years: a few insights into The Vision of John Duncan Tipper, Founder 

The nature reserve is also home to 14 native animal species including the swamp wallaby, brush tail possum and echidnas, while birdwatchers may glimpse a soaring wedge-tail eagle or the endangered glossy black-cockatoo.

Walking tracks around the nature reserve offer stunning views of the Hawkesbury River and Berowra Creek, as well as expansive views of Bar, Milson and Spectacle islands.

In 1969, management of the area was transferred to the newly established NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service where the reserve became known as Muogamarra Nature Reserve.

The Muogamarra Discovery Season has been staffed by the dedicated and knowledgeable Chase Alive Volunteers since 1989.

Pre booked tours are only between 9 August and 15 September with tickets ranging from $15 to $55 for adults. Children, concession and family pricing is also available. Find out more on the NSW national parks Muogamarra open season 2025 webpage.

Greg Kirby National Parks and Wildlife Service Area Manager said on Friday June 6:

"Every year Muogamarra Nature Reserve is open to the public for a short time and those who have experienced this unique area will be able to tell you just how special it is.

"For 90 years, workers, volunteers and stakeholders have ensured Muogamarra is a one-of-a-kind reserve, offering experiences that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. "I would like to thank each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication to this beautiful reserve."


Minister for the Environment, The Hon Penny Sharpe, gets one quiet moment in the Muogamarra Nature Reserve on Sunday 1 September 2024.

Decades of searching and a chance discovery: why finding Leadbeater’s possum in NSW is such big news

David LindenmayerAustralian National UniversityDarcy WatchornDeakin University, and Jaana DielenbergCharles Darwin University

Until now, Victorians believed their state was the sole home for Leadbeater’s possum, their critically endangered state faunal emblem. This tiny marsupial is clinging to life in a few pockets of mountain ash and snow gum habitat in the Central Highlands of Victoria.

But a few days ago, seven grainy photos taken by a trail camera in New South Wales revealed something very unexpected: a Leadbeater’s possum hundreds of kilometres away in the wet forests of Kosciuszko National Park.

For decades, we and other researchers have sought proof this possum existed in these forests. Now we have it. This is a moment of celebration. But it also signals the importance of well-resourced biodiversity surveys in uncovering our most threatened species and large national parks for conserving them.

While this newly discovered population reduces the risk of extinction, it doesn’t change the decline and risk of extinction of its Victorian relatives – or the steps needed to safeguard them.

A leadbeaters possum jumping into the undergrowth in Kosciuszko National Park

These photos from Kosciuszko National Park are the first proof that Leadbeater’s possum has a NSW population. NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and WaterCC BY-NC-ND

Detected entirely by chance

In 2024, New South Wales threatened species ecologists Fred Ford and Martin Schulz set about looking for an entirely different species, the endangered smoky mouse. To find it, they set up a wide array of camera traps throughout wet forest areas of Kosciuszko National Park. A year later, they collected them and trawled through millions of photos.

Among all these images (including of smoky mice), there were seven which stunned them. A camera deployed near Yarrangobilly Caves captured a tiny possum scampering through leaf litter, holding its distinctive club-shaped tail erect. The possum looks around the monitoring site, showing its back and face stripes and heart-shaped face.

Experts at The Australian National University and Zoos Victoria verified the photos, setting the ecology world abuzz.

bushland and caves in NSW

A trail camera near Yarrangobilly Caves in Kosciuszko National Park captured the sighting. Destinations Journey/Shutterstock

A hunch confirmed

While we are delighted at this remarkable discovery, the detection is not a complete surprise.

Over three decades ago, this article’s lead author searched for Leadbeater’s possum around Yarrangobilly and many other parts of Kosciuszko National Park, guided by a bioclimatic model suggesting the cool wet forests in Kosciuszko National Park should suit the possum.

But detection cameras were not available then, and this possum is notoriously hard to spot. It’s tiny, nocturnal and spends its waking hours dashing through the dense understory of some of the world’s tallest forests looking for nectar, sap and insects.

Species experts from Zoos Victoria and Deakin University have also scouted parts of Kosciuszko National Park over the past decade, identifying potentially promising habitat.

In 2010 we got confirmation the possum had once occurred in the area, when jaw bones were identified among bones regurgitated by owls on the floor of a nearby cave.

But other bones from the cave floor date back an estimated 140–200 years. The bones were far from proof of a living population.

The possum’s existence remained an open question until these photos.

What does this mean for this possum?

We don’t know anything about this newly discovered Leadbeater’s possum population in NSW, other than the fact that it exists. Given the distance from the Victorian populations, we suspect that they may be genetically distinct.

In theory, the existence of a separate population 250 km away from the Victorian populations cuts the risk a single megafire or other catastrophe could push the species to extinction.

But while welcome, the discovery doesn’t reduce the need to urgently protect surviving Victorian populations, which remain highly threatened by bushfire, climate change, predation by cats, and the legacy of logging and land clearing.

In Victoria, some populations have dwindled as low as 40 animals and inbreeding is now a concern.

The possum typically relies on large old trees with hollows where it can breed and den. But these trees have substantially declined in Victoria over the past 150 years. Leadbeater’s possum also needs smaller trees for feeding and movement.

Surveys across the historical range of the species in Victoria since 2017 have failed to find any other hidden populations. Most surveys have found the habitat highly degraded from logging and fire.

The discovery won’t alter the possum’s critically endangered status at this stage, nor the ongoing work to support it.

In welcome news, the NSW Environment Minister announced the possum’s state conservation listing will be fast-tracked.

Of surveys and parks

Why did it take so long to find the possum? The main reason: a lack of resources preventing targeted investigations.

Even basic inventories of species have not been done across many of Australia’s important conservation areas.

Without well conducted surveys and monitoring, we are left overly reliant on chance detections for critical information. There could be other populations of imperilled species waiting to be rediscovered.

Properly managing our growing number of threatened species shouldn’t be based on luck. It should be enabled by adequate resources for threatened species recovery teams to discover, map, protect and manage threatened species and their habitat.

Increasing federal spending on the care of nature to 1% of the budget would go a very long way to closing these gaps.

Trail cameras, call playback and environmental DNA sampling mean we can now survey large and remote natural areas with relatively little effort for long periods of time.

Big parks are essential

Kosciuszko National Park supports much more than Australia’s highest mountains. The huge park spans 690,000 hectares, much of it forest.

Many of our most imperilled species are hard to detect. Protecting extensive areas of good-quality habitat boosts the survival chances for these species, even if we don’t yet have proof of life.

With so little high-quality habitat left in Australia, proper protection through new national parks (including in Victoria) is vitally important for the possum and many other species.

Passive protection isn’t enough either – adequate funding is critical to stop the environmental condition of parks from declining, due to threats like invasive species and extreme fires.

The world still contains wonder

These seven photos have given ecologists and nature lovers a real boost to their spirits. As detection techniques improve, what else is out there waiting to be found?


The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Leadbeater’s possum experts Dan Harley, Arabella Eyre, John Woinarski and Brendan Wintle to this article.The Conversation

David Lindenmayer, Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityDarcy Watchorn, Threatened Species Biologist, Wildlife Conservation & Science Department, Zoos Victoria, and Visiting Scholar, School of Life & Environmental Science, Deakin University, and Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Hello Leadbeater's Possum! Species thought extinct in NSW found in Kosciuszko National Park

June 1, 2025

A Leadbeater’s Possum, long believed to be extinct in NSW, has been discovered in Kosciuszko National Park by the NSW Government’s threatened species team.

Until now, records show this species has only been detected alive in Victoria, with the nearest recorded sighting in the past century around 250 kilometres away from this find in NSW.

The possum is the mammal emblem of Victoria and is listed as a critically endangered species under Commonwealth and Victorian law. In NSW, it was previously known only from bones, believed to be up to 200 years old, that were discovered in caves near the recent detection site.

A Leadbeater’s Possum has now been spotted in seven photos taken over a 10-second period while threatened species officers from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water were reviewing almost a million images from ground-based wildlife cameras set up to survey for the critically endangered smoky mouse at Yarrangobilly.

Leadbeater’s Possums weigh approximately 125g. They live mostly in wet eucalypt forests in tree hollows as breeding pairs and family groups, meaning this individual must belong to a previously unknown population.

The identification was confirmed by Healesville Sanctuary and the Australian National University.

Images from past surveys across Kosciuszko National Park are now being reviewed for any further evidence of the species. Cameras will be deployed across mountain forests in the park, using methods developed in Victoria, to learn more about the species and inform a conservation program.

Threatened species experts are determining the habitat location, size and extent of the population, which will help inform next steps and a conservation program for the species.

The Victorian Government will lend its expertise with the species.

The NSW Government has also commenced the process for an expedited conservation listing of the species through the independent NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee.

NSW Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said:

“It’s extraordinary to discover a species that was previously thought to be extinct in NSW. 

“For ecologists to spot a needle in a haystack of millions of images speaks to their commitment to the conservation cause and demonstrates that NSW Government threatened species officers are doing some of the most incredible work. I congratulate them on this discovery.

“This special find in Kosciuszko National Park once again highlights why the Minns Labor Government is taking action to remove invasive species to protect Australia’s only mainland alpine region, which spans the NSW and Victorian border.”

Victorian Minister for Environment, Steve Dimopoulos said:

“What incredible news that a species thought to exist only in our state has been detected in NSW. 

“The discovery of a new, separate population brings hope for the conservation of this species and reduces the risk to the species from single catastrophic events.

“The Victorian Government stands ready to provide expertise to the NSW Government to give this species hope for the future on both sides of the border.

“Congratulations to our NSW Government colleagues for this rare, once in a lifetime discovery.”

Member for Monaro, Minister Steve Whan said:

"We're known internationally for our unique flora and fauna, and it's a massive drawcard for our region especially. 

"I'm incredibly excited to learn that the Leadbeater's Possum, a critically endangered species only thought to be found in Victoria in small numbers, has been confirmed living in Kosciuszko National Park.

"This is truly wonderful news and is early evidence that the NSW Government's efforts to control invasive species is working."

Leadbeater's possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) in Kosciuszko National ParkcloseClose description. Image Credit: DCCEEW

Welcoming winter gardens: BirdLife Australia

Winter might seem like the off-season in the garden, but in much of Australia it’s when the show really starts, especially if you’ve got a native garden. Grevilleas, correas, banksias and more are flowering, making the garden look gorgeous and attracting in a host of different birds. With cooler air and softer soils, it’s also the perfect time to step back, make a few smart tweaks, and set your space up for an even more bird-friendly spring.

Eastern spinebill feeding on the nectar of a Grevillea flower. Photo: Joseph C Boone

Here are five winter actions I will be taking to keep my garden a welcoming space for birds:

1. Fertilise native plants lightly but purposefully.

With soil moisture up and temperatures down, this is a great time to give native plants a gentle nutrient boost. Use a low-phosp, native-specific fertiliser on shrubs and small trees to encourage flowering and growth for spring. Think of it as fuelling the next wave of nectar, fruit and insects for birds.

2. Divide and conquer the clumping plants.

Kangaroo paws, dianellas and lomandras all benefit from being lifted and divided in winter. Be prepared to prune back their foliage by half and make sure each division has a few healthy shoots. Not only does this help maintain vigorous growth and better flowering, it’s also a great way to multiply your plants for free, ideal if you’re expanding habitat or sharing with neighbours.

3. Transplant with care, depending on your climate.

If you’re in a warmer zone, now’s a good time to relocate established native plants while soil’s soft and rainfall can help them re-establish. In colder regions, I hold off until early spring to avoid frost damage.

4. Observe, and maybe plant.

Autumn is prime planting time in much of Australia, but you can often sneak in a few new natives now too, especially tubestock. Just avoid planting during frosty periods or if your region regularly drops below 2 °C.

5. Prune with purpose (but don’t overdo it).

While some natives are flowering now, others are resting, making it a good time to tidy up leggy growth or shape woody shrubs that have finished blooming. I focus on pruning just enough to maintain structure and encourage bushier regrowth come spring.

Celebrate the winter flowers and don’t forget to enjoy them! Native plants put on a great show at this time of year, and they’re drawing in a host of great birds. I still pinch myself when the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos hang out in my Coastal Banksias. Sit back, spot who’s visiting, and take note of what plants are doing the work. Don’t forget to do a Birds in Backyards seasonal survey as well or visit Birdlfe Australia's FREE Habitat Gardening for Birds online course

2025 World Albatross Day: 19 June

Friday June 8 2025 Article by BirdLife Australia

Confronting the silent threat of disease​

On 19 June 2025, we mark the sixth annual World Albatross Day, with the theme ‘Effects of Disease’. While albatrosses have long faced threats like fisheries bycatch and climate change, disease is an emerging and often overlooked peril.​

The hidden menace: disease in albatross populations

Albatrosses are among the most remarkable seabirds on the planet, known for their vast movements across the world’s oceans. But this globe-trotting lifestyle may expose them to a wider array of parasites and pathogens than many other birds. Albatrosses are long-lived—Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan Albatross, is the world’s oldest known wild bird—and they have dense, communal nesting habits, both factors which increase the risk of transmission of disease within breeding colonies.

Emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza, avian pox and avian cholera are already affecting some albatrosses, and they can have devastating impacts, reducing breeding success and chick survival, which places further pressure on already vulnerable populations.

Australia’s unique albatross: the Shy Albatross

Australia’s only endemic albatross, the Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta), breeds on just three isolated islands off Tasmania. They are already at risk from threats like fisheries bycatch and climate change, and now disease poses an additional—and significant—challenge.

Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) in flight. Photo: Glen Fergus

On Albatross Island, breeding colonies have been affected by a virus that is transmitted by ticks. Infected chicks often show symptoms of avian pox, and over 40% of pre-fledging birds are affected in some years, though outbreaks vary in severity and distribution. Nevertheless, they often lead to substantial declines in breeding success due to infected chicks losing weight and dying. Reflecting these ongoing pressures on their survival, the Shy Albatross was listed as nationally Endangered in Australia in 2020.

Climate change and disease

Climate change can exacerbate the spread and impact of disease among populations of seabirds. Warmer temperatures and altered weather patterns can increase stress levels and the prevalence of pathogens—such as viruses and parasites—making seabirds more susceptible to illness. Researchers are working hard to understand the processes behind the effects of a changing climate and disease.

 Albatross off Barrenjoey headland - picture by A J Guesdon, 2015

Avian Influenza and albatrosses

Avian influenza or bird flu is an infectious disease caused by strains of the Influenza A virus. The H5N1 strain or H5 bird flu is a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that affects birds and mammals associated with water—ducks, gulls and seabirds such as albatrosses, as well as sea lions and elephant seals. The virus causes severe neurological and respiratory symptoms and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of birds and mammals all around the world—with the exception of Australia and New Zealand.

H5N1 has been detected in Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) on the subantarctic island of South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur). This outbreak, which began with Brown Skuas in October 2023, has since affected other seabirds and seals. Recent outbreaks on the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands have prompted fears for the birds of Heard and Macquarie Islands, a mere 400 kilometres away. The spread of bird flu in remote island ecosystems threatens already vulnerable species with high mortality rates, particularly those with slow reproductive rates. In addition, biosecurity measures are difficult to implement effectively in such isolated environments, and any intervention must be carefully balanced to avoid disturbance to breeding colonies. The outbreak also complicates long-term monitoring and research activities, with restricted access and increased risk to both wildlife and people working in the field.

Conservation efforts and the path forward

The H5 bird flu virus cannot be stopped, but there is still plenty we can do to support populations of our precious albatrosses and other seabirds. BirdLife Australia is working with local and international organisations, such as the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, to address the challenges faced by these species by promoting research and conservation strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of the disease. Efforts include monitoring outbreaks, implementing biosecurity measures and supporting habitat protection.​

How you can help

Stay Informed:

Educate yourself about the threats facing albatrosses and share this knowledge with others.​ If you want to learn more about albatrosses and Avian Influenza, please join us the Birds Meet Webinar at 7pm on 19 June 2025.

Support Conservation:

Contribute to organisations dedicated to seabird conservation.​

Advocate:

Encourage policymakers to implement and enforce measures that protect albatross habitats and address the threats.​

Surfrider Foundation: June 2025 Surf Swap

🌊Sun 22 June - Surfrider 3rd Annual Surf swap & Repair Market
Venue: Surfrider Gardens, 50 Oceans St, Narrabeen
Time: 11 - 3pm 
Ride the Use Wave - Sell, Swap, Repair or repurpose your preloved Surf gear.
Meet shapers and makers of sustainable surfboards, local innovators of upcycling waste into surf accessories
Upcycle your ‘end of life’ wetsuit with Ripcurl, attend minor board repair workshops
Chill to smooth beats in the winter sun and enjoy killer coffee from the local cafes
This event is held with the support of the Northern Beaches Council.
Free to attend and a waste free event!
Event Registration here - Day traders and Stallholders

Whale Census Day 2025: June 29

Have your say on council's climate change policy

The Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula is particularly vulnerable to impacts associated with climate change which are likely to increase in future years according to the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan.

The council states it has delivered numerous initiatives to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of, climate change and has now drafted a new Climate Change Policy that will guide how it manages climate change risks and continues to reduce emissions. The council is now seeking feedback from the community on its draft Policy.

The risks include increasingly severe and complex impacts associated with coastal hazards and flooding, and more frequent extreme weather, bush fires, high winds, heatwaves and drought. 

Mayor Sue Heins said the council is committed to doing its part to reduce emissions, but importantly also focusing on building community resilience to these impacts.

“Such impacts can go beyond these physical hazards, creating challenges and driving changes across the community, natural environment and economy,” Mayor Heins said. 

“Recent bush fire, storm and flooding events have directly impacted the local community, through property damage and increased clean-up, repair and insurance costs, as well as causing stress, fatigue and uncertainty.    

“We want to ensure that we’re not just reducing emissions, but importantly we’re adapting to projected climate change and building community resilience.

“This requires preparedness for both council and the community and we welcome feedback from our community on the draft policy” Mayor Heins said.

Palm Beach stormwater drain opposite Wilshire Park creek, July 6, 2024, filled with plastic bag encased sandbags

Snapperman Beach seawall in March 2022 with plastic filled sandbags now deep into the beach itself - was damaged in storm of March 2021 - was finally repaired in February through March 2023

The council's Climate Change draft Policy has the following 13 Principles:

1. Ensure that Council’s Integrated Planning and Reporting framework incorporates suitable measures to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of climate change across its assets, functions, services and reporting.

2. Adopt a proactive and adaptive approach to managing the impact of climate change, informed by the best available science and guidance, and adjusted regularly for changes in data, technology, and policy.

3. Maintain up to date greenhouse gas emission  reduction targets for Council and the community that are monitored, reviewed, and publicly reported against.

4. Ensure consistency with state, national, and international legislation, guidelines, benchmarks and targets, as appropriate. 

5. Prioritise the management of risk to people, property, and the environment from the impacts of climate change in accordance with Council’s obligations and its Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

6. Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from Council activities as far as possible. Council may offset the remaining emissions to meet its adopted targets.

7. Incorporate the range of climate projections aligned to emission scenarios SSP2 and SSP3 when managing Council assets and services and when developing studies, management plans and in land use planning. When making decisions, use SSP2 for short-term scenarios and SSP3 for longer-term scenarios.

8. Work with the community and key stakeholders to reduce emissions, address climate risks and enhance resilience across the Northern Beaches.

9. Ensure Council decisions consider the impacts of climate change for current and future generations.

10. Identify and manage climate change impacts and obligations through Council’s systems and frameworks. This includes project management, enterprise risk management, procurement, business and financial planning, as well as strategic and land use planning  frameworks.

11. Reduce current and future risks to the community and the environment by locating new development out of high-risk hazard areas (particularly those expected to be at greater risk from climate change), and/or incorporating appropriate measures to reduce the risk to an appropriate level in accordance with relevant guidelines and statutory controls (including utilising appropriate land zoning).

12. Consider the options of protection, accommodation, avoidance, nature-based adaptations and relocation where climate change poses a significant risk to existing development and land uses.

13. Advocate for, and where possible implement, better building and construction standards, delivery of multi-agency projects, waste minimisation and management, zero emissions transport, sustainable finance and equitable community support to reduce the causes, risks and impacts of climate change.

Policy's Scope and application

This Policy applies to officials of the Northern Beaches Council and will be implemented across Council’s assets, functions and services.

Policy's Definitions for Adaptation responses

• Nature-based: Nature based solutions such as protecting and augmenting dunes, revegetating foreshore buffers or undertaking rehabilitation of natural coastal habitats such as mangrove, saltmarsh and salt-tolerant transitional vegetation.

• Accommodation: Design new structure and/or altering existing structure to reduce vulnerability to impacts. Example: raising the floor height of a flood-prone building.

• Avoidance: Minimising intensification of existing exposure and preventing new development in areas subject to current or future risks. Example: prohibiting new development in areas subject to bush fire risk.

• Protection: Implementing temporary or permanent works that provide a barrier between a structure and a hazard. Example: hard protection such as seawalls or levees or soft protection (often referred to as ecosystem-based adaptations) such as dunes, sand nourishment or planting of bush fire resistant vegetation. 

• Relocation:  Removal or relocation of existing exposed structure or asset out of an at-risk area.

Policy Document's definitions

Carbon offset A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. A carbon offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission  reduction of one metric tonne of CO2-e. The purchaser of an offset credit can ‘retire’ it to claim the reduction towards their own emission reduction goals.

Climate change Change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Throughout this policy, the term refers to changes to the climate  attributable to human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions or land use changes.

Climate risk Refers to potential negative or positive impacts of natural hazards and climate under the influence of rising global  greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions Greenhouse gases released from human activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.

Hazard A potential natural or human-induced physical event, trend or disturbance with negative consequences.

NARCliM The NSW Government provides high-quality regional climate  projections and information for public use through the NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project. Resilience The capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, and  systems to survive, adapt and thrive in response to chronic stresses and acute shocks.

SSPs Shared Socioeconomic Pathways are a range of scenarios for climate change that consider different levels of greenhouse gas emissions, population, economics, social factors, and other key concepts. They help assess potential climate futures and their impacts.

SSP2 and SSP3 

The SSP2 scenario assumes that global trends continue without major shifts. Some countries make good progress, while others struggle. Environmental degradation continues, but resource and energy use become more efficient.

SSP3 scenario assumes countries prioritise security and economic independence, leading to slow technological progress and high challenges for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Targets Includes Council’s targets, aspirations, commitments, benchmarks, and actions as outlined in all Council policies, strategies, and action plans.

The draft Climate Change Policy has been prepared to update and replace the current policies and guide the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation action across the council’s assets, functions and services. 

The policy is on exhibition from Friday 23 May to 22 June. For more information and to have your say visit the council's Climate Change Policy - draft; consolidating existing former council policies webpage


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.

Council's Draft Land Dealings Policy: Have your Say

  • Submissions opened: Fri 23 May 2025
  • Submissions close: Mon 23 Jun 2025

The council has made available its Draft Land Dealings Policy.

The council states its ''draft Policy is an integral part of the council's adopted Property Management Framework (PMF), ensuring that Land Dealings are conducted transparently, accountably, and in the best interests of the community.

If adopted, the draft Policy will replace 5 policies of the 3 former Councils (available in the Attachments Booklet for the May 20 2025 Council Meeting).

Under the Policy ''Land assets will be subject to ongoing review in relation to their purpose, usability, viability, and overall community benefit, in accordance with this Policy and the Property Management Framework.''

The 'Draft Council Policy NB-P-42 Land Dealings' is a 2 1/2-page policy which also refers to a 'Land Dealings Guidelines' - however, that document, or guidelines, have not been made available, so it would b difficult to provide informed feedback based on being able to scrutinise the document/s or guideline/s named in the policy. 

The policy further states:

'Proposals for Land Dealings, where required, will be reported to the relevant Council Committees and the elected Council for consideration in accordance with Council’s adopted Property Management Framework.

Confidential reporting may be necessary under certain circumstances where there may be legal, commercial or privacy/safety issues should the information be made publicly available.'

In closing the document states:

This Council policy relates to the Community Strategic Plan Outcome of:

• Good governance - Goal 19 Our Council is transparent and trusted to make decisions that reflect the values of the community.

The feedback webpage, Draft Land Dealings Policy, provides a 1 question survey you can take or provide written feedback via the email/postal method.

Council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing: Have Your Say

The council is inserting the phrase from Chapter 6 of the State Government's - 'Chapter 6, Part 2 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (the Housing SEPP); ''Where there is any inconsistency between the controls in this DCP and the Housing SEPP, the Housing SEPP prevails.''

Stage 1 started on 1 July 2024, permitting dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings in all R2 low density residential zones.

Stage 2 started on 28 February 2025, allowing townhouses, terraces and small apartment buildings (up to 9.5 metres high) in R1 and R2 zones within 800 metres of nine identified town centres on the peninsula. It also permits apartment buildings up to 6 storeys (22-24 metres) in R3 medium density residential zones within 400 metres of these centres, and up to 4 storeys (17.5 metres) within 400-800 metres.

The 9 identified town centres on the peninsula are:

  • Balgowlah
  • Brookvale
  • Dee Why
  • Forestville
  • Forest Way
  • Frenchs Forest
  • Manly
  • Manly Vale
  • Mona Vale

See last week's report: Pittwater MP slams the Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy for turning on the tap for developers

The council states it is also making proposed changes to existing development control plans (DCPs) to protect the local character, amenity, heritage and streetscapes and safeguard the valued tree canopy.  

The proposed changes are a response to the NSW Government’s change to planning laws, known as the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Reforms, which have recently allowed greater building heights and density surrounding town centres and train stations and the introduction of dual occupancy development in all R2 zoned land in the LGA.

Currently, separate DCPs for the former Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Councils provide detailed guidance for development including building setbacks, trees and landscaping areas, heritage protection and car parking requirements. 

The council states they do not include controls that adequately address development types now permitted under the new reforms.

The council states their proposed DCP amendments aim to promote best practice and create greater consistency, so that the same rules apply to these developments as to other similar developments in the NBC LGA area.

The council states the Northern Beaches Council is one of the first councils to consider DCP amendments in response to the State Government reforms.

Mayor Sue Heins said the council’s power had been reduced in relation to applications submitted under the new State Government rules. 

“The new one-size-fits-all approach to planning has implications for our area, increasing heights and density up to 6-storeys in and around 9 town centres, without corresponding development controls that protect the character we value,” Mayor Heins said.  

“While council has been stripped of the power to refuse applications that comply with the new rules, we can amend our Development Control Plans to ensure any new townhouse, apartment or terrace style development is at least subject to the same controls as others like them outside the new town centre zones. 

“Controls like how much space is allocated to landscaping and trees, the streetscape appearance, parking requirements, electric vehicle charging, ventilation and natural sunlight and consideration of privacy, separation and views. 

“We are also moving to protect our local heritage, especially in the Manly Conservation Area, strengthening protection and consideration of the unique historic character of the area in the development controls. 

“All the changes being proposed to the DCPs can have a real impact on the lifestyle of those living in the town centres and to the look and feel of our much-loved neighbourhoods. I encourage the community to have their say.”

The proposed changes to the DCPs will be on exhibition from Friday 23 May to Sunday 22 June. 

For more information and to provide feedback visit council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing webpage

Weed of the Week: Morning Glory - please get it out of your garden

Blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica) photo by A J Guesdon

Morning glory weed is fast-growing, twining vines that can be troublesome weeds due to their ability to smother native vegetation.

First Strategy to protect NSW heritage released

Community members and heritage stakeholders are being invited to have their say on the first NSW Heritage strategy. It will seek to update the approach to heritage by recognising, protecting, enhancing and celebrating our state’s rich history.

The Minns Labor Government’s vision is for a heritage system that recognises the rich places, people and experiences that have shaped NSW. 

The draft strategy examines ways to modernise the approach to heritage and at the same time ensuring that housing can be built. 

The draft strategy has been informed by more than 1,750 submissions from heritage experts, advocacy groups, government bodies and members of the public.

Key questions within the strategy are how to:

  • recognise and protect a broader range of stories and values to represent the diverse history and communities of NSW within the heritage system
  • improve alignment between the heritage and planning systems including simplifying approval processes
  • enhance support for heritage owners and custodians
  • encourage new uses for heritage places, including government-owned heritage
  • champion activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces to create significant social and economic benefits
  • work with Aboriginal communities to better acknowledge, celebrate and protect cultural heritage
  • promote climate adaptation and sustainability upgrades to heritage places and objects
  • establish a more robust State Heritage Register and underpinning legislation.

Individuals and organisations can provide feedback on the draft NSW heritage strategy and submit ideas on the Have your say web page.

Consultation is open until 13 July 2025. 

Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe, said:

“Establishing the state’s first heritage strategy is a significant step to ensure we protect and celebrate the heritage items that reflect and resonate with all members of our community. 

“The strategy reflects the diverse and changing needs of our community. I encourage you to have your say about how NSW can make our heritage system world leading.”

Sydney Water sewage licences reviews open for public consultation: Warriewood + Manly

Warriewood - Environment Protection Licence EPL:  1784

Northern Suburbs (North Head) Manly - Environment Protection Licence EPL:  378

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has commenced public consultation on its statutory five-yearly review of the licences for Sydney Water’s 23 sewage treatment systems across Greater Sydney and the Illawarra.

The EPA states it wants to ensure the licences are fit for purpose, deliver an appropriate level of regulation and reflect the community’s views about the protection of human health and the environment.

In particular they would like your feedback on:

  • the level of treatment required at Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants and associated levels of environmental protection, wet weather discharges and the impacts of climate change
  • monitoring requirements

Please note that pollution studies and reduction programs are targeted licence conditions aimed at addressing a specific issue e.g. wet weather overflow abatement. It should also be noted that this licence review does not relate to Sydney Water’s potable water supply activities.

The licences cover Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants and the associated network of pipes and pumping stations that convey sewage from homes and businesses to those treatment plants.

NSW EPA Director Adam Gilligan said all environment protection licences are required to be reviewed every five years to ensure the licences are fit for purpose and reflect contemporary best practice and operating measures.

“We value community input to this review, which will help shape our approach to regulating Sydney Water’s sewage treatment systems,” Mr Gilligan said.

“We’re continuing to monitor the operations of Sydney Water to ensure it is complying with its strict licence requirements.

“We will keep the public informed, listen to concerns and provide summary feedback on submissions once the consultation has been completed.”

In particular the EPA is seeking feedback on the impacts to local environment from overflows and the level of treatment required at Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants (STPs) as well as community access to information.

STP licences do not cover the stormwater system, which is typically regulated by local councils.

Public consultation for the review of Sydney Water’s licenses will be open until Thursday 12 June 2025. To learn more, you can access the public consultation and Have Your Say via the EPA’s online consultation portal https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au.

You can provide your feedback by:

Responding to the short survey here

Provide written feedback by emailing metrowater.infrastructure@epa.nsw.gov.au

 Warriewood Beach looking north to Mona Vale. Pic: AJG/PON.

Sydney Water Management Regulation 2025: have your say

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment is seeking feedback on the draft Sydney Water Regulation 2017 remake.
Consultation period

From: 19 May 2025
To: 15 June 2025

The Sydney Water Regulation 2017 will be automatically stop operating on 1 September 2025. 

It is important to have regulations in place because they support Sydney Water to carry out obligations under the Sydney Water Act 1994. 

The Regulation enables Sydney Water to protect its assets, implement water restrictions during drought, and ensure compliance with certain rules relating to Controlled Areas, plumbing and drainage works and water restrictions.

We would like your feedback to better understand how the regulation supports Sydney Water in: 
  • acting to protect its assets and water quality, in order to provide safe, clean, reliable drinking water
  • protecting waterways and the environment
  • providing drinking, recycled, wastewater and stormwater services to over 5.4 million people across Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
Most of the content of the 2025 Regulation will be similar to the 2017 Regulation, but the department proposes some changes that will:
  • Modernise processes to improve user experience, customer service and administration, which includes allowing more processes to happen online and simplifying some requirements.
  • Increase some penalties for breaching water restrictions to bring them in-line with other similar fines.
  • Extend the time period from 2 to 6 years during which Sydney Water can direct a person who carried out defective plumbing works to conduct repairs, and/or impose a fine for failing to comply with the direction. This change ensures directions do not expire before works can be identified and fixed.
  • Streamline and clarify the regulations to improve understanding and compliance.
Have your say
Have your say by 11:59pm Sunday 15 June 2025.

There are 2 ways to submit your feedback.

You are welcome to attend an online information session (webinar) and complete an online survey. Department staff will provide an update on the proposed changes and answer your questions.  

Please visit the Department's web page for more information and to register. 

Online consultation
19 May 2025 to 15 June 2025
Have your say on the consultation website 

Webinar consultation
5 June 2025
12:00pm to 1:00pm

WIRES 2025 Grants Applications Now Open 

WIRES National Grants Program

National Support for Critical Wildlife Projects

WIRES’ National Grants Program (NGP) is designed to support best practice wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, an increase in emergency preparedness for wildlife, and native species recovery projects, to improve long-term outcomes in Australia.

Program Objectives

  • The NGP was developed to provide ongoing support for wildlife, and their habitats, across Australia. WIRES’ focus is on proposals that have tangible, positive, and ideally long-term, outcomes for wildlife. Program objectives include:
  • Building capacity and capability for the Australian wildlife rescue and rehabilitation sector,
  • Improving emergency preparedness and response capabilities to assist wildlife,
  • Preserving species and their habitat through projects leading to long term positive outcomes for native wildlife,
  • Raising community awareness and inspiring broader community involvement in supporting Australian wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and preservation.

Funding Categories

Up to $1 million is available across these tiers annually, and eligible applicants are invited to submit proposals for:

  • Tier 1: Individually Licensed Wildlife Rescuers and Carers (maximum $2,000)
  • Tier 2: Licensed Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Organisations (maximum $8,000)
  • Tier 3: Environmental NGOs and Community Groups (maximum $20,000)
  • Tier 4: Consortia/Multi-partner Collaborations (maximum $50,000)
Application process
Key dates for 2025 applications:

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Applications open - 19th May 2025

Online webinar #1 - 12.30pm AEST 21st May Register Here

Online webinar #2 - 7.30pm AEST 3rd June - Register Here

Applications close – 20th June (5pm AEST)

Successful applicants notified - September 2025 

Grant announcements and unsuccessful applicants notified - October 2024 

Reports due - Final for 6-month progress for – March 2026

Final Report due and project completed - 12-month month projects - September 2026.

How to Apply

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Click on APPLY NOW link when available to access the WIRES Grant Portal.
  • Create account or log in. Please note that you will need to tick “Yes” to receiving notifications if you wish to be sent confirmation of application submission.
  • Read information on the home page
  • Click on “Start application”
  • Select your State/Territory
  • Select “WIRES National Grants Program 2025” and then the appropriate tier.
  • If you wish to leave a partially completed application, make sure you press ‘Save + close’ and log out.
  • You can log back in and continue to edit your application form until you are ready to submit.
  • To submit your application, select the ‘Submit application’ button.
  • Note, no changes can be made once this is selected.
You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been successfully received. If you do not receive an email, please ensure you check your junk mail and add us to your safe sender list.

Visit this page on May 19 when the apply now link becomes available to commence your application.

First NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan released

The Minns Labor Government has released a draft of NSW’s Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan, which is needed to prevent Greater Sydney running out of landfill. Without intervention, waste collection and disposal services could be severely impacted by 2030, forcing councils to transport rubbish to regional areas or interstate.

Failure to tackle this would drive up the cost of kerbside bin collections and lead to costs for residents and businesses increasing by around 20%.

A slowdown in rubbish collection would also impact critical infrastructure projects, such as new housing developments. It’s estimated that it could cost the economy around $23 billion.

The first chapter of the draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan will consult councils, industry and the community on the next steps to build the infrastructure required across Greater Sydney.

Future chapters are expected to be released later this year and will focus on enhancing recycling infrastructure and addressing the unique waste challenges facing regional and remote NSW.

The release of this chapter lays out how the NSW Government will:
  • safely manage the waste we don’t recycle and avoid Greater Sydney’s imminent shortfalls in landfill capacity
  • collect and process increased volumes of organic waste, as source-separated FOGO collections are rolled out across Greater Sydney.
The Minns Labor Government recognises that a state government cannot do this alone. A new Ministerial Advisory Committee will be established to guide the plan’s implementation and advise on local barriers, identify opportunities for investment and report on progress.

This plan follows the NSW Government’s recent mandate of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling. FOGO will reduce the volume of food waste sent to landfill, by diverting up to 950,000 tonnes of each year.

To have your say by 25 June 2025, visit the Draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan web page.

Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said:
“For too long, state governments have ignored the fact that Greater Sydney is running out of landfill.

“Waste collection is an essential service.

“This draft plan is the first of its kind and is long overdue.

“We can no longer kick this problem down the road. I look forward to working with local councils, industry and local communities to urgently address the problem.”

Solar for apartment residents: Funding

Owners corporations can apply now for funding to install shared solar systems on your apartment building. The grants will cover 50% of the cost, which will add value to homes and help residents save on their electricity bills.

You can apply for the Solar for apartment residents grant to fund 50% of the cost of a shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system on eligible apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings in NSW. This will help residents, including renters, to reduce their energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Less than 2% of apartment buildings in NSW currently have solar systems installed. As energy costs climb and the number of people living in apartments continue to increase, innovative solutions are needed to allow apartment owners and renters to benefit from solar energy.

A total of $25 million in grant funding is available, with up to $150,000 per project.

Financial support for this grant is from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

Applications are open now and will close 5 pm 1 December 2025 or earlier if the funds are fully allocated.

Find out more and apply now at: www.energy.nsw.gov.au/households/rebates-grants-and-schemes/solar-apartment-residents 

Have your say: NSW Sustainable Communities Program - Support to minimise the socio-economic impacts of the Restoring Our Rivers 450 GL target

The NSW Sustainable Communities Program (NSW SCP) will provide $160 million to create jobs, establish industry, and support existing industry to innovate and stimulate economic development.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is delivering the Sustainable Communities Program for NSW under the Australian Government's Restoring Our Rivers Framework, as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The objective of this consultation is to complement the existing evidence base and provide additional insights to assist in the design and delivery of the NSW SCP to minimise the socio-economic impacts of water recovery.

We are seeking information from Basin communities on their challenges, opportunities and concerns associated with the potential impacts of water purchasing and how we could prioritise investment under the program to respond to identified needs.

We are taking a 3-stage approach to deliver the NSW SCP. Further information about this approach and our consultation activities can be found at the NSW SCP website.

Tell us what you think

You can take part by completing the survey by 5pm Friday 13 June 2025.

Mine safety cost recovery regulation: have your say

NSW Resources is seeking feedback on the proposed Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Regulation 2025.

Consultation period

From: 22 May 2025

To: 18 June 2025

The proposed regulation will remake the Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Regulation 2019, which is due to be automatically repealed on 1 September 2025, with minor changes.

The proposed regulation supports the Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Act 2005, which provides for the funding of regulatory activities in relation to safety at mines and petroleum sites in NSW. The Act has established a Mine and Petroleum Site Safety Fund for this purpose.

An explanatory guide is available which provides an overview of the proposed regulation and the intended changes. The guide is available on the consultation website.

Have your say

Have your say by 5pm Wednesday 18 June 2025.

NSW Resources invites written comments and submissions on the proposed regulation.

Those wishing to contribute comments are asked to note that submissions may be made public, subject to the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

Online consultation

Have your say on the consultation website 

Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre environmental review available: Have your say

The Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre is a $32 million proposed information and education centre that will attract visitors to Dorrigo National Park, with improved facilities such as parking, picnic areas and amenities. It will also be the start of the proposed Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk.

Members of the community can have their say on the proposal with the environmental review now available online.

The new visitor centre is a single-storey building with a spectacular elevated walkway providing a world-class rainforest experience and improved access to walking tracks including the Wonga walk, and waterfalls of Dorrigo National Park.

This also includes a new car park with bus drop off, electric vehicle charging points and an arrival forecourt as well as nature play and picnic areas.

To make way for this, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is proposing to demolish the existing Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and Skywalk, with many materials and components being recycled and re-used to create the new centre and elevated walkway.

Earlier in the year, NPWS shared the environmental review for the associated multi-day Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk. NPWS is reviewing the feedback received during the exhibition period and a summary report will be shared once the environmental assessment is determined.

The review of the new Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre is available for public input until 16 June 2025 here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/consult

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Coffs Coast Director Russell Madeley said:

“As the existing Dorrigo Rainforest Centre facilities are approaching the end of their useful life, this is an opportunity to enhance the way NPWS showcases local Gumbaynggirr culture and connections.

“The proposed design minimises environmental impacts, while creating a sustainable visitor precinct that improves accessibility to help everyone experience the park.

“It’s fantastic that Dorrigo National Park has become a popular visitor location, and we want to make sure that we can sustainably manage this increase into the future.”

View from the Skywalk, Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, Dorrigo National Park. Image credit; Shane Ruming/DCCEEW

‘1080 pest management’

Applies until Friday August 1st 2025. 

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will be conducting a baiting program using manufactured baits, fresh baits and Canid Pest Ejectors (CPEs) containing 1080 poison (sodium fluroacetate) for the control of foxes. The program is continuous and ongoing between 1 February 2025 and 31 July 2025 in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Don’t touch baits or ejector devices. Penalties apply for non-compliance.

All baiting locations are identifiable by signs.

Domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks and reserves. Pets and working dogs may be affected (1080 is lethal to cats and dogs). In the event of accidental poisoning seek immediate veterinary assistance.

Fox baiting in these reserves is aimed at reducing their impact on threatened species.

For more information, contact the local park office on:

  • Forestville 9451 3479 or Lane Cove 8448 0400 (business hours)
  • NPWS after-hours call centre: 1300 056 294 (after hours).

Volunteers for Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours needed

Details:

Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Recycling Batteries: at Mona Vale + Avalon Beach

Over 18,600 tonnes of batteries are discarded to landfill in Australia each year, even though 95% of a battery can be recycled!

That’s why we are rolling out battery recycling units across our stores! Our battery recycling units accept household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries as well as mobile phones! 

How To Dispose Of Your Batteries Safely: 

  1. Collect Your Used Batteries: Gather all used batteries from your home. Our battery recycling units accept batteries from a wide range of products such as household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries.
  2. Tape Your Terminals: Tape the terminals of used batteries with clear sticky tape.
  3. Drop Them Off: Come and visit your nearest participating store to recycle your batteries for free (at Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Mona Vale and Avalon Beach).
  4. Feel Good About Your Impact: By recycling your batteries, you're helping support a healthier planet by keeping hazardous material out of landfills and conserving resources.

Environmental Benefits

  • Reduces hazardous waste in landfill
  • Conserves natural resources by promoting the use of recycled materials
  • Keep toxic materials out of waterways 

Reporting Dogs Offleash - Dog Attacks to Council

If the attack happened outside local council hours, you may call your local police station. Police officers are also authorised officers under the Companion Animals Act 1998. Authorised officers have a wide range of powers to deal with owners of attacking dogs, including seizing dogs that have attacked.

You can report dog attacks, along with dogs offleash where they should not be, to the NBC anonymously and via your own name, to get a response, at: https://help.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/s/submit-request?topic=Pets_Animals

If the matter is urgent or dangerous call Council on 1300 434 434 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

If you find injured wildlife please contact:
  • Sydney Wildlife Rescue (24/7): 9413 4300 
  • WIRES: 1300 094 737

Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs

The Berry Collective at 1691 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale collects them for Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who recycle the plastic.

Berry Collective is the practice on the left side of the road as you head north, a few blocks before Mona Vale shops . They have parking. Enter the foyer and there's a small bin on a table where you drop your bread ties - very easy.

A full list of Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs is available at: HERE 


Stay Safe From Mosquitoes 

NSW Health is reminding people to protect themselves from mosquitoes when they are out and about.

NSW Health states Mosquitoes in NSW can carry viruses such as Japanese encephalitis (JE), Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), Kunjin, Ross River and Barmah Forest. The viruses may cause serious diseases with symptoms ranging from tiredness, rash, headache and sore and swollen joints to rare but severe symptoms of seizures and loss of consciousness.

A free vaccine to protect against JE infection is available to those at highest risk in NSW and people can check their eligibility at NSW Health.

People are encouraged to take actions to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of acquiring a mosquito-borne virus by:
  • Applying repellent to exposed skin. Use repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Check the label for reapplication times.
  • Re-applying repellent regularly, particularly after swimming. Be sure to apply sunscreen first and then apply repellent.
  • Wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks.
  • Avoiding going outdoors during peak mosquito times, especially at dawn and dusk.
  • Using insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units and mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes (mosquito coils should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas)
  • Covering windows and doors with insect screens and checking there are no gaps.
  • Removing items that may collect water such as old tyres and empty pots from around your home to reduce the places where mosquitoes can breed.
  • Using repellents that are safe for children. Most skin repellents are safe for use on children aged three months and older. Always check the label for instructions. Protecting infants aged less than three months by using an infant carrier draped with mosquito netting, secured along the edges.
  • While camping, use a tent that has fly screens to prevent mosquitoes entering or sleep under a mosquito net.
Remember, Spray Up – Cover Up – Screen Up to protect from mosquito bite. For more information go to NSW Health.

Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land: Survey

This survey aims to document mountain bike related incidents on public land, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K88PSNP

Sent in by Pittwater resident Academic for future report- study. 

Report fox sightings

Fox sightings, signs of fox activity, den locations and attacks on native or domestic animals can be reported into FoxScan. FoxScan is a free resource for residents, community groups, local Councils, and other land managers to record and report fox sightings and control activities. 

Our Council's Invasive species Team receives an alert when an entry is made into FoxScan.  The information in FoxScan will assist with planning fox control activities and to notify the community when and where foxes are active.



marine wildlife rescue group on the Central Coast

A new wildlife group was launched on the Central Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast (MWRCC) had its official launch at The Entrance Boat Shed at 10am.

The group comprises current and former members of ASTR, ORRCA, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, WIRES and Wildlife ARC, as well as vets, academics, and people from all walks of life.

Well known marine wildlife advocate and activist Cathy Gilmore is spearheading the organisation.

“We believe that it is time the Central Coast looked after its own marine wildlife, and not be under the control or directed by groups that aren’t based locally,” Gilmore said.

“We have the local knowledge and are set up to respond and help injured animals more quickly.

“This also means that donations and money fundraised will go directly into helping our local marine creatures, and not get tied up elsewhere in the state.”

The organisation plans to have rehabilitation facilities and rescue kits placed in strategic locations around the region.

MWRCC will also be in touch with Indigenous groups to learn the traditional importance of the local marine environment and its inhabitants.

“We want to work with these groups and share knowledge between us,” Gilmore said.

“This is an opportunity to help save and protect our local marine wildlife, so if you have passion and commitment, then you are more than welcome to join us.”

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast has a Facebook page where you may contact members. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076317431064


Watch out - shorebirds about

Summer is here so watch your step because beach-nesting and estuary-nesting birds have started setting up home on our shores.
Did you know that Careel Bay and other spots throughout our area are part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)?

This flyway, and all of the stopping points along its way, are vital to ensure the survival of these Spring and Summer visitors. This is where they rest and feed on their journeys.  For example, did you know that the bar-tailed godwit flies for 239 hours for 8,108 miles from Alaska to Australia?

Not only that, Shorebirds such as endangered oystercatchers and little terns lay their eggs in shallow scraped-out nests in the sand, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Threatened Species officer Ms Katherine Howard has said.
Even our regular residents such as seagulls are currently nesting to bear young.

What can you do to help them?
Known nest sites may be indicated by fencing or signs. The whole community can help protect shorebirds by keeping out of nesting areas marked by signs or fences and only taking your dog to designated dog offleash area. 

Just remember WE are visitors to these areas. These birds LIVE there. This is their home.

Four simple steps to help keep beach-nesting birds safe:
1. Look out for bird nesting signs or fenced-off nesting areas on the beach, stay well clear of these areas and give the parent birds plenty of space.
2. Walk your dogs in designated dog-friendly areas only and always keep them on a leash over summer.
3. Stay out of nesting areas and follow all local rules.
4. Chicks are mobile and don't necessarily stay within fenced nesting areas. When you're near a nesting area, stick to the wet sand to avoid accidentally stepping on a chick.


Possums In Your Roof?: do the right thing

Possums in your roof? Please do the right thing 
On the weekend, one of our volunteers noticed a driver pull up, get out of their vehicle, open the boot, remove a trap and attempt to dump a possum on a bush track. Fortunately, our member intervened and saved the beautiful female brushtail and the baby in her pouch from certain death. 

It is illegal to relocate a trapped possum more than 150 metres from the point of capture and substantial penalties apply.  Urbanised possums are highly territorial and do not fare well in unfamiliar bushland. In fact, they may starve to death or be taken by predators.

While Sydney Wildlife Rescue does not provide a service to remove possums from your roof, we do offer this advice:

✅ Call us on (02) 9413 4300 and we will refer you to a reliable and trusted licenced contractor in the Sydney metropolitan area. For a small fee they will remove the possum, seal the entry to your roof and provide a suitable home for the possum - a box for a brushtail or drey for a ringtail.
✅ Do-it-yourself by following this advice from the Department of Planning and Environment: 

❌ Do not under any circumstances relocate a possum more than 150 metres from the capture site.
Thank you for caring and doing the right thing.



Sydney Wildlife photos

Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed

Pittwater Online News has interviewed Lynette Millett OAM (WIRES Northern Beaches Branch) needs more bird cages of all sizes for keeping the current huge amount of baby wildlife in care safe or 'homed' while they are healed/allowed to grow bigger to the point where they may be released back into their own home. 

If you have an aviary or large bird cage you are getting rid of or don't need anymore, please email via the link provided above. There is also a pressing need for release sites for brushtail possums - a species that is very territorial and where release into a site already lived in by one possum can result in serious problems and injury. 

If you have a decent backyard and can help out, Lyn and husband Dave can supply you with a simple drey for a nest and food for their first weeks of adjustment.

Bushcare in Pittwater: where + when

For further information or to confirm the meeting details for below groups, please contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or visit Council's bushcare webpage to find out how you can get involved.

BUSHCARE SCHEDULES 
Where we work                      Which day                              What time 

Avalon     
Angophora Reserve             3rd Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Dunes                        1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Golf Course              2nd Wednesday                 3 - 5:30pm 
Careel Creek                         4th Saturday                      8:30 - 11:30am 
Toongari Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer) 
Bangalley Headland            2nd Sunday                         9 to 12noon 
Catalpa Reserve              4th Sunday of the month        8.30 – 11.30
Palmgrove Park              1st Saturday of the month        9.00 – 12 

Bayview     
Winnererremy Bay                 4th Sunday                        9 to 12noon 

Bilgola     
North Bilgola Beach              3rd Monday                        9 - 12noon 
Algona Reserve                     1st Saturday                       9 - 12noon 
Plateau Park                          1st Friday                            8:30 - 11:30am 

Church Point     
Browns Bay Reserve             1st Tuesday                        9 - 12noon 
McCarrs Creek Reserve       Contact Bushcare Officer     To be confirmed 

Clareville     
Old Wharf Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      8 - 11am 

Elanora     
Kundibah Reserve                   4th Sunday                       8:30 - 11:30am 

Mona Vale     
Mona Vale Beach Basin          1st Saturday                    8 - 11am 
Mona Vale Dunes                     2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday     8:30 - 11:30am 

Newport     
Bungan Beach                          4th Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
Crescent Reserve                    3rd Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
North Newport Beach              4th Saturday                    8:30 - 11:30am 
Porter Reserve                          2nd Saturday                  8 - 11am 

North Narrabeen     
Irrawong Reserve                     2nd Saturday                   2 - 5pm 

Palm Beach     
North Palm Beach Dunes      3rd Saturday                    9 - 12noon 

Scotland Island     
Catherine Park                          2nd Sunday                     10 - 12:30pm 
Elizabeth Park                           1st Saturday                      9 - 12noon 
Pathilda Reserve                      3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon 

Warriewood     
Warriewood Wetlands             1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 

Whale Beach     
Norma Park                               1st Friday                            9 - 12noon 

Western Foreshores     
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay      2nd Sunday                        10 - 1pm 
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay           1st Monday                          9 - 12noon

Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities

Bush Regeneration - Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment  
This is a wonderful way to become connected to nature and contribute to the health of the environment.  Over the weeks and months you can see positive changes as you give native species a better chance to thrive.  Wildlife appreciate the improvement in their habitat.

Belrose area - Thursday mornings 
Belrose area - Weekend mornings by arrangement
Contact: Phone or text Conny Harris on 0432 643 295

Wheeler Creek - Wednesday mornings 9-11am
Contact: Phone or text Judith Bennett on 0402 974 105
Or email: Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment : email@narrabeenlagoon.org.au

Gardens and Environment Groups and Organisations in Pittwater


Ringtail Posses 2023

We tracked 13,000 giants of the ocean over 30 years, to uncover their hidden highways

Alexandra Vautin, Shutterstock

Ana M. M. SequeiraAustralian National University

Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances to feed and breed.

But almost a third are now at risk of extinction due largely to fishing, shipping, pollution and global warming.

Protecting them can be difficult, because we don’t often know where these animals are.

New research I led sought to shed light on the issue. My colleagues and I gathered 30 years of satellite tracking data to map hotspots of megafauna activity around the globe.

We tracked 12,794 animals from 111 species to find out where they go. The results reveal underwater “highways” where megafauna crisscross the global Ocean. They also show where megafauna dwell for feeding and breeding. Now we know where these special places are, we have a better chance of protecting them.

A map of the world showing the movement patterns for different categories of large marine animals, including migrations and time spent in the animal's home range
Satellite tracking reveals marine megafauna migration pathways and places of residence. Sequeira et al (2025) Science

Pulling all the data together: a mega task

For more than 30 years, marine biologists have tagged large animals in the sea with electronic devices and tracked their movements via satellite. The trackers capture data on everything from speed of travel, to direction of movement and where the animals spend most of their time.

I put a call out to the global research community to bring together the tracking data. I hoped it would help scientists better understand the animals’ movements and identify their favourite places.

Some 378 scientists from 50 countries responded. We assembled the world’s largest tracking dataset of marine megafauna. It includes species of flying birds, whales, fishes (mostly sharks), penguins, polar bears, seals, dugongs, manatees and turtles. They were tracked between 1985 and 2018, throughout the world’s oceans.

A female scientist wearing a wetsuit, snorkel and flippers swims towards a whale shark while holding a sampling device
Ana Sequeira swimming with a whale shark in Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to collect samples. Australian Institute of Marine Science

Mapping reveals a lack of protection

When we started analysing the data, it showed the tagged animals used some parts of the ocean more frequently than others. Most of them travelled to the central Indian Ocean, northeast Pacific Ocean, Atlantic north, and waters around Mozambique and South Africa.

It’s likely this reflects a lack of data from elsewhere. However, these species are known to go to places where they are most likely to find food, so we expect some areas to be used more than others (including the areas we detected).

Then we were able to identify the world’s most “ecologically and biologically significant areas” for the tracked animals.

Currently only about 8% of the global ocean is protected. And only 5% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified occur within these existing marine protected areas.

This leaves all of the other important marine megafauna areas we identified unprotected. In other words, the species using those areas are likely to suffer harm from human activities taking place at sea.

More than 90% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified are exposed to high plastic pollution, shipping traffic or to intensifying global warming. And about 75% are exposed to industrial fishing.

We also found marine megafauna tend to spend most of their time within exclusive economic zones. This area lies beyond the territorial sea or belt of water 12 nautical miles from the coast of each country, extending 200 nautical miles from shore. The presence of megafauna in these exclusive economic zones means individual countries could increase the protection afforded within their jurisdictions.

About 40% of the important marine megafauna areas were located in these zones. But about 60% were on the high seas.

The future of marine megafauna conservation

The High Seas Treaty, recently adopted by the United Nations and signed by 115 countries, governs the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological biodiversity on the open ocean.

Working alongside this treaty, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030. This presents an opportunity to ensure important marine megafauna areas are well represented.

We used an optimisation algorithm to identify the best areas to protect, when it comes to marine megafauna. We gave priority to areas that are potentially used for feeding, breeding, resting and migrating across all the different species.

But even if important marine megafauna areas are selected when 30% of the ocean is protected, about 60% of these areas would still stay unprotected.

Significant risks from human activities will remain. Management efforts must also focus on reducing harm from fishing and shipping. Fighting climate change and cutting down noise and plastic pollution should also be key priorities.

Like for most megafauna on land, the reign of marine megafauna might come to an end if humanity does not afford these species greater protection.The Conversation

Ana M. M. Sequeira, Associate Professor, Research School of Biology, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Could a river sue a corporation? Robert Macfarlane’s books change the world – now he’s advocating for the world’s waterways

Kevin John BrophyThe University of Melbourne

Robert Macfarlane is not easy to pin down – song writer, nature writer, children’s author, environmental activist, documentary film maker, mountain climber and restless adventurer, spoken word performer, literary historian, librettist, linguist and researcher. Likewise, his books are so various and yet so much themselves, it seems he has forged his own genre.


Review: Is a River Alive? – Robert Macfarlane (Penguin Random House)


He has won many kinds of prizes for his books, so many that he has been spoken of as a likely Nobel Prize winner several times over the past few years. Each of his books changes the world a little, possibly sometimes profoundly.

His latest takes as its title and starting point a question his young son once put to him, “Is a River Alive?” If we can talk of rivers dying (and we do), then isn’t there an assumption somewhere along that line of thought that a river does indeed constitute a life?

MacFarlane lives south of Cambridge, England, not far from a rare chalk stream spring that feeds the early reaches of the River Cam, which flows through the town. This is one of the four troubled rivers he explores across the pages of his book.

In England, climate change will put such springs at risk not too far into the future. He reports in his brief inter-chapters on the River Cam that the nationwide privatisation of riverways has put the health of England’s rivers at risk of dying as viable natural ecosystems.

His book takes us across the globe. To the Ecuadorian cloud-forest named Los Cedros, where the “river of the Cedars” is under threat from gold-mining.

Then to Chennai in south-east India, a city of three rivers and a surrounding marshland. All three rivers have been declared “dead” due to a total lack of dissolved oxygen in their waters as they pass through this city of three million people, taking up raw sewage and industrial waste in huge quantities.

The final journey is into Quebec’s wild Magpie River, named Muteshekau-Shipu by the Innu people who have lived for 8,000 years with this river. Its flow, he writes, is now threatened by a hydro scheme that would transform it into a series of chained reservoirs – an incursion into one of the largest intact ecosystems in the world. Already, power lines from a just-completed hydro scheme that has drowned a nearby river are crossing the Muteshekau.

We visit, alongside Macfarlane, each of these rivers, and encounter with him the characters entangled with them. Often these individuals are quixotically heroic, damaged by their tilting against governments and corporations, deeply insightful, determinedly optimistic, and always (in his appreciative hands) articulate.

Each river is at the forefront of the emergence of what Macfarlane calls a new-old idea. This idea has been newly pioneered in recent years by the ecologist, historian and theologian-turned-geologian Thomas Berry, one of the philosophical fathers of the Rights of Nature Movement.

Berry has coined the phrase “Earth Jurisprudence” to recognise and uphold the idea of earth as “a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects”. Under this juridical philosophy, “trees have tree rights, insects have insect rights, rivers have river rights, and mountains have mountain rights”.

An idea beginning to happen

Towards the end of Macfarlane’s book, the Innu poet, artist, therapist, river guide and mystic Lydia Mestokosho-Paradis declares,

It seems crazy that we give a corporation that’s ten years old rights, but we won’t give rights to a ten-thousand-year-old river.

How to bring such an imagined and imaginative, partly spiritual idea into the realm of law? It has begun to happen, perhaps most strikingly in 2008 when Ecuador under the guidance of the socialist government of Rafael Correa passed into existence a new constitution that recognised the Rights of Nature alongside those of humanity and its corporations.

The major article of the new constitution stated,

Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.

It is possible this declaration in their constitution will in time close the gold mines in the cloud-forest of Los Cedros.

In 2017, extraordinarily, New Zealand passed legislation called the Te Awa Tupua Act, which recognises the Whanganui River in the North Island is alive, is an ancestor to the Whanganui iwi (tribe), and is itself a spiritual and physical entity, “an indivisible and living whole”.

This legislation has encouraged individuals and groups around the world to agitate for their rivers’ lives to be recognised and respected in law.

“There are few things as powerful as an idea whose time has come,” Macfarlane writes, certainly more in hope than hubris at this tipping point for the world’s climate and its climate politics.

Cover of Is a River Alive?
Goodreads

Many difficult questions connected to these ideas must be raised, and they have no easy answers. To what, exactly, does a river have a right? Who can speak for a river? What might be the reasonable consequences or compensations to be made when a river’s rights are compromised or denied? Can a river sue a corporation? Can a river act purposefully? What do sciences have to say about the idea of a river being an entity?

And so the conversation goes, on into the night, by riverbanks, around small camp fires, often among people who feel connected to their rivers, responsible for them, or just lucky to have a chance to kayak them before they disappear.

This book will in part be a test of whether this idea’s time has indeed come, and of how urgent we feel it is to find legal, actionable answers to the many claims and consequences it gives rise to. That is the great gift Macfarlane’s “future-dreaming” has given to the world.The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy, Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Extreme weather events have slowed economic growth, adding to the case for another rate cut

Stella HuangfuUniversity of Sydney

Australia’s economy slowed sharply in the March quarter, growing by just 0.2% as government spending slowed and extreme weather events dampened demand. That followed an increase of 0.6% in the previous quarter.

The national accounts report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed annual growth steady at 1.3%, below market forecasts for an improvement to 1.5%.

The result is also weaker than the Reserve Bank of Australia’s forecasts.

The ABS said: “Extreme weather events further dampened domestic demand and reduced exports”, with the impact particularly evident in mining, tourism and shipping.

This report on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be a key consideration for the Reserve Bank’s next meeting on July 7–8, helping shape its decision on whether to cut rates again. In May, the central bank cut the cash rate by 0.25% to 3.85%.

On balance, the softer than expected pace of growth makes another rate cut in July a bit more likely.

Private demand drives growth as public spending slumps

Household spending slowed to 0.4% in the quarter from 0.7%. Essential spending led the way, with a sharp 10.2% rise in electricity costs due to a warmer-than-usual summer and reduced electricity bill rebates. Food spending also increased as Queenslanders stocked up ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Investment also contributed to growth, though its composition shifted. Private investment rose 0.7%, driven by a rebound in house building and strong non-dwelling construction, particularly in mining and electricity projects. But business investment in equipment and machinery slumped.

Public investment fell 2.0%, ending a run of positive growth since September 2024. This decline, which detracted 0.1 percentage points from GDP, reflected the completion or delay of energy, rail and road projects.

“Public spending recorded the largest detraction from growth since the September quarter 2017”, the ABS said.

Disappointing trade performance

Exports unexpectedly became the main drag on growth in the March quarter, marking a sharp turnaround from December 2024.

Total exports fell 0.8%, led by a drop in services – particularly travel – due to weaker foreign student arrivals and lower spending. Goods exports also declined as bad weather disrupted coal and natural gas shipments, and demand from key markets like China and Japan softened.

The growth outlook is soft

Given the weaker-than-expected growth in the March quarter, Australia’s economic outlook remains soft.

A disappointing sign in the report was another fall in GDP per head of population, known as GDP per capita. This measure declined by 0.2%, after just one quarterly rise and seven previous quarters of a “per capita recession”, when population growth outpaces economic growth.

The household saving rate continue to rise in the March quarter, back to pre-COVID levels at 5.2%. This is because income grew faster than spending, and households remain cautious amid economic uncertainty. Additional government support also boosted savings.

The economic slowdown reflects weak household spending and a notable pullback in public sector investment. With domestic demand under strain, short-term growth prospects appear limited as the economy continues to adjust to past interest rate hikes and the early effects of the recent cuts.

The Reserve Bank began cutting official rates in February – its first move after 13 consecutive hikes between May 2022 and November 2023 – but the impact has yet to flow through. The next GDP figures, due on September 3, will offer a clearer picture of how the February and May rate cuts are shaping the recovery.

Trade tensions add uncertainty

Global conditions have become more unsettled, with rising trade tensions and shifting geopolitical alliances putting pressure on international trade. Renewed tariff threats – particularly from the US – are disrupting global supply chains. For export-reliant Australia, this increases the risk of weaker trade volumes and greater exposure to external shocks.

At the same time, China’s post-pandemic recovery is losing momentum, dragged down by weak consumer demand and a struggling property sector.

Given Australia’s close trade ties with China, any sustained slowdown there poses a clear threat to export earnings and broader economic growth. Together, these global headwinds are adding to the uncertainty surrounding Australia’s economic outlook.

A balancing act on rates

With demand soft and the economy losing momentum, the Reserve Bank may cut interest rates again at its July meeting to help boost growth. Key sectors like household spending, public services and mining have been under pressure. A further rate cut could support confidence and encourage more spending.

However, the monthly inflation report for April adds uncertainty. While headline inflation held steady at 2.4% over the year to April, underlying measures ticked higher. The monthly rate excluding volatile items such as fuel and fresh food rose to 2.8%, up from 2.6%. That suggests price pressures are becoming more widespread.

These mixed signals leave the RBA facing a delicate balancing act. Upcoming data, particularly the employment report on June 19 and the May monthly inflation indicator on June 25, will be critical in determining whether inflation is easing enough to justify another cut or showing signs of persistence that call for caution.The Conversation

Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Kids care deeply about our planet, so adults need to start listening

Jen KostuchukUniversity of VictoriaErik SteinerYork University, Canada, and Sean LyonsUniversity of Guelph 

“I wish adults knew that I really care about the environment and want to help, but I sometimes feel like my ideas don’t matter because I’m just a kid.”

This is what a nine-year-old respondent told us when we asked how they feel about the environment.

In today’s current political climate, many adults seem resigned to climate catastrophe and even dabble in climate change denialism. However, our survey of 1,000 youth aged eight to 14 from Canada and the United States found that children care deeply about the planet and are ready to take action.

The findings from our report were produced as part of an ongoing study with the Humanity in Motion Society, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on engaging youth as key stakeholders in advancing environmental stewardship.

Almost 90 per cent of the kids we spoke to recognize climate change as a real and urgent problem, calling for intergenerational collaboration and bolder environmental mitigation and adaptation commitments.

It turns out that our nine-year-old respondent speaks for many children. Kids know what’s at stake, want a seat at the table and need adults to act with them.

What kids told us

Some of the kids in the survey talk about the action they want adults to take to tackle climate change. (Humanity in Motion Society)

Many of the kids told us they regularly take action to mitigate their carbon footprint, including recycling, embracing reusable items and conserving energy. Their accounts are consistent with numerous academic studies on youth involvement in environmental citizenship.

However, many understand individual action alone is not enough. In fact, most kids recognize that systemic accountability is necessary to tackle the climate crisis. As one kid in Grade 6 shared:

“I wish big industry and governments would stop asking us to do something when they continue to fly in private jets [and] drill for oil and more; we are asked to recycle.”

Kids have a deep understanding of current political issues, including the cost-of-living crisis and the harmful “drill baby drill” sentiments, but also underscore a stark disconnect: while we instil environmentally responsible values in our children, elected leaders remain consistently inactive on these very same issues.

Kids play active roles in knowledge sharing

The kids in this study display impressive knowledge about the steps that need to be taken to address the climate crisis. Our findings demonstrate that youth are not just passive recipients of knowledge but, rather, play an active role in being climate communicators.

For example, two thirds of our respondents say their friends learn about climate change directly from them. Even though many children note that they do not have climate clubs at school, they are curious about the role of big oil, deforestation and corporate greed in the ongoing climate crisis.

In addition to teachers and parents being the most influential sources of knowledge for children, social media content has an impact on kids’ environmental behaviour and feelings of empowerment.

Specifically, our data shows that talking to others online has a significant positive relationship with reported sustainable behaviour, and that watching videos has a significant positive relationship with how much kids feel they can make a difference. One young girl reflected on using Tiktok for insights on climate change while also capturing an awareness among her generation:

“I would say if there’s a really big issue, like, I know there’s something called the Climate Clock in New York…I mean, the thing with social media, you never know what’s true and untrue, but that thing [Climate Clock] came on my ‘For You’ page…and everybody in the comments, they were saying ‘this is very real, we have to do something about it.’”

This shows that kids would benefit greatly from spaces to continue in-person environmental discussions with adults in the room. One young respondent captured the potential for meaningful engagement:

“There are a lot of things that can be done, curriculum integrations…sustainable skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and maybe explore the ecosystems and biodiversities and actually encourage students to design and implement climate-friendly projects and carry out field trips and organize visits to renewable energy sites or environmental organizations and sometimes, maybe occasionally, the school can invite climate experts, activists or scientists.”

These ideas were shared by others who called on adults to lead more experiential approaches to climate education inside the classroom and beyond.

A woman and two young kids inspect some foliage while on a hike in a forest
Adults can help by providing opportunities in the classroom and beyond for kids to discuss climate change. (Shutterstock)

Five calls to action

Here are five ways to help bring about change:

  1. Adults need to step up. Adults play a critical role in shaping how youth engage in climate action. Our report found that teachers and parents, in addition to the internet, are among the most influential learning sources for youth today. Kids often take pro-environmental values, actions and cues from their parents.

  2. Apathy is not an option if we want change. Youth are looking to leaders and elected officials to invest heavily in infrastructure and education to improve our environment.

  3. Intergenerational collaboration promotes better environmental values. Despite the consequences of climate change, youth share a sense of optimism and emphasize the need for intergenerational responsibility.

  4. Provide spaces for youth to take leadership roles and engage in climate dialogue. Kids want to do more to build a sustainable future, but don’t know where to begin. Providing opportunities in the classroom and beyond are critical next steps to raise the next generation of climate leaders.

  5. Promote bold action. Kids should be able to answer the call of many climate activists who recognize the need to pursue a greener economy by working together.

Our survey findings highlight a hopeful message about young people’s engagement in climate action, underscoring their impressive knowledge of the systemic changes required to address the crisis.

As adults across the political spectrum bicker about climate policy, young people are growing impatient and hoping to lead the way. Our results refocus attention on the future we’re creating and challenge us to listen seriously to children when they seek to address what may be their generation’s greatest crisis.The Conversation

Jen Kostuchuk, PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of VictoriaErik Steiner, Ph.D. Student, Marketing, York University, Canada, and Sean Lyons, Professor, Leadership and Management, University of Guelph

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Top End’s tropical savannas are a natural wonder – but weak environment laws mean their future is uncertain

Photo: François Brassard

Euan RitchieDeakin UniversityBrett MurphyCharles Darwin University, and John WoinarskiCharles Darwin University

The Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory contains an extensive, awe-inspiring expanse of tropical savanna landscapes. It includes well-known and much-loved regions such as Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Arnhem Land and Nitmiluk Gorge.

These tropical savannas feature open forests and woodlands dominated by eucalypts and a diverse grassy understorey. They experience an intense monsoon-driven wet season and long dry season during which fire is common.

The area is home to a spectacular range of plants and animals, including crocodiles, barramundi, speartooth sharks, the spectacularly coloured Leichhardt’s grasshopper and flocks of magpie geese. Some groups are extraordinarily diverse. Several thousand ant species are thought to live there – compared to just 1,000 species in South America’s Amazon basin.

Australia’s tropical savannas are diverse and dynamic, shaped by fire and the cycle of wet and dry seasons. Photo: Brett Murphy

Yet, despite their immense ecological and cultural significance, the NT’s tropical savannas face an uncertain future. The landscape is under increasing pressure from invasive species, more frequent and severe fires, climate change, mining, agriculture and development – including water extraction.

Our new report outlines what should be done to ensure conservation and sustainable management of this unique and special region.

A region in trouble

As ecologists, we share a deep passion for tropical Northern Australia but fear for its future. To aid environmental policy and decision-making, we set out to describe the current condition and likely future of the NT’s tropical savannas. This involved identifying existing, emerging and possible future threats.

We found biodiversity in decline. Many species, particularly mammals that were once common and widespread, have disappeared from much of the region. These include the northern quoll, brush-tailed rabbit-rat and black-footed tree-rat.

A brush tailed rabbit rat among leaf litter on the ground.

Species such as the brush-tailed rabbit-rat have declined substantially and are now locally extinct in some areas. Photo: Cara Penton

Habitats are degraded and ecosystems are showing signs of collapse. Feral animals are widespread. Cats prey on native wildlife. Feral pigs feast on turtle nests and trash plants in and around waterways, reducing water quality. Cattle, water buffalo, horses and donkeys eat their way through native plants, reducing habitat structure and complexity, aiding the establishment and spread of weeds.

In many parts of the Top End, fires are becoming more frequent and severe. This is in part due to the increasing dominance of invasive grasses, particularly Gamba and buffel grass. Both grasses are highly flammable, increasing the risk and harm of fires.

Longer and hotter dry seasons also increase fire risk and severity, as well as making water less available to wildlife due to higher rates of evaporation. Plants and animals also face greater heat stress and risk of dying during extended periods of extreme temperatures.

A bird's eye view of the ground featuring green leafy vegetation along waterways

The Top End is spectacular and rich in biodiversity. Photo: François Brassard

The changing nature of land-clearing

Land-clearing is increasing in the Top End, too. We estimate about 45,000 hectares of savanna habitat was destroyed between 2000 and 2020. That’s equivalent to an area roughly the size of 22,500 Melbourne Cricket Grounds.

Another 146,000 hectares have approval to be cleared, and an additional 100,000 hectares could be cleared for an expanded cotton industry.

It is not just the amount of clearing that matters, but where it occurs. The habitat mainly destroyed to date has been in higher rainfall areas between Darwin and Katherine. This is where most threatened species live. On average, the cleared areas overlapped with more than 12 nationally listed threatened species.

What should be done?

Our report shows current laws are insufficient to protect the Northern Territory’s tropical savannas. Evidence-based law reform is urgently needed.

Decision-making must be collaborative, not controlled by individuals, based on sound science. It must also actively support and involve First Nations peoples and their goals.

Aerial view of the landscape showing tropical savanna and a waterway

The Top End is awe inspiring but without greater environmental protection its many values may be diminished. Photo: François Brassard

The situation in the NT reflects broader calls to strengthen national environmental laws as a matter of urgency and greatly boost investment in conservation to achieve positive results for nature.

Nature is the lynchpin of northern Australia. It characterises and nurtures the place, underpins and embraces Indigenous culture, is a major tourist attraction and helps make our country healthy. We need to recognise its value, and guard against its ongoing loss.


Our report was independently reviewed by experts in the ecology and conservation of Northern Australia, Professors Richard Williams and Christopher Johnson.The Conversation

Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityBrett Murphy, Professor of Ecology, Charles Darwin University, and John Woinarski, Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia’s latest emissions data reveal we still have a giant fossil fuel problem

Emma LovellUNSW Sydney and Jessica AllenUniversity of Newcastle

According to Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, the latest emissions data show “we are on track to reach our 2030 targets” under the Paris Agreement. In 2024, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were “27% below 2005 levels”. That’s great news, right?

Well, yes and no. Australia continues to rely on changes in land use to compensate for emissions released into the atmosphere.

In other words, Australia’s plants are considered to be taking more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere now than in 2005. Their efforts are captured in the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector, which is the single largest reason for the significant reduction in Australian emissions.

Without accounting for land use, Australia’s emissions have only decreased 3% since 2005, not 27%.

If Australia is serious about reducing emissions and tracking towards net zero by 2050, we need to tackle a series of inconvenient truths about fossil fuels. Fossil fuels feed into almost every aspect of our lives, not just cars and power plants. There are substitutes, but they are not easy to source – and they don’t come cheap.

How fossil fuel exports drive up emissions here and overseas

Australia is one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters. The coal, oil and natural gas we export is either burnt or combined with our sizeable iron ore exports to produce iron. But the greenhouse gases are released overseas, so they don’t count in Australia’s emissions data.

This is in line with our international commitments under the Paris agreement. But there is an argument to be made that even though Australia doesn’t burn those exports, we should acknowledge our central role in contributing to global emissions. We may need to account for these in future reporting.

Australia’s export emissions are likely to be triple that of our domestic emissions. These emissions have been increasing consistently over the last decade.

But the process of extracting fossil fuels and preparing them for export does show up in Australia’s domestic emission figures, through what’s called “fugitive emissions”. These fugitive emissions are the unavoidable leaks that occur when we pull fossil fuels out of the ground, store, transport and process them.

In the year to 2024, fugitive emissions accounted for 10.6% of our emissions, which is far greater than emissions from industrial processes (6.8%).

Disturbingly, recent analysis suggests fugitive emissions could be drastically underreported. Because these emissions are tricky to measure, they are often estimated on an average basis. This means reported values do not accurately reflect true releases.

When it comes to fugitive and export emissions, Australia is not on track to meet 2030 targets. Recent export-focused fossil project approvals such as the North West Shelf gas project suggest we might even be backtracking.

Chris Bowen on Insiders, Sunday June 1, 2025 (ABC News)

The transition to renewables

Closing dirty old coal-fired power stations and replacing them with renewable energy such as solar and wind power does cut emissions. The reduction in emissions from the electricity sector, down 23.7% on 2005 levels, is good news. But the difference is still small enough that seasonal variations from Tasmania’s hydro power plants can distort the annual figures.

At least there is a plan in place for the energy transition. Big, slow wheels are in motion.

Unfortunately the reality is we will need much, much more renewable energy in the future. Up to three times the current capacity of the National Electricity Market will be needed to cover future domestic energy requirements across electricity and other sectors out to 2050.

Significantly more would be required to generate enough additional green energy to also produce green value-added commodities.

Australia’s clean energy challenge

Discussions around transitioning from fossil fuels typically overlook how deeply they are embedded in our everyday lives.

Not just the fuel we use in our cars, but the roads we drive on. Not just the electricity we use to power our hospitals, but the steel used to build them and the pharmaceuticals we rely on.

Globally, around 13% of fossil fuels are not burned but used to make these key chemicals. What’s the alternative?

Clean electricity is the key.

Electricity can be used to make hydrogen from water through electrolysis. This hydrogen can then replace fossil fuels in manufacturing – making products such as green steel and ammonia for fertiliser.

When combined with non-fossil sources of carbon, hydrogen can also be turned into renewable fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel. It can be used to synthesise green versions of petrochemicals used in industrial processes such as ethanol, propylene and ethylene, which are currently sourced from fossil fuels.

This takes energy. Lots of it. Fortunately Australia has all the ingredients needed for a booming green industry – one that’s much broader than just renewable electricity.

Currently, it costs more to produce these chemicals without using fossil fuels. That’s why some companies and state governments have been pulling back from their investments in green hydrogen.

Most people talk about green hydrogen in the context of energy storage or export. But it can also enable the transition away from fossil fuels in other sectors. The technology exists to make these chemicals and products, without the emissions and it’s slowly but steadily moving closer toward price parity.

If we can nail this switch to fossil-free alternatives to petrochemicals, Australia would be able to add value onshore, rather than exporting raw materials. For example, we could export iron, not iron ore. Methanol or ammonia, not hydrogen. Export the jumper, not the wool.

Heavy industry driven by renewables?

On Sunday, Bowen said he found some areas of the 2024 emissions figures “encouraging, like industrial emissions, way down and lower than 2021”.

Unfortunately, this result was partly due to a decline in manufacturing. Onshore manufacturing capability has been steadily decreasing, despite increased fossil fuel extraction.

Unless we ramp up green manufacturing – replacing fossil fuel exports with much needed renewable products and fuels – we will continue to bear responsibility, if not direct accountability, for large, exported emissions as well as onshore fugitive emissions.

And no amount of changes to land use can account for that.The Conversation

Emma Lovell, Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, UNSW Sydney and Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Unprecedented heat in the North Atlantic Ocean kickstarted Europe’s hellish 2023 summer. Now we know what caused it

Westend61/Getty Images
Matthew EnglandUNSW SydneyAlex Sen GuptaUNSW SydneyAndrew KissAustralian National University, and Zhi LiUNSW Sydney

In June 2023, a record-breaking marine heatwave swept across the North Atlantic Ocean, smashing previous temperature records.

Soon after, deadly heatwaves broke out across large areas of Europe, and torrential rains and flash flooding devastated parts of Spain and Eastern Europe. That year Switzerland lost more than 4% of its total glacier volume, and severe bushfires broke out around the Mediterranean.

It wasn’t just Europe that was impacted. The coral reefs of the Caribbean were bleaching under severe heat stress. And hurricanes, fuelled by ocean heat, intensified into disasters. For example, Hurricane Idalia hit Florida in August 2023 – causing 12 deaths and an estimated US$3.6 billion in damages.

Today, in a paper published in Nature, we uncover what drove this unprecedented marine heatwave.

A strange discovery

In a strange twist to the global warming story, there is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean to the southeast of Greenland that has been cooling over the last 50 to 100 years.

This so-called “cold blob” or “warming hole” has been linked to the weakening of what’s known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – a system of ocean currents that conveys warm water from the equator towards the poles.

During July 2023 we met as a team to analyse this cold blob – how deep it reaches and how robust it is as a measure of the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation – when it became clear there was a strong reversal of the historical cooling trend. The cold blob had warmed to 2°C above average.

But was that a sign the overturning circulation had been reinvigorated? Or was something else going on?

A layered story

It soon became clear the anomalous warm temperatures southeast of Greenland were part of an unprecedented marine heatwave that had developed across much of the North Atlantic Ocean. By July, basin-averaged warming in the North Atlantic reached 1.4°C above normal, almost double the previous record set in 2010.

To uncover what was behind these record breaking temperatures, we combined estimates of the atmospheric conditions that prevailed during the heatwave, such as winds and cloud cover, with ocean observations and model simulations.

We were especially interested in understanding what was happening in the mixed upper layer of water of the ocean, which is strongly affected by the atmosphere.

Distinct from the deeper layer of cold water, the ocean’s surface mixed layer warms as it’s exposed to more sunlight during spring and summer. But the rate at which this warming happens depends on its thickness. If it’s thick, it will warm more gradually; if it’s thin, rapid warming can ensue.

During summer the thickness of this surface mixed layer is largely set by winds. Winds churn up the surface ocean and the stronger they are the deeper the mixing penetrates, so strong winds create a thick upper layer and weak winds generate a shallower layer.

A map of the Atlantic Ocean which is shown in a shade of deep red.
Sea surface temperature anomaly (°C) for the month of June 2023, relative to the 1991–2020 reference period. Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF

Thinning at the surface

Our new research indicates that the primary driver of the marine heatwave was record-breaking weak winds across much of the basin. The winds were at their weakest measured levels during June and July, possibly linked to a developing El Niño in the east Pacific Ocean.

This led to by far the shallowest upper layer on record. Data from the Argo Program – a global array of nearly 4,000 robotic floats that measure the temperature and salinity in the upper 2,000 metres of the ocean – showed in some areas this layer was only ten metres deep, compared to the usual 20 to 40 metres deep.

This caused the sun to heat the thin surface layer far more rapidly than usual.

In addition to these short term changes in 2023, previous research has shown long-term warming associated with anthropogenic climate change is reducing the ability of winds to mix the upper ocean, causing it to gradually thin.

We also identified a possible secondary driver of more localised warming during the 2023 marine heatwave: above-average solar radiation hitting the ocean. This could be linked in part with the introduction of new international rules in 2020 to reduce sulfate emissions from ships.

The aim of these rules was to reduce air pollution from ship’s exhaust systems. But sulfate aerosols also reflect solar radiation and can lead to cloud formation. The resultant clearer skies can then lead to more ocean warming.

Early warning signs

The extreme 2023 heatwave provides a preview of the future. Marine heatwaves are expected to worsen as Earth continues to warm due to greenhouse gas emissions, with devastating impacts on marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and fisheries. This also means more intense hurricanes – and more intense land-based heatwaves.

Right now, although the “cold blob” to the southeast of Greenland has returned, parts of the North Atlantic remain significantly warmer than the average. There is a particularly warm patch of water off the coast of the United Kingdom, with temperatures up to 4°C above normal. And this is likely priming Europe for extreme land-based heatwaves this summer.

A map of the Earth with the ocean in multiple shades of yellow, red, orange and blue.
Global ocean temperatures on June 2 2025. A patch of abnormally warm water is visible off the southern coast of the United Kingdom. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

To better understand, forecast and plan for the impacts of marine heatwaves, long-term ocean and atmospheric data and models, including those provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, are crucial. In fact, without these data and models, our new study would not have been possible.

Despite this, NOAA faces an uncertain future. A proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year released by the White House last month could mean devastating funding cuts of more than US$1.5 billion – mostly targeting climate-based research and data collection.

This would be a disaster for monitoring our oceans and climate system, right at a time when change is severe, unprecedented, and proving very costly.The Conversation

Matthew England, Scientia Professor and Deputy Director of the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, UNSW SydneyAlex Sen Gupta, Associate professor, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW, UNSW SydneyAndrew Kiss, Fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, and Zhi Li, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Centre for Marine Science & Innovation, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Five geoengineering trials the UK is funding to combat global warming

graphicwithart / shutterstock

Robert ChrisThe Open University

The UK government recently announced plans to fund five small-scale trials related to geoengineering. It’s the first time a state research funding body has put serious money into what’s known as solar radiation management, or SRM, which seeks to cool the planet by reflecting more of the Sun’s energy back into space.

It’s easy to see why countries have been so hesitant to proceed with projects of this nature: SRM is highly controversial, even among scientists.

Deliberately altering the atmosphere, a shared global resource, is fraught with ethical, geopolitical and practical problems. It is and always has been a crazy idea.

However, many consider the failure to control carbon emissions means not intervening in this way is an even crazier idea. They consider it necessary to avert the collapse of ecosystems and society. Perhaps solar geoengineering is the price we must pay for our wholly inadequate climate change response to date.

The good news is that SRM may be able to deliver some progress relatively quickly. Earth has become slightly less reflective over the past few decades. That’s mostly thanks to reduced cloud cover (warmer oceans cause clouds above them to evaporate), but also thanks to less snow and ice, and a significant reduction in nasty-but-reflective shipping fuel pollutants.

By my calculations (based on data from US climate scientist James Hansen), this reduction in the reflectivity of Earth has caused as much warming as the 750 gigatonnes of CO₂ emitted since 2005. And while it will take decades to achieve significant global cooling through decarbonisation, it can be achieved relatively quickly by small increases in reflectivity.

Of the 21 projects being funded by Aria, the UK government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, five are likely to involve small-scale outdoor experiments. They account for about half the £57 million programme.

Three of the projects concern brightening clouds over the ocean, one explores a method of refreezing the Arctic and the fifth looks at a specific detail of injecting reflective aerosols into the stratosphere.

The other projects concern how to govern these technologies and model and monitor their effects. They could also yield insights vital for securing the public and governmental support necessary if these technologies are ever to be deployed on a much larger scale.

Marine cloud brightening

Marine cloud brightening seeks to make clouds over the ocean more reflective. This is done by turning seawater into an aerosol spray and allowing air currents to loft salt crystals into the clouds, where they enhance the creation of reflective water droplets.

ocean surface with clouds in the sky
Clouds above the ocean could become a key battleground in the fight against climate change. G_O_S / shutterstock

The greatest challenge with this method is making enough seawater mist in which the droplets are of a uniform size, about 1 micron in diameter. The Reflect project led by the University of Manchester has received £6.1 million to explore “the technical feasibility and optimal methods” for generating these droplets.

A team from the University of Reading has developed a process using drones to fire electric charges through fog to alter the size of its water droplets. Their Brightspark project has been awarded £2 million to determine whether this process would be viable and safe if applied to clouds. A second phase involving small-scale testing in the UK is contingent on further approval by Aria.

Daniel Harrison, an oceanographer at Southern Cross University in Australia, has been researching marine cloud brightening for several years for the limited purpose of protecting the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Preliminary results are positive.

His previous work will be extended to assess if, and how, marine cloud brightening could work safely and effectively, but still only as a regional intermittent intervention to protect coral from marine heatwaves.

This will also be a two-phase project (£1 million and £5 million respectively) in which the research will initially deal with modelling and spray design. Subject to further approvals, it will then test the newfound knowledge over the Great Barrier Reef.

The remaining two projects are both from teams led by the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University (I’m an associate researcher of the centre but I have no involvement in either of these projects).

Arctic refreezing

Engineer Shaun Fitzgerald has been awarded £9.9 million to extend an existing research project to examine the feasibility of thickening Arctic sea ice by pumping seawater from below the ice on to the surface, where it freezes. The idea is to increase the extent and thickness of sea ice in winter so that it endures longer through the summer.

Aerial shot of Arctic sea ice
Thicker, longer-lasting sea ice may help keep global warming in check. Mozgova / shutterstock

The project also includes modelling to assess the impact this would have on a range of climate phenomena. Most significantly, this includes the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, an ocean current that some fear is in imminent danger of weakening sufficiently to bring Siberian winters to north-west Europe.

Stratospheric aerosol injection

The final project being funded looks at the injection of aerosols into the stratosphere – higher than clouds – where they would reflect a little of the Sun’s energy back to space.

Many regard this as the form of geoengineering most likely to happen. It is the most studied, as it replicates the natural cooling effect of certain big volcanic eruptions that put massive amounts of sulphate-based aerosols into the stratosphere. Scaling it to be climatically significant is thought to be relatively straightforward, and would probably be the cheapest cooling option.

One significant concern is the health and environmental impact of these aerosols as they fall back to the planet’s surface. Hugh Hunt, also an engineering professor at Cambridge, has been awarded £5.5 million to examine a range of alternative aerosol compounds. The plan is to send tiny samples into the stratosphere in specially designed gondolas attached to balloons. The gondolas will later be recovered, so that the effect of the stratosphere on the samples can be examined. Nothing will be released into the atmosphere.

A small step towards something much bigger

Aria is treading a fine line with this programme.

On the one hand, the organisation recognises that further interventions might be needed to mitigate the harm from the continuing failure to phase out fossil fuels. On the other, it recognises how controversial such interventions are. It is clearly anxious not to provoke a public furore that could undermine the research effort.

In isolation, it is unlikely that this programme will fill any knowledge gaps that might encourage policymakers to push climate intervention up the international agenda. What it could demonstrate, however, is that with appropriate controls in place, it is safe to test these options.

Perhaps the next funding round will support bigger outdoor experiments. These would help determine which technologies can eventually become the safe and effective climate interventions we desperately need.


Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.The Conversation


Robert Chris, Honorary Associate, Geography, The Open University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The chicks are alright: what songbirds can teach us about divorce and moving on

Charli DaviesCC BY-NC-ND
Frigg Janne Daan SpeelmanMacquarie University

In humans, it’s very common for the traditional family structure of two parents raising children to change abruptly. Usually, this happens when the parents decide to separate.

Many separated couples are able to navigate this change well to ensure their children are not overly affected. But this isn’t guaranteed. Parental separation can lead to behavioural, developmental and health issues in children. The effect can be long-lasting.

That’s humans. But many other species have a similar arrangement in choosing a long-term mate to raise offspring. What effect does it have when these couples split up?

In our new research, we examine what happens after a family split in a tropical bird species known for its long-lasting partnerships. To our surprise, we found the separation had no long term effect on the health of their offspring.

Family drama on a tropical island

Most birds form strong partnerships to raise offspring as a couple. Raising baby birds is an intense job. Having two parents at the nest is often essential for the survival of the chicks.

The Seychelles warbler is no exception. These small songbirds live only on the Seychelles, northeast of Madagascar.

They often pair for life and defend a territory together. The longest documented partnership is 15 years.

Still, family life is not always perfect for these warblers. Of all warbler couples, about one in seven (14%) end in a separation.

In these cases, one of the parents leaves their territory and finds a new mate elsewhere when there is still an egg, young chick or fledgling in their original nest.

tropical island view of sea.
The Seychelles warbler lives on a few islands in the Seychelles. This is the view from Cousin Island, home to a long-studied population of these songbirds. Frigg SpeelmanCC BY-NC-ND

How do you know if a bird is stressed?

For decades, a team of international researchers has studied the population of warblers on Cousin Island nature reserve. The dataset they have gathered includes information about the relationship status of all birds, as well as measures of their wellbeing, lifespan and how many offspring they produce.

Using this data, we looked at what happened to the offspring of partners who had split up.

We measured the stress levels of chicks who hatched just before the ending of their parents’ relationship up to the moment they reached adolescence.

In humans, it’s common to measure stress by looking at the levels of cortisol in saliva and hair. But measuring stress in birds is a little different. To do this, we used three biomarkers which indicate physiological stress experienced by animals.

The first is telomere length, the protective “caps” on the end of chromosomes which protect DNA against damage. The shorter the telomeres, the higher the stress.

The second is the percentage of red blood cells in blood, which shows how well a warbler chick can use oxygen. The third is body condition, which indicates a bird’s fat reserves. These three markers let us gauge the stress levels and health of young warblers.

We also wanted to know whether parental separation would have lifelong consequences for the chicks. To find this out, we compared chicks from separated parents to those with more stable nests and assessed how long they lived and how many offspring they produced.

Warbler separation doesn’t stress chicks

What we found was surprising. There was no evidence the separation of parents affected the stress levels of chicks or their long-term survival and breeding success.

Why might this be?

One reason is that these birds don’t linger on the past. They move on very quickly.

When a partnership ends through separation or death, it opens up a vacancy – which can be quickly filled.

When separation happens, one bird leaves. The remaining partner can find themselves left with offspring to take care of themselves.

But parenting chicks is only half the story – nesting is also about territory. Cousin is a very small island of just 0.3 square kilometres with over 300 Seychelles warblers living on it.

That means the space to breed is very limited. As a result, when vacancies arise they’re often filled just hours after separation.

For the chicks, this means they now have a step-parent who can help raise them almost immediately. This means they don’t face a future with less parental care.

Two adult Seychelles warblers tending to a fledgling
Family life can be complicated for the Seychelles warbler. Separations leave quickly filled vacancies, where unrelated birds can help raise young. Charli DaviesCC BY-NC-ND

That’s not all. The Seychelles warbler is known for an unusual arrangement in which breeding couples sometimes receive help from other warblers, known as cooperative breeding.

On Cousin Island, there are more Seychelles warblers than there are breeding vacancies, meaning many adults can’t secure a partner and territory. These adults can join couples in established territories and help raise the offspring. This extra help may offset any reduced parental care after the ending of a partnership, meaning the offspring are still well off.

What we can learn from this

Our research shows Seychelles warbler chicks are better able to weather their parents separating than we expected.

Importantly, this humble bird is just one of a huge group of species who form socially monogamous partnerships where both parents raise the offspring.

Whether a parental relationship ending affects other species remains to be seen.The Conversation

Frigg Janne Daan Speelman, PhD Candidate in Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Queensland government is cancelling renewable energy projects. Can the state still reach net zero?

Johan Larson/Shutterstock
Tony WoodGrattan Institute

On the surface, Queensland’s new government is doing exactly what it pledged before winning office in October – repealing the state’s ambitious renewable energy targets and cancelling a huge pumped hydro project near Mackay.

But since the start of the year, the Crisafulli LNP government has gone further, and it’s less clear where it’s heading.

Last week, the government abruptly cancelled the A$1 billion Moonlight Ridge wind farm proposal, citing insufficient consultation and a lack of community support.

At the same time, the government announced it would open another 16,000 square kilometres of the state for gas exploration. The government is also planning to open new gas peaking plants and keep its coal plants open longer.

So, is the Queensland government backsliding on renewables and climate change?

The Crisafulli government is still committed to net zero by 2050. Because Queensland still owns its own transmission infrastructure and power plants, the state could shift to clean energy faster than other states. But at present, they don’t appear to be in a rush.

solar farm queensland.
Many solar farms have already been built in the Sunshine State. Lakeview Images/Shutterstock

Slowdown under way

Previous Labor governments in Queensland announced plans for large pumped hydro installations as a way to store energy to be available when intermittent wind and solar are not. The largest of these pumped hydro projects was the Pioneer-Burdekin proposal near Mackay, which the government has now canned.

The Crisafulli government has also asked the Queensland Investment Corporation to examine the financial viability of two other major proposals, the Borumba pumped hydro scheme inland from the Sunshine Coast and the Copperstring transmission project linking Townsville and Mount Isa. This isn’t unusual – new governments often review projects announced by their predecessors.

Another recent announcement is drawing stronger criticism, however. In April, the Crisafulli government announced plans to make sure large solar and wind farms have the social licence to operate. This, the government announced, would bring the “same rigorous approval processes as other major developments” to bear on renewables.

If these plans become law, they are likely to make it substantially harder and slower to build large renewables projects.

The cancellation of the Moonlight Ridge wind farm proposal is instructive. Of the 508 individuals who wrote in response to the development, only 142 were local. In his decision, planning minister Jarrod Bleijie noted: “the representations that I received evidence that the project has not acquired overriding community acceptance”.

What’s being proposed looks messy. The peak body for renewables in Queensland is highly sceptical, while miners and farmers have also signalled concern.

But while the Moonlight Ridge cancellation drew headlines, two other wind farm proposals have been approved after being asked to show they had consulted adequately.

No is easy, yes is hard

It’s easy to take office and reject the work of predecessors. It’s far harder to outline what will replace it.

In contrast to other east coast states, Queensland has largely kept control of its sprawling electricity system. The government owns most large coal and gas power plants and all the transmission infrastructure.

While the new government has indicated renewed support for private sector energy investment, it has provided support for government-owned corporations to develop new gas peaker plants. By contrast, there are very few proposals for new gas plants further south.

In one sense, it’s no surprise Queensland’s new government has eased off on renewables. Its coal plants are relatively new, and largely owned by the government. This may reduce the urgency for developing a new energy plan, but only for a few years. Planning for a smooth energy transition is a major task, as demonstrated by southern states.

The state has also profited hugely from gas exported from Gladstone. The government now receives around $1 billion from oil and gas royalties a year.

Go-fast federally, go-slow at state?

The thumping Labor majority at this year’s federal election means, at a national level, work on the clean energy transition will accelerate. But this transition is only possible if state and federal governments coordinate well.

The responsibility for building and maintaining electricity systems in Australia largely falls to the states and territories. But managing large power grids on the east and west coasts requires national-level coordination.

What the federal government can do, by and large, is set a goal and stump up the cash. As former Labor prime minister Paul Keating once quipped, “never get between a state premier and a bucket of money”.

The federal government is running a funding program to support renewable generation and storage projects across the country. Three Queensland renewable projects have been approved under this program, including solar farms with battery storage.

It’s hard to see the state government moving to block these projects.

Where does this leave us?

Queensland is signalling it’s not enthused about having an open gate for new renewable projects. Adding time consuming and expensive new consultation hurdles may cause prospective renewable developers to pack up and head south or west.

Yet the policy’s strategic intent is unclear and is not necessarily against clean energy for the state. Many projects are already under way. The Crisafulli government has shown interest in smaller scale pumped hydro schemes as a way to store energy. And gas peaking plants will be a necessary evil in a high-renewables grid, acting like an emergency diesel generator for the rare periods without enough wind, sun or water.

The big test will come later this year in the form of the state government’s five year energy plan. Will it deliver the investment to meet the net zero objective while maintaining affordable and reliable power? Right now, many in the clean energy industry are taking a wait-and-see attitude.The Conversation

Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

These 5 roadblocks are standing in the way of energy-efficient homes

Westend61, GettyImages
Jaime ComberUniversity of Technology SydneyEd LanghamUniversity of Technology Sydney, and Nimish BiloriaUniversity of Technology Sydney

We all want homes that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, without breaking the bank. However, Australian homes built before 2003 have a low average energy rating of 1.8 stars out of 10. This means they’re often uncomfortable to live in and expensive to run.

There’s a strong case for a “renovation wave” of home energy upgrades across Australia. Reducing the use of fossil gas and improving the energy efficiency of existing housing by nearly 50% is also central to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Energy-saving upgrades such as solar panels, batteries, insulation, draught-proofing and hot water heat pumps also reduce the cost of energy bills. So while there’s an upfront cost, upgrades can reduce household expenses in the long run.

We wanted to find out what’s holding people back from getting energy-saving upgrades. We surveyed 100 Australian households and interviewed 19 people about their experiences. Our new research revealed five major barriers that stop these upgrades from being accessible to most households. Suppliers, governments and community organisations can all help overcome these barriers.

Highs and lows in the household energy upgrade journey
Embarking on home energy upgrades can be an emotional rollercoaster ride. RACE for 2030

1. Information about upgrades is confusing and overwhelming

Households told us the amount of information out there about energy saving upgrades is overwhelming and sometimes conflicting. There are many different types of upgrades and product choices, making it challenging to identify which options provide the best value and what to do first. People found it difficult to know what information and which suppliers to trust.

Households need clear information from a trusted source about what their homes need. Many governments internationally, such as Scotland, provide online resources and tools to provide tailored advice to help with this.

Energy upgrade programs run by neutral community organisations and councils can also help, such as Rewiring Australia’s Electrify 2515 or Geelong Sustainability’s Electric Homes Program. These programs use their expertise to vet suppliers and ensure households receive good deals and high quality products.

2. Homes need to engage multiple suppliers and tradespeople

Many households worked on their home gradually, one upgrade at a time. Each upgrade involved a labour-intensive process of researching products, selecting companies, getting quotes and managing the disruptions caused by the installation. One Sydney homeowner told us:

The process of needing both a plumber and an electrician to change to induction cooking was frustrating. [We had to] to coordinate availability times and appliance delivery.

Australians need companies that can do multiple upgrades at once, to simplify and streamline the process. In Ireland, the government helped stimulate a market for organisations that can cover all the upgrades needed by a household.

Ireland has “One Stop Shops” for home energy upgrades (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland)

3. Households are losing opportunities for straightforward upgrades

Every year, Australians invest billions in home renovations. They spent more than A$3 billion in the December 2024 quarter alone.

One of the best times to improve your home is during major renovations or when old appliances, such as hot water systems, break down. If you’re already facing disruptions and need to spend money, it can be an easy and more cost-effective way to increase your home’s energy efficiency at the same time.

Yet our research found advice on energy-saving upgrades was rarely provided to people undertaking major renovations or emergency replacements unless they asked for it. Households needed to seek out builders, architects and tradespeople who specialised in sustainability to get advice on an energy-saving renovation.

Providing energy upgrades to homes should be a standard component of modern renovations. Otherwise, households are missing out on easy and more affordable opportunities to get these upgrades.

4. Many tradespeople lack knowledge of energy-saving upgrades

Our research found tradespeople are the most common point of contact for households. They can be a valuable source of information and advice to facilitate upgrades. However, many households reported difficulty finding tradespeople knowledgeable about – and willing to install – energy-saving upgrades.

Some upgrades, such as solar panels, require specialised workforces. Others, such as hot water heat pumps are usually installed by regular plumbers and electricians.

Some tradespeople lack the knowledge to advise on energy-saving upgrades or need training to install new technologies to a high standard. This situation leaves households vulnerable to misinformation, with a shortage of skilled workers to do their upgrades.

Tradespeople require increased support and incentives to make energy-saving measures part of their skill set. This is especially true in regional areas, where there are fewer products and workers available.

5. The costs are too high for many households

A final, significant barrier was the cost of home upgrades, which often caused households to drop out early in the process. Australian households, particularly those with less disposable income, need more help with the upfront cost.

One way to do this is through targeted government rebates, which are currently only available in some regions. Another is affordable and accessible financing, like that available in Tasmania and the ACT. The national Home Energy Upgrades Fund could also be extended to make sure available finance matches the scale of the challenge.

Also needed are long-term reforms such as mandatory disclosure of energy performance when homes are sold and minimum energy standards for rental properties, which are currently only required in some jurisdictions in Australia. When these are both addressed we can make comfortable, and affordable homes the norm rather than the exception.

Bar chart showing the main household motivations for energy saving upgrades.
Keeping warm in winter and cool in summer is the number one motivation for energy saving upgrades. RACE for 2030

A worthwhile journey

Roadblocks aside, households also shared the joy and satisfaction of completing home energy upgrades. While the journey was often difficult, those who reached the end of the road were overwhelmingly pleased with the results. A homeowner who had installed solar panels and undertaken draught-proofing and insulation in Adelaide said:

It’s nice not to have huge electricity bills, and but I find it’s that day to day stuff of actually being comfortable that makes the biggest difference.

This research was undertaken by Jaime Comber, Kamyar Soleimani, Ed Langham, Nimish Biloria, Leena Thomas and Kerryn Wilmot from the University of Technology, Sydney.The Conversation

Jaime Comber, Senior Research Consultant in Energy Futures, University of Technology SydneyEd Langham, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, and Nimish Biloria, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Week Five May 2025 - Week One June 2025 (May 26 - June 1): Issue 643

 

World Oceans Day 2025 at Bongin Bongin Bay Mona Vale: The Janice Mason Memorial Swim + Family- Friendly Activities

Bongin Bongin Bay - Mona Vale Basin . Photo by Joe Mills

Mona Vale SLSC is bringing back its Winter Solstice Swim, as the Janice Mason Memorial Swim, a 1km ocean swim in celebration of the United Nations World Oceans Day.

In partnership with Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay, this event supports their mission to establish a marine sanctuary zone for the bay by 2027 and will include family-friendly activities and the FoBBB sharing insights into Bongin Bongin Bay's environment.

The Mona Vale SLSC's Winter Solstice swim is named to honour the memory of Janice Mason, a much-loved P.E teacher, clubbie and a Dawnbuster swimmer, known as a phenomenal athlete by her peers, who succeeded at whatever sport she turned her hand to.  

A legend of Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club, where she had been a member since 1989, moving through the ranks from nippers to senior club, taking on the roles of chief instructor and race secretary, Janice won multiple medals at branch, state and Aussies level. 

Sadly, in May of 2020, Janice passed away during her daily morning swim ritual with the Dawnbusters across the Mona Vale basin.

Ms Mason’s husband Alan, a past Mona Vale SLSC president and life member, said “it is truly lovely that they have named the event after her.” 

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for her memory to live on and remember all the things she did at the surf club.” 

The Mona Vale Dawnbusters swim at Mona Vale Basin at 6.30am weekdays and 7.30 on weekends.

The 'Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay’ evolved in February 2023 from a group of swimmers who traverse the bay each morning taking in the wonders of nature. The group is currently seeking to mobilise the community, seeking its support in having the area declared by the NSW Government as a ‘no take’ aquatic reserve. The primary objective of aquatic reserves in NSW is to conserve the biodiversity of fish and marine vegetation.

The FoBBB state they are not anti-fishing, explaining;

''Marine sanctuaries provide a refuge for fish from being caught, allowing them to aggregate freely, grow large, and reproduce. Sanctuaries are an important tool not just to halt biodiversity loss and to create climate resilience, but to ensure food security. As fish and invertebrates grow larger they produce exponentially more eggs; the bigger the fish, the more babies they produce.

We believe that establishing areas where larger fish can proliferate free from extractive pressures is of great value to areas adjacent that are open to fishing.''

Their logo is 'Ned the Octopus', created by Jo Bell of Ocean Love Art & Design and donated to the group, her drawing seeks to incorporate, in her words; 

“...as many of our marine friends as possible that we see and swim with into the drawing, as well as the sea grasses, seaweed and shells”.

The logo now features on reusable mugs, t-shirts and hoodies, for that after-swim warm up. The limited edition mug is also available at present at the Brightside Cafe, located in the Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club building on the beachfront.

You can find out more about the Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay at: www.bonginbonginbay.org.au

The 2025 edition of the Janice Mason Memorial Swim features four race divisions with prizes:

  • Male and Female categories
  • Regular and ‘Skins & Fins’ divisions

The famous post-swim soup is back too! This year, your $40 entry includes a souvenir FoBBB 'Ned the Octopus' ceramic mug—a keepsake for a great cause. Online entries close Saturday June 7 at 3pm, sign up here: oceanswims.com/event/the-janice-mason-memorial-swim

The race starts at 10 AM, but the fun begins early.

The WOD festival includes the Bongin Bongin Ukulele Band, the Department of Primary Industries ’Bluey’ kids activities trailer, and Aboriginal displays and activities.

Although the Winter Solstice will not officially be celebrated until June 25 2025, this is a great way to celebrate World Oceans Day 2025 - which has a theme of  "Wonder: Sustaining what sustains us"  to emphasise the ocean's importance as a source of life and its role in supporting all life on Earth - and the first full week of Winter in the best place in Sydney; Pittwater.

Oceans Day was first declared as 8 June, 1992 in Rio de Janeiro at the Global Forum, a parallel event at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) which provided an opportunity for non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil society to express their views on environmental issues.

The Declaration was inspired by an event organised on that day by the Oceans Institute of Canada and supported by the Canadian Government: “OCEANS DAY AT GLOBAL FORUM – THE BLUE PLANET”. The programme featured international experts, opinion leaders and those in a position to speak for the oceans’ contributions to sustaining the Blue Planet.

In 2008, led by Canada, the General Assembly resolved that 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day”. (General Assembly resolution 63/111)

In the interim, observation of Oceans Day had broadened and deepened. The need and scope for this was reflected in the broad range of concerns expressed in 2008 by the UN Secretary-General, including implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime space, international shipping, maritime security, marine science and technology, marine biological diversity, the marine environment and sustainable development, climate change and regional and international cooperation. The awareness and action spurred by observation of World Oceans Day would be crucial in all these areas.

The theme of the inaugural observance of World Oceans Day by the United Nations in 2009 was ‘Our Oceans, Our Responsibility’.

“The first observance of World Oceans Day allows us to highlight the many ways in which oceans contribute to society. It is also an opportunity to recognize the considerable challenges we face in maintaining their capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.” – then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

In the spirit of the ocean, bring your favourite swim cap! Join MVSLSC and FoBBB for a morning of ocean swimming, community spirit, and environmental immersion to celebrate World Oceans Day.

To inspire you, a poem by Viva Brock, daughter of George Brock, the gentleman who built 'The Oaks'. Mr. Brock owned a yacht called the 'Dolphin', and had been a member of the Royal Prince Alfred Club from the 1890's, so certainly would have visited Pittwater prior to his grand dreaming of realising 'The Oaks'.

Viva had written of the Mona Vale Basin a few times, only she called it 'Mermaid's Basin' but she too knew of the sea life that lives there, in this aquatic nursery:

The Jester:
A Sea-egg and an Octopus were walking hand In hand;
They wept like anything to see a girl upon the sand.
"If she were only swept away," they said, "it would be grand."

"If seven whales and seven sharks hung round for half a day,
Do you suppose," the Sea-egg said, "that still she'd want to stay?"
"I fear so," said the Octopus and brushed a tear away.
"If I were only old enough," it added, with a sigh,
"I'd squeeze her up to jolly In the winking of an eye."

"Still, why not throw your ink at her?" the Sea-egg did reply.
"Oh, come now," said the Octopus, "I'll own it is a bore
To find a tiresome girl like this thus littering up our shore,
But a revenge so horrible was never planned before."

' For don't you see," he added, "she's already fond of ink.
And like a thirsty blotting pad would simply lie and drink,
With a consequence so awful that I shudder as I think."
"I understand," the Sea-egg said, "I quite com prenez-vous,
There'd be sonnets on the ocean, and on each wave a few,
While odes unto the billows continually she'd do.

"And goodness gracious, gracious me, too horrible 'twould be,
If she should make a poem upon you, dear friend, or me,
An 'Ode Unto an Octopus,' or 'Lines to Egg of-Sea.' "

"Oh, Viva," wept the Octopus "you've had a pleasant swim,
Won't you be trotting home again; it's high time you went in?
I dare not angry grow with you, I find 'twould be a sin."

Peeps in Four States. (1906, March 21). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 38. Retrieved from  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71528448


Swimmers at The Basin or Bongin Bongin Bay (Mona Vale Beach) just after dawn. Photo: Joe Mills (Turimetta Moods)

 Looking north, "La Corniche", Mona Vale - Digital Order Number: a105575 - from album Scenes views and interiors of "La Corniche", Mona Vale, N.S.W., Sydney & Ashfield : Broadhurst Post Card Publishers, courtesy Mitchell Library - State Library of NSW.

Dust storm over Pittwater

Red dust from South Australia, currently in drought, and carried by strong winds, settled over Sydney and the Illawarra on Tuesday morning, May 27.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the dust haze is a result of "prolonged dry weather conditions and strong and gusty winds ahead of a very strong cold front".

Wollongong's air quality was worst hit with an air quality index score of 926 at 10am, classified as "hazardous" — the highest level on the air quality scale.

Freshening winds by md-morning dispersed the dust but the air quality remained poor.

Dust haze over Wollongong. Photo: Gabriel Dalton/via Instagram

Dust haze over Pittwater. Photo: A J Guesdon

Elanora Dragon Rescue

May 29, 2025
An Eastern Water Dragon was found curled up near a front door in Elanora Heights, showing little interest in moving, even after 24 hours. The concerned resident noticed a bend in the tail and called WIRES for help.

WIRES Emergency Responder Rachel attended the rescue and found the lizard alert but unusually still, even when approached. With temperatures dropping, Rachel suspected the dragon may have been preparing to enter brumation (a hibernation-like state) and had become displaced. As the lizard began to shake, possibly from stress or exposure, Rachel transported it to a nearby vet for monitoring and further assessment.

Eastern Water Dragons are cold-blooded reptiles and rely on environmental warmth to stay active. If you see a reptile out in the cold or in distress, contact WIRES on 1300 094 737.

Our work is only possible thanks to compassionate supporters like you. Together, we can give native animals the second chance they deserve.

Your gift can make all the difference for wildlife in urgent need. 💚
Learn more or donate today: https://bit.ly/Emergency_Appeal25

Photos: Rachel/WIRES

Labor approves Woodside's North West Shelf extension: 'a prelude to approval for Woodside's Browse Project carbon bomb' 

One of the world's leading rock art specialists has accused the WA government of producing "propaganda" to support its view that Woodside's controversial North West Shelf gas project should be allowed to extend, labelling government-produced documents a "disgrace to Australian science".

On Friday the WA government released a report into one of the world's most significant and dense collections of ancient petroglyphs, on the Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga) near Karratha, which are thought to be thousands of years old.

University of Western Australia professor of archaeology Benjamin Smith said the 800-page report found rock art closest to industry had been most degraded and recent industry was to blame — details he said the executive summary, which he states was produced by the government — failed to mention.

Another leading scientist, Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley, has expressed "grave concern" about "unacceptable interference" in a major study of the impacts of industrial emissions on ancient Aboriginal rock carvings in a complaint obtained by the ABC.

The West Australian government released the long-awaited results, completed in May 2024, from its ongoing Rock Art Monitoring Program, which is studying petroglyphs on the Burrup Peninsula, or Murujuga, near Karratha in WA's north.

The five-year study was trying to determine whether industrial pollution has degraded Indigenous rock carvings thought to be 40,000 years old. The $27 million rock art monitoring project was led by the WA government in collaboration with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, using experts from Curtin University.

See: 
Curtin University (2024) Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program: Monitoring Studies Report 2024. Submitted to the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, Government of Western Australia. DWER
Technical report COPP21065-REP-G-105, revision 2

See ABC reports:

The latest results were considered by federal Environment Minister Murray Watt, as part of his ruling on whether to approve a 45-year licence extension of Woodside's North West Shelf LNG facilities on the Burrup Peninsula. The project was approved by the new 'Minister for the Environment' and announced as such on Wednesday May 28.

''Following the consideration of rigorous scientific and other advice including submissions from a wide cross-section of the community, I have today made a proposed decision to approve this development, subject to strict conditions, particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels from the operation of an expanded on-shore Karratha gas plant.

In making my proposed decision I was required to consider: 
  • the potential impacts of extending the life of the plant on the national heritage values of nearby ancient rock art, and
  • economic and social matters concerning the proposed development.
Based on the evidence before me and the Department’s recommendations, my proposed decision is subject to strict conditions.

My responsibility is to consider the acceptability of the project's impact on protected matters. In this case, the impact of air emissions on the Murujuga rock art that forms part of the Dampier Archipelago was considered as part of the assessment process. I have ensured that adequate protection for the rock art is central to my proposed decision.'' Minister Watt's statement says

Minister Watt had been in WA last week meeting with stakeholders, including the Cook government, ahead of the decision and a coming rewrite of the laws governing environmental approvals.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the minister had "failed at the first hurdle".

"What the environment minister has done today is protected the big gas corporation Woodside and foreign-owned gas companies that will take these exports, rather than protecting Australia's environment or climate," Senator Hanson-Young said.

Greenpeace chief executive David Ritter said the approval was a "terrible decision".

"The North West Shelf facility is one of the dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel projects ... despite what the gas lobby says, the reality is we don't need more polluting gas," Mr. Ritter said.

Greenpeace's WA campaign lead Geoff Bice said in a statement;
"The primary purpose of Woodside's North West Shelf extension is to process gas from the Browse gas field underneath Scott Reef — the minister should be looking at these gas mega projects as a whole," 

Last week Western Australia's environmental watchdog took the unusual step of reopening public consultation to Woodside's $30 billion Browse joint venture project.

Browse is Australia's largest untapped conventional gas resource, which Woodside is hoping to develop. The energy giant has made an application to WA's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to make changes to its proposal. Climate groups have labelled Browse a "carbon bomb", claiming the project could lead to emissions of up to 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime — an amount three times Australia's annual pollution output.

The Conservation Council WA has reaffirmed its rejection of Woodside’s Browse gas proposal, even in light of revised plans before the WA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which it says simply “tinkers around the edges”.  

These changes include reducing the size of the development envelope to 78km2, to avoid overlapping parts of the heritage-listed Scott Reef.  

Executive Director Matt Roberts said the revision was a “smoke and mirrors exercise” and in no way altered the threat posed by the Browse proposal to the fragile and pristine Scott Reef.  

“Drilling will still be taking place unacceptably close to this unique marine ecosystem, which includes Sandy Islet, a critical nesting ground for endangered green sea turtles. Gas drilling is highly likely to cause subsidence of the ocean floor, potentially submerging this tiny atoll altogether,” Mr Roberts said.  

“And as the revised proposal states, there is no change to the area of direct or indirect seabed disturbance estimates; subsidence is not addressed in any detail.   

“While Woodside has significantly lowered the envelope of its drilling field, we’re still talking about an area four times the size of Rottnest Island (Wadjemup). Its initial plans for a 1,220km2 envelope was all about going in with outrageously large number, then scaling the project back to paint itself as a good corporate citizen.  

“There is no reduction in the amount of gas they plan to extract from beneath this unique marine habitat, or the emissions that will be generated by the project. In essence, nothing has changed, Woodside has simply wrapped it up in a nice green ribbon.”  

Mr Roberts said the WA EPA has already found the Browse proposal poses unacceptable risks to endangered pygmy blue whales, the green sea turtle and other threatened marine species at Scott Reef.  

“Woodside’s revised proposal does nothing to mitigate the risk that gas extraction could cause the seabed to subside, potentially rendering Sandy Islet underwater and unusable for turtle nesting.   

“Worst of all, Woodside’s Browse Gas proposal still entails the risk of a major oil spill catastrophically impacting the reef.  

“In 2009, the Montara oil spill almost reached Scott Reef, which was only saved thanks to a chance change in prevailing winds and tides. At the start of this year, Santos was found guilty of another oil spill off the Pilbara coast that killed dolphins.   

“Just two days ago, the offshore oil and gas regulator ordered Santos to stop drilling for their Barossa gas project due to a failure in the equipment that prevents oil spills from occurring. Offshore oil and gas drilling is inherently dangerous.  

“And yet Woodside is comfortable labelling the risk to Scott Reef from an oil spill as ‘only a mere theoretical possibility.’ If a spill occurs, the impacts could be catastrophic.   

“This revised proposal is simply artful deception – gambling with the future of Australia’s largest offshore coral reef, a haven for marine life found nowhere else on earth - that could result in catastrophic impacts that do irreparable damage to this pristine wilderness forever.  

“There is no way to mitigate the unacceptable risks Browse gas poses to Scott Reef. The proximity of the project to the incredible natural values of the Scott Reef system which are at risk from oil spills, subsidence and disturbance from the operations is untenable. The only option is to reject it,” Mr Roberts added. 
 
See ABC report: 
Woodside's North West Shelf approval just a stepping stone to enable Browse project

The Climate Council has labelled the Albanese Government’s approval of the North West Shelf gas extension a failure of leadership.

''The decision to extend the life of ​​Australia’s largest mainland gas facility until 2070 locks in more than 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution. That is equivalent to a decade of Australia’s annual emissions. It gives proponent Woodside the green light to keep operating one of the country’s most polluting fossil fuel projects until 2070.'' the Climate Council stated

Former North West Shelf Manager at BP Greg Bourne said: “Extending the North West Shelf will haunt the Albanese Government. They’ve just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fuelling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. It undoes the good work they’ve done on cutting climate pollution and betrays the mandate Australian voters just gave them.

“The global market is already awash with gas. It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion’s share is marked for export and none of it will be used on the East Coast. It’s bad for the climate, bad for Australia’s economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading.”

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “Communities in NSW are starting the clean-up after record-breaking floods. It is shocking that at the same time the Albanese Government has approved this massive climate bomb as its first act of this term of government. They’ve just opened the floodgates on over 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution.”

“Peter Dutton promised to approve this project before the last election. Voters rejected Dutton. Why would the Albanese Government take Dutton’s lead on climate policy? Approving the North West Shelf extension leaves a polluting stain on Labor’s climate legacy. Australians voted for a renewable-powered future, not more climate pollution and destruction.

“If the Government is actively making the climate crisis worse it must explain to communities, like those experiencing flooding right now, how it will protect them from more frequent and forceful extreme weather events.”

This project marks the Albanese Government’s 27th coal, oil or gas approval since taking office. It is the most polluting of them all. 

Key facts on North West Shelf:
  • Gas is a polluting fossil fuel: It’s made up mostly of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Gas accelerates the climate crisis when it is released or burnt. When exported, it’s just as bad for our climate as coal.
  • This project is not needed to support renewable power in Australia. Most of it will be exported, and in WA where the project is located: only 0.7 – 1.0% of WA’s gas supply is needed for electricity generation in the state over the next nine years. WA has more than enough gas to meet this need. Nationally, there is a small and declining role for gas in the switch to clean energy, and it is wrong to claim this project will play a role.
  • Over its 45-year life, the project would lead to over 4 billion tonnes (gigatonnes) of climate pollution. This is more than double the two billion tonnes of climate pollution associated with the Coalition’s nuclear scheme to 2050. 
  • This is equivalent to 10 years of Australia’s current climate pollution, and will contribute to more intense and frequent unnatural disasters that are harming Australians.
  • While most of the gas will be exported, the pollution from gas extraction and processing is expected to be 7.7 million tonnes per year – equivalent to the annual pollution from a coal-fired power station or 2.8 million cars. That would make it Australia’s second most polluting fossil fuel facility.
  • UNESCO has warned that industrial emissions from this gas facility are damaging 50,000-year-old Indigenous rock art. Instead of protecting the globally significant heritage site at Murujuga, the Albanese Government has waved through decades more pollution.
Background in: The Pilliga Push, March 2016 by Dick Clarke

Green light for gas: North West Shelf gas plant cleared to run until 2070

Franklin64/Shutterstock
Samantha HepburnDeakin University

In a decision surprising very few people, Australia’s new environment minister Murray Watt has signed off on an extension for the gas plant at Karratha, part of the enormous North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project.

The decision had been deferred until after the federal election, given significant environmental concerns around the project.

This approval means the gas plant at Karratha can now keep running until 2070. The Woodside-operated project has helped to shape Australia’s reputation as one of the biggest suppliers of LNG in the world.

Watt did not have to consider climate impacts, but rather what damage the extension might do to ancient rock art as well as economic and social matters. His approval is “subject to strict conditions”, which largely focus on air emissions from the project. Critics claim the extension will threaten irreplaceable 50,000 year old rock carvings and petroglyphs.

The decision will enrage environmentalists. If the project continues to operate, it has been estimated to generate four billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over 50 years.

Australia has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But the majority of the gas extracted from the North West Shelf will be exported, meaning the huge emissions generated from its extraction, liquefaction, transportation and burning will not be counted domestically.

But while the Karratha plant now has a lifeline, there’s still an open question about where the gas will come from. For decades, the plant has processed gas from the North Rankin, Perseus and Goodwyn gasfields offshore. These are now running out.

The main purpose of extending the Karratha plant’s lifespan would be to process gas extracted from giant new gasfields lying underneath the pristine Scott Reef. Approval to open these gasfields has not yet been given because of the significant concerns extraction will damage the reefs.

What is the North West Shelf Project?

The North West Shelf development has been operational since the 1980s. Gas is extracted from huge basins located off the Pilbara coast and processed at the Karratha plant on the Burrup Peninsula.

To date, only a third of the 33 trillion cubic feet of gas in this basin has been extracted.

Woodside Petroleum is the project operator, holding a one-third shareholding along with Chevron and Shell in what is known as the North West Shelf Joint Venture.

The project is the largest producer of domestic gas in Western Australia, providing almost two-thirds of the state’s consumption. In the 2023-2024 financial year, it produced gas worth about A$70 billion.

Domestic consumers are paying much more for this gas than their international counterparts. For example, a $25 billion contract entered into with China in 2002 includes a guarantee prices will remain the same until 2031.

With the rapid escalation of gas prices, this means China is paying a third of the price paid by domestic consumers. Other markets for the gas include Japan and South Korea, which lack domestic gas resources.

karratha gas plant panorama
The Karratha plant has been cleared to run until 2070. Hans Wismeijer/Shutterstock

The ‘transition fuel’ worse than coal

Gas has long been touted as a transition fuel in a decarbonising economy. But this is questionable on several fronts.

Rather than replacing coal, LNG may actually be displacing renewables.

Worse, a recent study showed emissions from LNG are 33% higher than coal over a 20 year period when extraction, piping to a processing facility, compression, shipping, decompression and burning for energy are considered. “Ending the use of LNG should be a global priority,” the report concludes.

Turning methane-heavy natural gas into a liquid to allow it to be shipped overseas is energy intensive. Large leaks of methane from wells and pipes are common during extraction and transport. When the gas is finally burned to generate energy, it produces carbon dioxide.

In China, coal’s share of electricity production has been eroded by renewables but not by LNG, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

From a big picture point of view, climate commitments can’t be met if high-emitting infrastructure keeps being commissioned. Alongside stopping the expansion of fossil fuel projects, existing fossil fuel infrastructure must be retired or retrofitted with cleaner technology.

Eroding ancient rock art

The project’s processing plant is located on the Burrup Peninsula, also known as Murujaga. But this peninsula also has about 500,000 rock carvings by First Nations groups, the densest concentration in the world. In 2023, former environment minister Tanya Plibersek announced a bid to give this area World Heritage listing.

In a new draft decision, the United Nations World Heritage Committee flagged concerns over the bid and referred it back to the Australian government to “ensure the total removal of degrading acidic emissions” and “prevent any further industrial development” near the petroglyphs.

Gas production and ancient rock art are poorly matched. Research suggests processing plant gases such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ammonia have been gradually eroding the fragile petroglyphs for decades. Successive state and federal governments have failed to act to safeguard this area.

Gas projects seem untouchable

Approving the North West Shelf extension is a disaster for the environment, our climate commitments and the fragile and irreplaceable rock art in Murujuga.

It would seem that despite well-founded concerns on many fronts, big gas projects in Australia are all but untouchable.The Conversation

Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How the North West Shelf expansion risks further damage to Murujuga’s 50,000-year-old rock art

Murujuga Rock Art Conservation ProjectCC BY-NC-ND
Benjamin SmithThe University of Western Australia and John BlackUniversity of Sydney

Yesterday, new environment minister Murray Watt approved an extension for the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project. The gas plant at Karratha, Western Australia, will run until 2070.

This expansion – and the pollution it will release – has led to a recommendation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites to defer UNESCO’s decision on the world heritage listing of the nearby Murujuga rock art.

Two of the recommendations prior to renomination of the site are to “ensure the total removal of degrading acidic emissions” and “prevent any further industrial development adjacent to, and within, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape”.

Murujuga has more than one million petroglyphs, some up to 50,000 years old.

It has the oldest depictions of the human face in the world and records the lore and traditions of Aboriginal Australians since the first human settlement of this continent. It is strikingly beautiful and is of enormous cultural and spiritual importance to the Traditional Owners.

Despite the immense significance of the site, a large industrial precinct has been built at its centre.

Concerns about the Murujuga Rock Art report

On Friday, the Western Australian Government released the long awaited Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program Year 2 report. This report examines the effect of industrial pollution upon one of the world’s most significant rock art sites.

We have conducted our own independent project into the impact of industrial emissions on Murujuga since 2018. Many of our findings support the details in this report but the government’s report summary and subsequent political commentary downplays the ongoing impacts of acidic emissions from industry on the world unique rock art.

The most significant findings are the Weathering Chamber results. These subjected all rock types from Murujuga to the air pollutants released by industry. The results showed that all were degraded, even with relatively low doses of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).

The second highly significant finding is that “there is statistically significant evidence of elevated porosity of granophyre rock surfaces”. This is centred on the industrial precinct in Murujuga. The report acknowledges industrial pollution is the most likely cause.

This degradation and elevated porosity of the rocks puts the survival of the petroglyphs at risk.

On our research team, Jolam Neumann’s still to be published PhD thesis at the University of Bonn, Germany, considered the impacts of industrial pollution on Murujuga rocks.

He used actual samples of gabbro and granophyre rock collected from Murujuga and simulated six years of weathering under current pollution conditions. He found elevated porosity in both rock surfaces. He also collected the residue to understand what was eroded from the rock and how.

He found there was significant degradation of birnessite (manganese) and kaolinite (clay) from the surface. The dark red/brown surface of the rock became porous and started to break down.

His work confirms industrial emissions are the cause of the elevated porosity in the report. His work shows the seriousness of the porosity: it is symptomatic of a process causing the rapid disintegration of the rock surface.

Damage is ongoing

With Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program report showing evidence of damage to the art from pollution, the state government chose to emphasise in their report summary that a defunct power plant from the 1970s and 1980s was likely the culprit.

The report’s data suggests this power plant produced about 3,600 tonnes of NO₂ per year, and less than 400 tonnes of SO₂ per year. Current industry in the immediate area produces more than 13,000 tonnes of NO₂ per year and more than 6,500 tonnes of SO₂.

If the old power plant damaged the art then contemporary industrial emissions will be damaging the rock art at least five times faster.

Neumann also gained access to a piece of rock collected in 1994 by archaeological scientist Robert Bednarik, and stored in his office in Melbourne for the past 30 years.

The area where this rock came from now has elevated porosity, but the Bendarik rock shows no signs of it. This means the bulk of the industrial damage is likely more recent than 1994 – and is ongoing.

Losing 50,000 years of culture

The rock art was formed by engraving into the outer thin red/brown/black surface of the rock, called rock varnish, exposing the blue-grey parent rock beneath.

This rock varnish was made in a process that involved the actions of specialised microbes called cyanobacteria. They concentrate manganese and iron from the environment to form an outer sheath to protect themselves from the harsh desert environment.

The rock varnish forms at an incredibly slow rate: 1 to 10 microns in 1,000 years (a human hair is about 100 microns).

These organisms can only thrive when the rock surface acidity is near neutral (pH 6.5–7). Their manganese sheaths are crucial to the integrity of the rock varnish, it binds it together and holds it to the underlying rock.

If you lose the manganese you lose the rock varnish and the rock art.

Neumann found the proportion of manganese in the Bednarik rock sample was 18.4% by weight. In samples collected in the same area in 2021, the manganese content had fallen to 9.6%. The depth of the varnish was reduced, and the varnish layer was full of holes where the manganese had been degraded.

The damage by industry over the last 26 years was clearly visible.

Increased porosity is reducing the density of the rock varnish layer and leading to its eventual degradation. There is also an absence of cyanobacteria close to the industrial sites, but not at more distant sites, suggesting industrial emissions are eliminating the varnish-forming microbes.

Where to next?

Industrial pollution has degraded the rock art and will continue to do so until the industrial pollution levels at Murujuga are reduced to zero.

There are two well-recognised ways to eliminate NO₂ emissions. One uses selective catalytic reduction to convert NO₂ to nitrogen and water. The second method is to replace all gas burning heat production processes with electricity.

The use of such technologies should form part of the conditions to the ministerial approval of the North West Shelf extension.The Conversation

Benjamin Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia and John Black, Adjunct Professor Emeritus, School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

As record floods raged, NSW Government quietly approved fifth coal mine expansion

Monday May 26, 2025
The NSW Minns Government quietly approved another coal mine expansion - Glencore’s Ulan project near Mudgee - at the very same time as NSW was at the epicentre of devastating record flooding supercharged by the burning of fossil fuels

This is the fifth coal mine expansion approved by the NSW Labor Government. The estimated total greenhouse emissions from all five projects is 335 million tonnes of climate pollution (lifetime) which equates to about three times NSW’s total annual emissions from all sources.

The Ulan Modification 6 project has been approved despite the fact that it is seeking approval for a mine expansion that will occur from 2033-2041, an even though the Net Zero Commission has found NSW is not on track to meet either its 2030 or 2035 target.

Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said, “While people were stranded on rooftops, or being rescued from floodwaters by dinghies, the Minns Government ticked off on a fifth coal mine expansion that will fuel yet more climate chaos. 

“The approval of Glencore’s coal mine expansion, which won’t even start until 2033, shows an extraordinary disregard for NSW climate targets and for local communities on the frontlines of climate disaster. 

“More coal mine expansions mean more extreme weather events causing more harm and are making it harder for communities to bounce back. They mean higher insurance bills, and higher clean up bills for the state. 

“Research shows that NSW is in the top 10% of jurisdictions globally that is most vulnerable to physical risks from climate change, but the NSW Government is pandering to multinational coal companies and forcing NSW communities to pay a terrible price.”

Rosemary Hadaway, President Mudgee District Environment Group said, “The decision to approve the Ulan Modification 6 is based on very poor cost benefits analysis while allowing cumulative impacts on threatened species, water sources, Aboriginal cultural heritage and fuelling more climate change.

“Glencore will clear critically endangered nature to make way for this coal mine expansion. The ongoing loss of critically endangered bushland, sandstone cliff-lines and threatened species habitat in the Mudgee region through coal mine expansion cannot be adequately offset and is leading to a regional extinction crisis.

“The NSW Government is failing to meet biodiversity protection and net zero emissions targets. The approval of Ulan Mod 6 is a failure of the planning system, and as the flooding disaster shows, a failure of the government to act in the community’s best interests.”

Minns Government approves sixth coal mine expansion as NSW communities start cleanup after latest climate disaster

May 27, 2025
The NSW Government has approved its sixth coal mine expansion since coming to power, mere days since record flooding, supercharged by the burning of fossil fuels, wreaked havoc on Mid North Coast communities. 

The Sanjeev Gupta-owned Tahmoor expansion project, 25 km from Campbelltown, is the fourth coal mine approval since the NSW Net Zero Commission warned that NSW is not on track to meet its emission reduction targets for 2030 or 2035.  

Lock the Gate Alliance says the Tahmoor expansion will make meeting climate targets even harder and is a blow to communities who are bearing the brunt of the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. 

NSW Labor has approved six coal mines that when combined would be responsible for estimated 340 million tonnes of climate pollution (lifetime), more than three times NSW’s total annual emissions from all sources. 

Tahmoor coal mine is the second most polluting coal mine in NSW, with high volumes of methane emissions. However, the company was not proposing to implement best practice methane abatement for this expansion. 

This approval allows Tahmoor to operate for an additional nine months in 2032, to access a new long wall and to release an additional 5.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Longwall mining at Tahmoor is causing damage to homes in the nearby village of Bargo. 

Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said, “The mining of coal is supercharging the climate crisis and worsening catastrophic weather events like the flooding that has devastated communities north of Newcastle recently. 

“People are suffering and homes have been flooded, but it’s business as usual with a sixth coal mine expansion in NSW - despite coal being a major contributor to the climate crisis that is leading to increasingly extreme weather.

“It’s appalling to see the NSW Government extend the second most polluting coal mine in NSW given the severe warming effect of methane emissions which are 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. 

“This is the sixth coal-mine expansion approved by the Minns Labor government despite the Net Zero Commission warning  that NSW is not on track to meet any of its legislated climate targets and that coal expansions are a key reason why.

“The Minns Government needs to decide whether it is on the side of communities or big coal mining companies. So far, it is siding with the coal companies and communities are paying the price.”

Pilliga Update: NSW Labor Backs Santos to drill 850 wells in Forest Of Gomeroi Country; First Nations' land rights extinguished by Court in favour of multinational’s right to mine gas - Unions vow to back fight ‘whatever the cost’ 

On May 20 2025 the Native Title Tribunal cleared the way for multinational mining behemoth Santos to commence mining the Pilliga Forest for gas in the face of opposition from Traditional Owners, the Gomeroi people, farmers and residents.
 
For nearly a decade Gomeroi Traditional Owners have repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the devastating cultural and environmental impact that Santos mining in the Pilliga Forest will have on their land.
 
Today’s decision at the Native Title Tribunal effectively means that the Traditional Owners concerns will be completely dismissed in favour of Santos’ plans to mine gas for sale into global markets.
 
Since Gomeroi Traditional Owners first blew the whistle on the project they have been strongly supported by a large and sometimes unusual cross section of the community, from major land holders in the area through to environmentalists, teachers, healthcare professionals, tradespeople and their unions. 
 
Unions NSW President Vanessa Seagrove expressed deep disappointment in the ruling, stating; “We believe that the right to land is fundamental to the cultural identity and survival of Indigenous peoples. The ruling is a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by First Nations communities in asserting their rights,” said Vanessa Seagrove, Assistant Secretary of Unions NSW.
 
 "Nurses and midwives must use our voice to advocate for real action on climate change – this means no new fossil fuel extraction should occur. The NSWNMA commits our ongoing support for the right of the traditional owners of this land to have their voice heard," said Michael Whaites, Assistant General Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association.
 
The Independent Education Union NSW/ACT Branch condemns today’s decision handed down by the Native Title Tribunal. The Native Tribunal originally received 23,700 submissions against Santos’s gas mining project and a mere 300 in favour. The IEU acknowledges the tenacity and courage of the Gomeroi in their David and Goliath struggle against Santos. We recommit to supporting the Gomeroi against Santos’ plans to inflict environmental and cultural vandalism on the Pilliga,” echoed David Towson, Deputy Secretary of the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch.
 
“The ETU NSW/ACT is disappointed in the Tribunal’s decision not to uphold the Native Title rights of the Gomeroi people in the Narrabri region or the historic precedent to consider climate change as part of project approvals. This disgraceful decision to side with deep-pocketed fossil fuel company Santos will undermine First Nation land rights and will give less job security and certainty to workers involved in nearby renewable energy zone projects. 

Renewable energy projects in the region are already set to create over 13,000 local jobs, Santos’ coal seam gas project will undermine the skills and supply chain pipeline needed to make that happen. The ETU is proud to stand in solidarity with Gomeroi people and will continue its support of initiatives to advance First Nations communities through the energy transition, especially through the Renewable Energy Sector Board & First Nations Clean Energy Strategy,” said Allen Hicks, Secretary of ETU NSW.
 
“This is a catastrophic failure of justice for the Gomeroi people.  State and Federal Governments could have ended this travesty years ago but have instead decided to side with a multinational behemoth over our own First Nations community. If the Government doesn’t take action to fix this, then the Union movement will. We will do what we have to in order to stop this project. Make no mistake, we will not stand by while faceless multinational corporations trash cultural and natural heritage” said Paul Keating, Sydney Branch Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.

The Native Title Tribunal has handed down a decision that extinguishes the land rights of the Gomeroi People in order to allow multinational gas giant Santos to proceed with its coal seam gas project in the Pilliga Forest. The NSW Labor Government’s support for the project, despite strong and sustained opposition from Traditional Owners and the community, has been labelled a profound betrayal of cultural heritage, environmental integrity and climate justice.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment and First Nations justice, Sue Higginson, said the decision prioritised fossil fuel profits over the rights of First Nations people, the protection of sacred Country, and the future of the environment and climate.

"This result has completely failed the Gomeroi, demonstrating the severely broken system for land rights, and it’s a victory for corporate fossil fuel interests. The Gomeroi People have consistently and clearly opposed this project for over a decade. More than 23,000 public submissions were made against the Narrabri Gas Project, compared to only 300 in support. A wide coalition of unions, scientists, farmers and community members have stood with Gomeroi Traditional Owners to stop Santos. This outcome shows how little the rights of First Nations communities matter when profit is on the table."

"The Pilliga Forest is a place of immense cultural, spiritual and environmental significance. It is the largest inland native forest in eastern Australia, a critical recharge zone for the Great Artesian Basin, and home to threatened species. Santos plans to drill up to 850 coal seam gas wells across this landscape. The environmental risks are well-documented and irreversible. Once the Pilliga is fractured by this project, it cannot be undone."

"The conditions that have been imposed are wholly insufficient to prevent damage and are insulting in the context of what is being lost, again highlighting how broken and limited the system is. Requiring that the gas be used for domestic supply does not stop the destruction of Country. Enhanced cultural heritage protections do not reverse the fact that sacred sites will be placed under industrial pressure. A ranger program cannot substitute for land rights and self-determination. These conditions do not meaningfully address the Gomeroi People’s deep and consistent objections. They greenwash the result and give political cover to a dangerous fossil fuel project."

"The NSW Labor Government has actively supported this project and must be held accountable. They had the power to stop this and chose not to. By siding with Santos, they have chosen fossil fuel profits over First Nations justice. They have ignored cultural significance, community opposition and climate science. This is not the public interest. It is a political failure and a moral failure."

"This project should never have been approved and it is not too late to stop it. The Federal Government has the power to revoke environmental approvals. The NSW Government can withdraw its support. Communities will not stand by while Country is destroyed. I stand with the Gomeroi People. The community stands with the Gomeroi People. The fight to protect the Pilliga is far from over."

Mid North Coast Floods: “We are in a new climate reality – the Government must act”

May 29, 2025
As communities across the Mid North Coast and Hunter grapple with the aftermath of catastrophic flooding, NSW Greens MPs Tamara Smith and Sue Higginson have called on the NSW Government to urgently abandon its ongoing support for policies that fuel climate disaster, including coal and gas expansion and native forest logging.

“No sooner have the people of the Northern Rivers marked the third anniversary of the devastating 2022 floods, than communities just south of us are facing another deadly climate-driven disaster,” said Tamara Smith MP, Member for Ballina and Greens NSW spokesperson for Disaster Relief.

“Some flood levels in the Hunter and Mid North Coast have exceeded those of 1929. These are not one-in-100-year events – they are our new reality, and they demand a serious response from Government.”

Tamara Smith expressed her deep concern for affected residents, saying:
“My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, the nearly 800 families who cannot return to their homes, to the townspeople and business owners whose lives have been upended, to the farmers who have lost stock and crops, and to the SES workers and volunteers holding these communities together. No one is untouched by this disaster.”

Sue Higginson MLC, Greens NSW spokesperson for Climate Change, said the disaster must be a turning point for government action on climate.

“The science has long warned us that climate change would drive more frequent and more intense flooding across the East Coast of NSW. We are now living that warning, and yet the Minns Government continues to approve new coal and gas projects, and allows the ongoing destruction of climate-critical native forests.”

"The peer-reviewed attribution report produced by ClimaMeter as the floods were going on, demonstrate that the intensity of the floods were a direct result of human activity and climate change. The fact that the NSW Government approved the extension of a large coal mine during these climate fuelled floods, is a reckless act of harm against all communities living on the front lines of the climate crisis,"

“The Government is committing acts of climate negligence. Every day they delay real action is another day it fails the people of NSW.”

Both MPs have called for:
  • An immediate end to new coal and gas approvals in NSW.
  • A moratorium on native forest logging to protect carbon stores and natural flood mitigation.
  • Urgent review of planning and housing approvals in flood-prone regions.
  • Increased funding and permanent support for disaster preparedness and community resilience programs.
“Climate change is not a future threat – it is here, and it is destroying lives,” said Tamara Smith.

“To pretend these floods are simply freak weather events is wilful ignorance. The NSW Government must face reality and take responsibility.”

Report: Heavy rain in May 2025 New South Wales  floods locally intensified by human-driven climate change

  • Meteorological conditions similar to that causing floods in New South Wales  are up to 3 mm/day (up to 15%) wetter over the coast in the present than they have been in the past. 
  • This event was associated with very rare meteorological conditions.
  • We mostly ascribe the increase in precipitation of the New South Wales  floods to human driven climate change and natural climate variability likely played a modest role.
Alberti, T., & Faranda, D. (2025). Heavy rain in May 2025 New South Wales floods locally intensified by human-driven climate change. ClimaMeter, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CNRS. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15489583


Fifth anniversary of Juukan Gorge disaster

The PKKP Aboriginal Corporation has stated:
''The 24th of May 2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the Juukan-2 rockshelter.

The rockshelter, which sits 60 km north west of Tom Price on Puutu Kunti Kurrama Country was legally destroyed, against the wishes of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama Traditional Owners, by mining company Rio Tinto as part of the expansion of its Brockman 4 mine.

The destruction caused significant distress to the PKKP community and lead to global condemnation of Rio Tinto’s actions and a parliamentary inquiry into the state of heritage legislation in Australia.

What happened five years ago will never be forgotten by the PKKP people but to ensure such tragedies do not happen again we continue to work with Rio Tinto and other miners to implement effective and fair co-management agreements for their activities on PKKP Country.

Members of the PKKP community will meet at Juukan Gorge on the 24th of May to observe and mourn their significant loss. On this day our people request media organisations and representatives to respect their privacy and importance of the anniversary.''

Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water, said in a statement released May 23:
''The Albanese Government acknowledges the deep hurt and trauma the destruction of the Juukan Gorge site in 2020 caused the Traditional Owners and the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura community. 

I agree with the statement made on behalf of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama people and the Pinikura people to the subsequent Parliamentary Inquiry on the Juukan Gorge disaster, that this was a tragedy for the heritage of all Australians and indeed humanity as a whole.

In a remarkable testament to their strength, generosity and resilience, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura community have indicated their determination to build a positive legacy from the disaster that benefits all Traditional Owners and the resource industry.''

However, Minister Watt's statement belies the facts attested to by the Traditional owners own statement and would indicate what will come first in his term as Australia's Environment Minister.

The reality was Juukan Gorge's traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people, were unable to prevent Rio Tinto from blasting the sacred site in 2020. The PKKP attempted to stop the blast through various means, but were ultimately unsuccessful due to legal and contractual constraints.

The PKKP were bound by confidentiality clauses in their agreement with Rio Tinto, limiting their ability to speak publicly about the situation. They were also told they couldn't apply for a federal emergency halt without Rio Tinto's permission and a 30-day notice, which effectively prevented them from stopping the blast. 

While federal legislation existed to protect heritage sites, it was designed as a last resort, was difficult to access, and ultimately proved ineffective in this case. 

Atop all that, Rio Tinto later admitted to not informing the traditional owners that there were four options for blasting, three of which would have avoided the destruction of the rock shelters. They chose the only one that would.

The Juukan Gorge blast destroyed 46,000-year-old rock shelters that were a vital part of the PKKP's culture and heritage. 

The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people are still NOT focussed on outcomes that destroy the environment and cultural sacred sites for he benefit of the 'resource industry'.

Traditional owners in WA's Pilbara fear heritage laws will still not prevent another incident like Juukan Gorge, despite the public outcry that followed - stating these are still occurring. The WA state government backflipped on stricter heritage legislation in 2023 after just five weeks of approving updated protections.

Surfrider Foundation: June 2025 Events

Check out our Epic line-up of events this month ! 🌊🤙
Join the wave of changemakers protecting our beautiful blue backyard !
🌊This Sun 1 June - Adopt a Beach Community Clean ups
Venue: 9 x northern beach locations.
Time: 3 - 4pm
*Note* the new event time during winter months (June, July, Aug) 
Check out our Impact to-date and beach location details: https://www.surfrider.org.au/impact/adoptabeach/


🌊Thu 5 June - A Brew for the Blue 
Venue: Bonsai Bar ( below 4 Pines Brewery Manly)
Time: 5 - 7pm 
A collaboration with SIMS (Sydney Institute of Marine Science)
A Celebration for World Ocean Day, Science, Underwater photography competition.
Surfrider will join a panel of SIMS scientists to chat about Sydney’s ocean conservation programs.
Tix $10 includes a cold brew on arrival. Event details and Book tickets here



🌊Sun 22 June - Surfrider 3rd Annual Surf swap & Repair Market
Venue: Surfrider Gardens, 50 Oceans St, Narrabeen
Time: 11 - 3pm 
Ride the Use Wave - Sell, Swap, Repair or repurpose your preloved Surf gear.
Meet shapers and makers of sustainable surfboards, local innovators of upcycling waste into surf accessories
Upcycle your ‘end of life’ wetsuit with Ripcurl, attend minor board repair workshops
Chill to smooth beats in the winter sun and enjoy killer coffee from the local cafes
This event is held with the support of the Northern Beaches Council.
Free to attend and a waste free event!
Event Registration here - Day traders and Stallholders

'Warringah and Pittwater Garden Heritage'

Saturday, 7 June, 2025 11am - 1pm
The Annex, Dunbar Park, Avalon

All are welcome to attend this special talk on significant local heritage gardens presented by expert Stuart Read, Chair, Sydney Branch of the Australian Garden History Society. Stuart is a landscape architect focusing on garden history, cultural landscapes and dry stone walls.

Photos: Jeanne Villani's Waterfall Cottage at Bayview. 

Bob Storey's Tarrangaua at Lovett Bay (formerly Dorothea MacKellar's home)

The talk is presented by the Avalon Armchair Gardeners club. No charge to attend.

Enquiries:  Fran Colley - francescolley@me.com

Whale Census Day 2025: June 29

Have your say on council's climate change policy

The Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula is particularly vulnerable to impacts associated with climate change which are likely to increase in future years according to the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan.

The council states it has delivered numerous initiatives to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of, climate change and has now drafted a new Climate Change Policy that will guide how it manages climate change risks and continues to reduce emissions. The council is now seeking feedback from the community on its draft Policy.

The risks include increasingly severe and complex impacts associated with coastal hazards and flooding, and more frequent extreme weather, bush fires, high winds, heatwaves and drought. 

Mayor Sue Heins said the council is committed to doing its part to reduce emissions, but importantly also focusing on building community resilience to these impacts.

“Such impacts can go beyond these physical hazards, creating challenges and driving changes across the community, natural environment and economy,” Mayor Heins said. 

“Recent bush fire, storm and flooding events have directly impacted the local community, through property damage and increased clean-up, repair and insurance costs, as well as causing stress, fatigue and uncertainty.    

“We want to ensure that we’re not just reducing emissions, but importantly we’re adapting to projected climate change and building community resilience.

“This requires preparedness for both council and the community and we welcome feedback from our community on the draft policy” Mayor Heins said.

Palm Beach stormwater drain opposite Wilshire Park creek, July 6, 2024, filled with plastic bag encased sandbags

Snapperman Beach seawall in March 2022 with plastic filled sandbags now deep into the beach itself - was damaged in storm of March 2021 - was finally repaired in February through March 2023

The council's Climate Change draft Policy has the following 13 Principles:

1. Ensure that Council’s Integrated Planning and Reporting framework incorporates suitable measures to reduce the contribution to, and the impacts of climate change across its assets, functions, services and reporting.

2. Adopt a proactive and adaptive approach to managing the impact of climate change, informed by the best available science and guidance, and adjusted regularly for changes in data, technology, and policy.

3. Maintain up to date greenhouse gas emission  reduction targets for Council and the community that are monitored, reviewed, and publicly reported against.

4. Ensure consistency with state, national, and international legislation, guidelines, benchmarks and targets, as appropriate. 

5. Prioritise the management of risk to people, property, and the environment from the impacts of climate change in accordance with Council’s obligations and its Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

6. Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from Council activities as far as possible. Council may offset the remaining emissions to meet its adopted targets.

7. Incorporate the range of climate projections aligned to emission scenarios SSP2 and SSP3 when managing Council assets and services and when developing studies, management plans and in land use planning. When making decisions, use SSP2 for short-term scenarios and SSP3 for longer-term scenarios.

8. Work with the community and key stakeholders to reduce emissions, address climate risks and enhance resilience across the Northern Beaches.

9. Ensure Council decisions consider the impacts of climate change for current and future generations.

10. Identify and manage climate change impacts and obligations through Council’s systems and frameworks. This includes project management, enterprise risk management, procurement, business and financial planning, as well as strategic and land use planning  frameworks.

11. Reduce current and future risks to the community and the environment by locating new development out of high-risk hazard areas (particularly those expected to be at greater risk from climate change), and/or incorporating appropriate measures to reduce the risk to an appropriate level in accordance with relevant guidelines and statutory controls (including utilising appropriate land zoning).

12. Consider the options of protection, accommodation, avoidance, nature-based adaptations and relocation where climate change poses a significant risk to existing development and land uses.

13. Advocate for, and where possible implement, better building and construction standards, delivery of multi-agency projects, waste minimisation and management, zero emissions transport, sustainable finance and equitable community support to reduce the causes, risks and impacts of climate change.

Policy's Scope and application

This Policy applies to officials of the Northern Beaches Council and will be implemented across Council’s assets, functions and services.

Policy's Definitions for Adaptation responses

• Nature-based: Nature based solutions such as protecting and augmenting dunes, revegetating foreshore buffers or undertaking rehabilitation of natural coastal habitats such as mangrove, saltmarsh and salt-tolerant transitional vegetation.

• Accommodation: Design new structure and/or altering existing structure to reduce vulnerability to impacts. Example: raising the floor height of a flood-prone building.

• Avoidance: Minimising intensification of existing exposure and preventing new development in areas subject to current or future risks. Example: prohibiting new development in areas subject to bush fire risk.

• Protection: Implementing temporary or permanent works that provide a barrier between a structure and a hazard. Example: hard protection such as seawalls or levees or soft protection (often referred to as ecosystem-based adaptations) such as dunes, sand nourishment or planting of bush fire resistant vegetation. 

• Relocation:  Removal or relocation of existing exposed structure or asset out of an at-risk area.

Policy Document's definitions

Carbon offset A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. A carbon offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission  reduction of one metric tonne of CO2-e. The purchaser of an offset credit can ‘retire’ it to claim the reduction towards their own emission reduction goals.

Climate change Change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Throughout this policy, the term refers to changes to the climate  attributable to human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions or land use changes.

Climate risk Refers to potential negative or positive impacts of natural hazards and climate under the influence of rising global  greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions Greenhouse gases released from human activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.

Hazard A potential natural or human-induced physical event, trend or disturbance with negative consequences.

NARCliM The NSW Government provides high-quality regional climate  projections and information for public use through the NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project. Resilience The capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, and  systems to survive, adapt and thrive in response to chronic stresses and acute shocks.

SSPs Shared Socioeconomic Pathways are a range of scenarios for climate change that consider different levels of greenhouse gas emissions, population, economics, social factors, and other key concepts. They help assess potential climate futures and their impacts.

SSP2 and SSP3 

The SSP2 scenario assumes that global trends continue without major shifts. Some countries make good progress, while others struggle. Environmental degradation continues, but resource and energy use become more efficient.

SSP3 scenario assumes countries prioritise security and economic independence, leading to slow technological progress and high challenges for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Targets Includes Council’s targets, aspirations, commitments, benchmarks, and actions as outlined in all Council policies, strategies, and action plans.

The draft Climate Change Policy has been prepared to update and replace the current policies and guide the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation action across the council’s assets, functions and services. 

The policy is on exhibition from Friday 23 May to 22 June. For more information and to have your say visit the council's Climate Change Policy - draft; consolidating existing former council policies webpage


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.


Collaroy on January 4th 2022. Image: Ian Bird Photography.

Council's Draft Land Dealings Policy: Have your Say

  • Submissions opened: Fri 23 May 2025
  • Submissions close: Mon 23 Jun 2025

The council has made available its Draft Land Dealings Policy.

The council states its ''draft Policy is an integral part of the council's adopted Property Management Framework (PMF), ensuring that Land Dealings are conducted transparently, accountably, and in the best interests of the community.

If adopted, the draft Policy will replace 5 policies of the 3 former Councils (available in the Attachments Booklet for the May 20 2025 Council Meeting).

Under the Policy ''Land assets will be subject to ongoing review in relation to their purpose, usability, viability, and overall community benefit, in accordance with this Policy and the Property Management Framework.''

The 'Draft Council Policy NB-P-42 Land Dealings' is a 2 1/2-page policy which also refers to a 'Land Dealings Guidelines' - however, that document, or guidelines, have not been made available, so it would b difficult to provide informed feedback based on being able to scrutinise the document/s or guideline/s named in the policy. 

The policy further states:

'Proposals for Land Dealings, where required, will be reported to the relevant Council Committees and the elected Council for consideration in accordance with Council’s adopted Property Management Framework.

Confidential reporting may be necessary under certain circumstances where there may be legal, commercial or privacy/safety issues should the information be made publicly available.'

In closing the document states:

This Council policy relates to the Community Strategic Plan Outcome of:

• Good governance - Goal 19 Our Council is transparent and trusted to make decisions that reflect the values of the community.

The feedback webpage, Draft Land Dealings Policy, provides a 1 question survey you can take or provide written feedback via the email/postal method.

Council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing: Have Your Say

The council is inserting the phrase from Chapter 6 of the State Government's - 'Chapter 6, Part 2 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (the Housing SEPP); ''Where there is any inconsistency between the controls in this DCP and the Housing SEPP, the Housing SEPP prevails.''

Stage 1 started on 1 July 2024, permitting dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings in all R2 low density residential zones.

Stage 2 started on 28 February 2025, allowing townhouses, terraces and small apartment buildings (up to 9.5 metres high) in R1 and R2 zones within 800 metres of nine identified town centres on the peninsula. It also permits apartment buildings up to 6 storeys (22-24 metres) in R3 medium density residential zones within 400 metres of these centres, and up to 4 storeys (17.5 metres) within 400-800 metres.

The 9 identified town centres on the peninsula are:

  • Balgowlah
  • Brookvale
  • Dee Why
  • Forestville
  • Forest Way
  • Frenchs Forest
  • Manly
  • Manly Vale
  • Mona Vale

See last week's report: Pittwater MP slams the Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy for turning on the tap for developers

The council states it is also making proposed changes to existing development control plans (DCPs) to protect the local character, amenity, heritage and streetscapes and safeguard the valued tree canopy.  

The proposed changes are a response to the NSW Government’s change to planning laws, known as the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Reforms, which have recently allowed greater building heights and density surrounding town centres and train stations and the introduction of dual occupancy development in all R2 zoned land in the LGA.

Currently, separate DCPs for the former Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Councils provide detailed guidance for development including building setbacks, trees and landscaping areas, heritage protection and car parking requirements. 

The council states they do not include controls that adequately address development types now permitted under the new reforms.

The council states their proposed DCP amendments aim to promote best practice and create greater consistency, so that the same rules apply to these developments as to other similar developments in the NBC LGA area.

The council states the Northern Beaches Council is one of the first councils to consider DCP amendments in response to the State Government reforms.

Mayor Sue Heins said the council’s power had been reduced in relation to applications submitted under the new State Government rules. 

“The new one-size-fits-all approach to planning has implications for our area, increasing heights and density up to 6-storeys in and around 9 town centres, without corresponding development controls that protect the character we value,” Mayor Heins said.  

“While council has been stripped of the power to refuse applications that comply with the new rules, we can amend our Development Control Plans to ensure any new townhouse, apartment or terrace style development is at least subject to the same controls as others like them outside the new town centre zones. 

“Controls like how much space is allocated to landscaping and trees, the streetscape appearance, parking requirements, electric vehicle charging, ventilation and natural sunlight and consideration of privacy, separation and views. 

“We are also moving to protect our local heritage, especially in the Manly Conservation Area, strengthening protection and consideration of the unique historic character of the area in the development controls. 

“All the changes being proposed to the DCPs can have a real impact on the lifestyle of those living in the town centres and to the look and feel of our much-loved neighbourhoods. I encourage the community to have their say.”

The proposed changes to the DCPs will be on exhibition from Friday 23 May to Sunday 22 June. 

For more information and to provide feedback visit council's Proposed Amendments to Development Control Plans (DCPs) For Low and Mid-Rise Housing webpage

Weed of the Week: Blue Spur Flower - please get it out of your garden

 Blue spur flower Plectranthus ecklonii and a Crab Spider Sidymella rubrosignata photo by A J Guesdon/PON

The blue spur flower (Plectranthus ecklonii), originally a south African plant, is regarded a minor environmental weed in Victoria and as a potential environmental weed or 'sleeper weed' in other parts of southern Australia. Regarded as ‘Naturalised’ (establishing or persisting in a new environment or location after being introduced from another region) in some parts of south-eastern Australia (i.e. in southern Victoria and the coastal districts of central New South Wales), this beautiful weed flowers in late Autumn and winter in Australia but drops a lot of seed and also propagates from stems left on damp ground. 

First Strategy to protect NSW heritage released

Monday May 19, 2025

Community members and heritage stakeholders are being invited to have their say on the first NSW Heritage strategy. It will seek to update the approach to heritage by recognising, protecting, enhancing and celebrating our state’s rich history.

The Minns Labor Government’s vision is for a heritage system that recognises the rich places, people and experiences that have shaped NSW. 

The draft strategy examines ways to modernise the approach to heritage and at the same time ensuring that housing can be built. 

The draft strategy has been informed by more than 1,750 submissions from heritage experts, advocacy groups, government bodies and members of the public.

Key questions within the strategy are how to:

  • recognise and protect a broader range of stories and values to represent the diverse history and communities of NSW within the heritage system
  • improve alignment between the heritage and planning systems including simplifying approval processes
  • enhance support for heritage owners and custodians
  • encourage new uses for heritage places, including government-owned heritage
  • champion activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces to create significant social and economic benefits
  • work with Aboriginal communities to better acknowledge, celebrate and protect cultural heritage
  • promote climate adaptation and sustainability upgrades to heritage places and objects
  • establish a more robust State Heritage Register and underpinning legislation.

Individuals and organisations can provide feedback on the draft NSW heritage strategy and submit ideas on the Have your say web page.

Consultation is open until 13 July 2025. 

Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe, said:

“Establishing the state’s first heritage strategy is a significant step to ensure we protect and celebrate the heritage items that reflect and resonate with all members of our community. 

“The strategy reflects the diverse and changing needs of our community. I encourage you to have your say about how NSW can make our heritage system world leading.”

Sydney Water sewage licences reviews open for public consultation: Warriewood + Manly

May 2025

Warriewood - Environment Protection Licence EPL:  1784

Northern Suburbs (North Head) Manly - Environment Protection Licence EPL:  378

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has commenced public consultation on its statutory five-yearly review of the licences for Sydney Water’s 23 sewage treatment systems across Greater Sydney and the Illawarra.

The EPA states it wants to ensure the licences are fit for purpose, deliver an appropriate level of regulation and reflect the community’s views about the protection of human health and the environment.

In particular they would like your feedback on:

  • the level of treatment required at Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants and associated levels of environmental protection, wet weather discharges and the impacts of climate change
  • monitoring requirements

Please note that pollution studies and reduction programs are targeted licence conditions aimed at addressing a specific issue e.g. wet weather overflow abatement. It should also be noted that this licence review does not relate to Sydney Water’s potable water supply activities.

The licences cover Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants and the associated network of pipes and pumping stations that convey sewage from homes and businesses to those treatment plants.

NSW EPA Director Adam Gilligan said all environment protection licences are required to be reviewed every five years to ensure the licences are fit for purpose and reflect contemporary best practice and operating measures.

“We value community input to this review, which will help shape our approach to regulating Sydney Water’s sewage treatment systems,” Mr Gilligan said.

“We’re continuing to monitor the operations of Sydney Water to ensure it is complying with its strict licence requirements.

“We will keep the public informed, listen to concerns and provide summary feedback on submissions once the consultation has been completed.”

In particular the EPA is seeking feedback on the impacts to local environment from overflows and the level of treatment required at Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plants (STPs) as well as community access to information.

STP licences do not cover the stormwater system, which is typically regulated by local councils.

Public consultation for the review of Sydney Water’s licenses will be open until Thursday 12 June 2025. To learn more, you can access the public consultation and Have Your Say via the EPA’s online consultation portal https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au.

You can provide your feedback by:

Responding to the short survey here

Provide written feedback by emailing metrowater.infrastructure@epa.nsw.gov.au

 Warriewood Beach looking north to Mona Vale. Pic: AJG/PON.

Sydney Water Management Regulation 2025: have your say

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment is seeking feedback on the draft Sydney Water Regulation 2017 remake.
Consultation period

From: 19 May 2025
To: 15 June 2025

The Sydney Water Regulation 2017 will be automatically stop operating on 1 September 2025. 

It is important to have regulations in place because they support Sydney Water to carry out obligations under the Sydney Water Act 1994. 

The Regulation enables Sydney Water to protect its assets, implement water restrictions during drought, and ensure compliance with certain rules relating to Controlled Areas, plumbing and drainage works and water restrictions.

We would like your feedback to better understand how the regulation supports Sydney Water in: 
  • acting to protect its assets and water quality, in order to provide safe, clean, reliable drinking water
  • protecting waterways and the environment
  • providing drinking, recycled, wastewater and stormwater services to over 5.4 million people across Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
Most of the content of the 2025 Regulation will be similar to the 2017 Regulation, but the department proposes some changes that will:
  • Modernise processes to improve user experience, customer service and administration, which includes allowing more processes to happen online and simplifying some requirements.
  • Increase some penalties for breaching water restrictions to bring them in-line with other similar fines.
  • Extend the time period from 2 to 6 years during which Sydney Water can direct a person who carried out defective plumbing works to conduct repairs, and/or impose a fine for failing to comply with the direction. This change ensures directions do not expire before works can be identified and fixed.
  • Streamline and clarify the regulations to improve understanding and compliance.
Have your say
Have your say by 11:59pm Sunday 15 June 2025.

There are 2 ways to submit your feedback.

You are welcome to attend an online information session (webinar) and complete an online survey. Department staff will provide an update on the proposed changes and answer your questions.  

Please visit the Department's web page for more information and to register. 

Online consultation
19 May 2025 to 15 June 2025
Have your say on the consultation website 

Webinar consultation
5 June 2025
12:00pm to 1:00pm

WIRES 2025 Grants Applications Now Open 

WIRES National Grants Program

National Support for Critical Wildlife Projects

WIRES’ National Grants Program (NGP) is designed to support best practice wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, an increase in emergency preparedness for wildlife, and native species recovery projects, to improve long-term outcomes in Australia.

Program Objectives

  • The NGP was developed to provide ongoing support for wildlife, and their habitats, across Australia. WIRES’ focus is on proposals that have tangible, positive, and ideally long-term, outcomes for wildlife. Program objectives include:
  • Building capacity and capability for the Australian wildlife rescue and rehabilitation sector,
  • Improving emergency preparedness and response capabilities to assist wildlife,
  • Preserving species and their habitat through projects leading to long term positive outcomes for native wildlife,
  • Raising community awareness and inspiring broader community involvement in supporting Australian wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and preservation.

Funding Categories

Up to $1 million is available across these tiers annually, and eligible applicants are invited to submit proposals for:

  • Tier 1: Individually Licensed Wildlife Rescuers and Carers (maximum $2,000)
  • Tier 2: Licensed Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Organisations (maximum $8,000)
  • Tier 3: Environmental NGOs and Community Groups (maximum $20,000)
  • Tier 4: Consortia/Multi-partner Collaborations (maximum $50,000)
Application process
Key dates for 2025 applications:

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Applications open - 19th May 2025

Online webinar #1 - 12.30pm AEST 21st May Register Here

Online webinar #2 - 7.30pm AEST 3rd June - Register Here

Applications close – 20th June (5pm AEST)

Successful applicants notified - September 2025 

Grant announcements and unsuccessful applicants notified - October 2024 

Reports due - Final for 6-month progress for – March 2026

Final Report due and project completed - 12-month month projects - September 2026.

How to Apply

Please note that due to limited funding and a competitive assessment process, not every application that meets the eligibility criteria may receive a WIRES Grant.

Click on APPLY NOW link when available to access the WIRES Grant Portal.
  • Create account or log in. Please note that you will need to tick “Yes” to receiving notifications if you wish to be sent confirmation of application submission.
  • Read information on the home page
  • Click on “Start application”
  • Select your State/Territory
  • Select “WIRES National Grants Program 2025” and then the appropriate tier.
  • If you wish to leave a partially completed application, make sure you press ‘Save + close’ and log out.
  • You can log back in and continue to edit your application form until you are ready to submit.
  • To submit your application, select the ‘Submit application’ button.
  • Note, no changes can be made once this is selected.
You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been successfully received. If you do not receive an email, please ensure you check your junk mail and add us to your safe sender list.

Visit this page on May 19 when the apply now link becomes available to commence your application.

Feedback invited until June 3 on proposed shorter-term WaterNSW prices: IPART's Prices for WaterNSW Greater Sydney from 1 October 2025

May 14, 2025

IPART is reviewing maximum prices for WaterNSW’s bulk water services. IPART has released an Information Paper and seeks feedback on proposed shorter-term prices that will be in place for up to 3 years.

WaterNSW has sought to increase in its revenue by 43% over the next 5 years including a 38% increase for Greater Sydney and 53% for regional and rural NSW. This would lead to price increases above what customers have told WaterNSW they can afford.

See

IPART seeks feedback on water pricing proposals: Submissions close December 9 2024 and 

Scotland Island Dieback AcceleratingIPART Review of increases In Sydney Water's Pricing Proposals An Opportunity to ask: 'what happened to the 'Priority Sewerage Scheme' for our Island?

Sydney Water:  Our 2025–30 price proposal

The Tribunal is not convinced at this stage that the full increases proposed by WaterNSW are sufficiently well justified. Additional information, consultation and analysis are required. However, the current pricing determination for WaterNSW’s regional and rural services expires on 30 June 2025 and cannot be extended to allow more time for assessment of WaterNSW’s proposed increases. 

Tribunal Chair Carmel Donnelly said, “The Tribunal proposes to set shorter-term prices that could be in place for up to 3 years for both Greater Sydney and Rural Valleys. While these prices are in place, IPART will continue further review of WaterNSW’s proposed prices for bulk water services in Greater Sydney and regional and rural NSW to inform future pricing decisions.”

Shorter-term draft prices for WaterNSW’s regional and rural customers would increase by 1.9% plus inflation from 1 July 2025 and then by inflation only on 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2027.

For WaterNSW Greater Sydney, where Sydney Water is the main customer, draft maximum bulk water prices would increase by 6.9% plus inflation from 1 October 2025 and then by inflation on 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2027.

“IPART’s current review to set the maximum prices for WaterNSW has been complex,” said Ms Donnelly. “WaterNSW has proposed a significant increase in revenue, which implies large price increases for customers. Some broader issues have also emerged during the review. WaterNSW indicates the main drivers of the proposed increases are macroeconomic factors and increased requirements which have imposed additional costs. At the same time demand for WaterNSW services is forecast to decrease.”

The shorter-term draft prices could be in place until June 2028 but may be replaced earlier if ongoing work by WaterNSW and IPART enables new price determinations earlier. Any new determinations would be made only after IPART issues a draft report, seeks and considers submissions and holds a public hearing.

“Our information paper and WaterNSW’s pricing proposal are available on IPART’s website. We welcome community feedback via IPART’s website until 3 June 2025,” Ms Donnelly said. 

“We are also undertaking financial analysis to ensure the draft shorter-term prices will enable WaterNSW to meet its obligations.” 

The Tribunal will consider all feedback and release shorter-term pricing decisions in June 2025 for WaterNSW’s regional and rural services to take effect from 1 July 2025 and in September 2025 for WaterNSW’s Greater Sydney services to take effect from 1 October 2025.

To read the Information Paper provide feedback visit: www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/review/water-metro-pricing/prices-waternsw-greater-sydney-1-october-2025

Related IPART Documents:

Maximum prices for Water NSW's Greater Sydney Services from 1 October 2025 - Draft  Determination May 2025

Prices for WaterNSW bulk water services - Information Paper, May 2025


Draft Decisions on Hunter Water's Prices

On April 9 2025 IPART released its draft decisions on Hunter Water’s maximum prices from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

Tribunal Chair Carmel Donnelly said Hunter Water’s price proposal did prioritise and defer expenditure where appropriate to limit price increases in a time of high cost of living, while also including investment so Hunter Water can deliver on important customer outcomes such as water security.

“However, the Tribunal has found that prices do not need to increase as much as Hunter Water proposed,” Ms Donnelly said.

Under IPART’s draft decisions, bills for a typical household customer receiving water and wastewater services would increase, on average, by $48 (or 3.6%) plus inflation each year for 5 years from 1 July 2025. This would see typical household bills increasing from $1,241 in 2024-25 to $1,481 by 2029-30, plus inflation, which is lower than the yearly increases under Hunter Water’s proposed prices (of $71 or 5.2% per year before inflation).

“The increases in draft maximum prices and bills are mainly driven by the efficient costs of new infrastructure, including the proposed Belmont desalination plant,” Ms Donnelly said.

“We have set draft prices that reflect the efficient costs of Hunter Water providing its services, and have phased in these price increases over 5 years.”

“Under our draft prices, Hunter Water customers will continue to pay around the median of water bills when compared with other major water businesses around Australia.”

“We know there are some households that may be more impacted by these prices during this time of high cost of living and that is why we have also made recommendations to the NSW Government to increase rebates and expand eligibility for bill relief to a broader range of lower income households.”

Hunter Water also has hardship assistance programs for customers facing difficulties paying their bills, IPART stated.

“We are inviting community feedback on these draft decisions, and we’re interested to hear from customers of Hunter Water, whether they are households or businesses. We will consider all comments made through our survey and in submissions before we finalise our decisions.”

IPART’s Draft Report and Hunter Water’s pricing proposal are available on IPART’s website. We welcome community feedback via the website, or via our customer survey, until 6 May 2025. The Tribunal will publish a Final Report with final pricing decisions in June 2025. The prices set in this review will apply to customers from 1 July 2025.

First NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan released

The Minns Labor Government has released a draft of NSW’s Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan, which is needed to prevent Greater Sydney running out of landfill. Without intervention, waste collection and disposal services could be severely impacted by 2030, forcing councils to transport rubbish to regional areas or interstate.

Failure to tackle this would drive up the cost of kerbside bin collections and lead to costs for residents and businesses increasing by around 20%.

A slowdown in rubbish collection would also impact critical infrastructure projects, such as new housing developments. It’s estimated that it could cost the economy around $23 billion.

The first chapter of the draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan will consult councils, industry and the community on the next steps to build the infrastructure required across Greater Sydney.

Future chapters are expected to be released later this year and will focus on enhancing recycling infrastructure and addressing the unique waste challenges facing regional and remote NSW.

The release of this chapter lays out how the NSW Government will:
  • safely manage the waste we don’t recycle and avoid Greater Sydney’s imminent shortfalls in landfill capacity
  • collect and process increased volumes of organic waste, as source-separated FOGO collections are rolled out across Greater Sydney.
The Minns Labor Government recognises that a state government cannot do this alone. A new Ministerial Advisory Committee will be established to guide the plan’s implementation and advise on local barriers, identify opportunities for investment and report on progress.

This plan follows the NSW Government’s recent mandate of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling. FOGO will reduce the volume of food waste sent to landfill, by diverting up to 950,000 tonnes of each year.

To have your say by 25 June 2025, visit the Draft NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan web page.

Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said:
“For too long, state governments have ignored the fact that Greater Sydney is running out of landfill.

“Waste collection is an essential service.

“This draft plan is the first of its kind and is long overdue.

“We can no longer kick this problem down the road. I look forward to working with local councils, industry and local communities to urgently address the problem.”

Solar for apartment residents: Funding

Owners corporations can apply now for funding to install shared solar systems on your apartment building. The grants will cover 50% of the cost, which will add value to homes and help residents save on their electricity bills.

You can apply for the Solar for apartment residents grant to fund 50% of the cost of a shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system on eligible apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings in NSW. This will help residents, including renters, to reduce their energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Less than 2% of apartment buildings in NSW currently have solar systems installed. As energy costs climb and the number of people living in apartments continue to increase, innovative solutions are needed to allow apartment owners and renters to benefit from solar energy.

A total of $25 million in grant funding is available, with up to $150,000 per project.

Financial support for this grant is from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

Applications are open now and will close 5 pm 1 December 2025 or earlier if the funds are fully allocated.

Find out more and apply now at: www.energy.nsw.gov.au/households/rebates-grants-and-schemes/solar-apartment-residents 

Have your say: NSW Sustainable Communities Program - Support to minimise the socio-economic impacts of the Restoring Our Rivers 450 GL target

The NSW Sustainable Communities Program (NSW SCP) will provide $160 million to create jobs, establish industry, and support existing industry to innovate and stimulate economic development.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is delivering the Sustainable Communities Program for NSW under the Australian Government's Restoring Our Rivers Framework, as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The objective of this consultation is to complement the existing evidence base and provide additional insights to assist in the design and delivery of the NSW SCP to minimise the socio-economic impacts of water recovery.

We are seeking information from Basin communities on their challenges, opportunities and concerns associated with the potential impacts of water purchasing and how we could prioritise investment under the program to respond to identified needs.

We are taking a 3-stage approach to deliver the NSW SCP. Further information about this approach and our consultation activities can be found at the NSW SCP website.

Tell us what you think

You can take part by completing the survey by 5pm Friday 13 June 2025.

Yiraaldiya National Park: Have your say - Draft Plan of Management

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is seeking feedback on the Yiraaldiya National Park draft plan of management.

Consultatio0n closes June 3 2025

A draft plan of management has been prepared for Yiraaldiya National Park. The format of this draft plan reflects a revised format proposed in response to recent changes to the park planning provisions of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

Yiraaldiya National Park is located in western Sydney in the suburb of Shanes Park on the traditional Country of the Dharug people.

The park is a key part of a network of feral predator-free areas established across New South Wales to enable the reintroduction of native animal species that are either declining or locally extinct.

The Yiraaldiya National Park draft plan of management proposes objectives and operations to achieve:

  • reintroduction of native animal species that are either declining or locally extinct
  • continued recovery of threatened and rare ecosystems and species
  • protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage and natural values
  • opportunities for nature-based visitor activities including bushwalking, cycling, and environmental and cultural education.

Have your say

Have your say by 5pm Wednesday 3 June 2025.

Read the Yiraaldiya National Park draft plan of management (PDF 32.49 MB / Pages 31)

You can provide feedback in 4 ways.

Conservation of intergenerational assets: Have your say

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is seeking feedback on the draft conservation action plans for Assets of Intergenerational Significance.

Consultation period

From: 22 May 2025

To: 5 June 2025

An Asset of Intergenerational Significance can be any area of exceptional value – environmental or cultural – that warrants special protection, including dedicated management measures.

For each Asset of Intergenerational Significance, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has a statutory obligation to prepare and implement a concise conservation action plan which sets out:

  • the environmental and cultural values of the land
  • key risks to those values
  • management activities to address and mitigate the risks – such as dedicated feral animal control or fire management
  • actions to measure and report on the health and condition of the declared value.

You can view the draft conservation action plans online.

One key action outlined in the Threatened Species Framework is the declaration of important areas of threatened species habitat in national parks as Assets of Intergenerational Significance.

Assets of Intergenerational Significance can be any area of exceptional value – natural or cultural – that warrants special protection including dedicated management measures.

We have a statutory obligation to prepare and implement a concise conservation action plan which sets out:

  1. key risks to the declared area of habitat for the threatened species
  2. priority actions to reduce risks to this important habitat – such as dedicated feral animal control or fire management, or the establishment of insurance populations
  3. actions to measure and report on the health and population of the threatened species.

Have your say

Have your say by Thursday 5 June 2025.

You can provide feedback in 3 ways.

Batemans Bay Dredging: Have your say

Transport for NSW is seeking feedback on the proposed 10 year Batemans Bay Dredging Plan and Review of Environmental Factors. 

Consultation period

From: 12 May 2025

To: 2 June 2025

Transport for NSW is committed to improve and sustain accessibility to key coastal locations, river entrances and local waterways to improve navigation for commercial and recreational vessels. 

Transport for NSW has prepared a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) that will give us environmental approval to dredge when needed for the next 10 years in Batemans Bay, subject to available funding.  The Batemans Bay Dredging project proposes to:

  • Improve safety and navigability of the bar.
  • Remove about 30,000 cubic metres of sand each dredging campaign.
  • Provide a minimum 40-metre-wide channel and -2.9 LAT at the entrance bar.
  • Make beneficial use of dredge sand, by placing the sand in-water to use the natural power of waves and currents potentially nourishing nearby beaches.
  • Monitor and deliver maintenance dredging when needed for the next 10 years, subject to available funding. 

A brief overview of the proposal is detailed in our latest Community Update.

For more information and to view the full Review of Environmental Factors (REF) document or go to our website.  

Have your say

Have your say by Monday 02 June 2025.

You can provide feedback in 4 ways.

Mine safety cost recovery regulation: have your say

NSW Resources is seeking feedback on the proposed Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Regulation 2025.

Consultation period

From: 22 May 2025

To: 18 June 2025

The proposed regulation will remake the Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Regulation 2019, which is due to be automatically repealed on 1 September 2025, with minor changes.

The proposed regulation supports the Mine and Petroleum Site Safety (Cost Recovery) Act 2005, which provides for the funding of regulatory activities in relation to safety at mines and petroleum sites in NSW. The Act has established a Mine and Petroleum Site Safety Fund for this purpose.

An explanatory guide is available which provides an overview of the proposed regulation and the intended changes. The guide is available on the consultation website.

Have your say

Have your say by 5pm Wednesday 18 June 2025.

NSW Resources invites written comments and submissions on the proposed regulation.

Those wishing to contribute comments are asked to note that submissions may be made public, subject to the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

Online consultation

Have your say on the consultation website 

nSW Government’s call to action on illegal tree clearing

The Minns Labor Government has stated it is responding to calls from local government to help address the growing number of cases of illegal tree clearing in NSW.

An Explanation of Intended Effect (EIE) has been released today and offers stakeholders the opportunity to help shape reforms to the urban tree clearing framework.

A new resource to help planners, developers and builders tackle urban heat has also been released.

The EIE is aimed at protecting tree canopy by proposing stronger penalties for illegal tree and vegetation clearing.

Under the proposed policy changes, additional enforcement powers would be given to councils and exemptions would be tightened for dead, dying and dangerous vegetation to close loopholes that have been open to abuse.

The EIE responds to growing concerns among councils, the community and stakeholders that the current framework needs to be updated.

In addition to the EIE, the new Cooler Places hub has also been launched today to help address urban heat.

The NSW Government’s Cooler Places online resource has also been released to assist councils, residents and developers in accessing practical guidance to incorporate cooling measures into their homes and designs.

Urban heat can have negative effects on communities’ wellbeing, creating hotter homes and streetscapes. Some features of our urban landscape, such as the large areas of hard and dark surfaces, contribute to rising temperatures and amplify heatwaves.

The resource encourages cooling through low cost and innovative measures such as water saving features, trees, shrubs awnings and the use of materials and colours that absorb less heat.

In 2020, a study from Macquarie University found shade provided by urban trees can lower temperatures at ground level by up to 6°C.

Similarly, research from Wollongong University in 2019 showed that areas with at least 30 per cent tree canopy cover experience improved mental and physical health outcomes.

Cooler Places will help deliver cooler, more resilient cities, precincts, streets, parks and homes.

To read the illegal tree and vegetation clearing EIE and make a submission visit the Vegetation in non-rural areas web page.

The consultation period closes on 5pm on Wednesday, 4 June 2025. HAVE YOUR SAY HERE

For more information on Cooler Places visit the Cooler Places web page.

Minister for Environment and Climate Change Penny Sharpe said:

“NSW records some of the hottest temperatures on the planet and we need to minimise the impacts of urban heat and build climate resilience.

“Tackling illegal tree clearing is an essential part of this.

“Working with councils on these proposed measures will increase the ability to crack down on illegal activity.”

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:

“Communities have become increasingly frustrated by the growing number of instances of illegal tree clearing in urban areas, particularly on public land.

“Our housing reforms have leant on the development of infill housing, near existing infrastructure and services because constant urban sprawl is not sustainable. These proposed changes will better protect the existing tree canopy as we deliver more homes in developed areas.

“I encourage everyone to have their say on the proposed changes.

“The Cooler Places resource contains tips and advice on how to design and build cooler homes and neighbourhoods, delivering better communities.”

First strategy to protect NSW heritage released

May 19, 2025

Community members and heritage stakeholders are being invited to have their say on the first NSW Heritage strategy. It will seek to update the approach to heritage by recognising, protecting, enhancing and celebrating our state’s rich history.

The Minns Labor Government’s vision is for a heritage system that recognises the rich places, people and experiences that have shaped NSW.

The draft strategy examines ways to modernise the approach to heritage and at the same time ensuring that housing can be built.

The draft strategy has been informed by more than 1,750 submissions from heritage experts, advocacy groups, government bodies and members of the public. 

Key questions within the strategy are how to:

  • recognise and protect a broader range of stories and values to represent the diverse history and communities of NSW within the heritage system
  • improve alignment between the heritage and planning systems including simplifying approval processes
  • enhance support for heritage owners and custodians
  • encourage new uses for heritage places, including government-owned heritage
  • champion activation and adaptive reuse of heritage places and spaces to create significant social and economic benefits
  • work with Aboriginal communities to better acknowledge, celebrate and protect cultural heritage
  • promote climate adaptation and sustainability upgrades to heritage places and objects
  • establish a more robust State Heritage Register and underpinning legislation.

Individuals and organisations can provide feedback on the draft NSW heritage strategy and submit ideas online: www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-heritage-strategyConsultation is open until 13 July 2025.

Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre environmental review available: Have your say

The Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre is a $32 million proposed information and education centre that will attract visitors to Dorrigo National Park, with improved facilities such as parking, picnic areas and amenities. It will also be the start of the proposed Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk.

Members of the community can have their say on the proposal with the environmental review now available online.

The new visitor centre is a single-storey building with a spectacular elevated walkway providing a world-class rainforest experience and improved access to walking tracks including the Wonga walk, and waterfalls of Dorrigo National Park.

This also includes a new car park with bus drop off, electric vehicle charging points and an arrival forecourt as well as nature play and picnic areas.

To make way for this, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is proposing to demolish the existing Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and Skywalk, with many materials and components being recycled and re-used to create the new centre and elevated walkway.

Earlier in the year, NPWS shared the environmental review for the associated multi-day Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk. NPWS is reviewing the feedback received during the exhibition period and a summary report will be shared once the environmental assessment is determined.

The review of the new Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre is available for public input until 16 June 2025 here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/consult

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Coffs Coast Director Russell Madeley said:

“As the existing Dorrigo Rainforest Centre facilities are approaching the end of their useful life, this is an opportunity to enhance the way NPWS showcases local Gumbaynggirr culture and connections.

“The proposed design minimises environmental impacts, while creating a sustainable visitor precinct that improves accessibility to help everyone experience the park.

“It’s fantastic that Dorrigo National Park has become a popular visitor location, and we want to make sure that we can sustainably manage this increase into the future.”

View from the Skywalk, Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, Dorrigo National Park. Image credit; Shane Ruming/DCCEEW

‘1080 pest management’

Applies until Friday August 1st 2025. 

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will be conducting a baiting program using manufactured baits, fresh baits and Canid Pest Ejectors (CPEs) containing 1080 poison (sodium fluroacetate) for the control of foxes. The program is continuous and ongoing between 1 February 2025 and 31 July 2025 in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Don’t touch baits or ejector devices. Penalties apply for non-compliance.

All baiting locations are identifiable by signs.

Domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks and reserves. Pets and working dogs may be affected (1080 is lethal to cats and dogs). In the event of accidental poisoning seek immediate veterinary assistance.

Fox baiting in these reserves is aimed at reducing their impact on threatened species.

For more information, contact the local park office on:

  • Forestville 9451 3479 or Lane Cove 8448 0400 (business hours)
  • NPWS after-hours call centre: 1300 056 294 (after hours).

Volunteers for Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours needed

Details:

Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Recycling Batteries: at Mona Vale + Avalon Beach

Over 18,600 tonnes of batteries are discarded to landfill in Australia each year, even though 95% of a battery can be recycled!

That’s why we are rolling out battery recycling units across our stores! Our battery recycling units accept household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries as well as mobile phones! 

How To Dispose Of Your Batteries Safely: 

  1. Collect Your Used Batteries: Gather all used batteries from your home. Our battery recycling units accept batteries from a wide range of products such as household, button cell, laptop, and power tool batteries.
  2. Tape Your Terminals: Tape the terminals of used batteries with clear sticky tape.
  3. Drop Them Off: Come and visit your nearest participating store to recycle your batteries for free (at Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Mona Vale and Avalon Beach).
  4. Feel Good About Your Impact: By recycling your batteries, you're helping support a healthier planet by keeping hazardous material out of landfills and conserving resources.

Environmental Benefits

  • Reduces hazardous waste in landfill
  • Conserves natural resources by promoting the use of recycled materials
  • Keep toxic materials out of waterways 

Reporting Dogs Offleash - Dog Attacks to Council

If the attack happened outside local council hours, you may call your local police station. Police officers are also authorised officers under the Companion Animals Act 1998. Authorised officers have a wide range of powers to deal with owners of attacking dogs, including seizing dogs that have attacked.

You can report dog attacks, along with dogs offleash where they should not be, to the NBC anonymously and via your own name, to get a response, at: https://help.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/s/submit-request?topic=Pets_Animals

If the matter is urgent or dangerous call Council on 1300 434 434 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

If you find injured wildlife please contact:
  • Sydney Wildlife Rescue (24/7): 9413 4300 
  • WIRES: 1300 094 737

Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs

The Berry Collective at 1691 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale collects them for Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who recycle the plastic.

Berry Collective is the practice on the left side of the road as you head north, a few blocks before Mona Vale shops . They have parking. Enter the foyer and there's a small bin on a table where you drop your bread ties - very easy.

A full list of Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs is available at: HERE 


Stay Safe From Mosquitoes 

NSW Health is reminding people to protect themselves from mosquitoes when they are out and about.

NSW Health states Mosquitoes in NSW can carry viruses such as Japanese encephalitis (JE), Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), Kunjin, Ross River and Barmah Forest. The viruses may cause serious diseases with symptoms ranging from tiredness, rash, headache and sore and swollen joints to rare but severe symptoms of seizures and loss of consciousness.

A free vaccine to protect against JE infection is available to those at highest risk in NSW and people can check their eligibility at NSW Health.

People are encouraged to take actions to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of acquiring a mosquito-borne virus by:
  • Applying repellent to exposed skin. Use repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Check the label for reapplication times.
  • Re-applying repellent regularly, particularly after swimming. Be sure to apply sunscreen first and then apply repellent.
  • Wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks.
  • Avoiding going outdoors during peak mosquito times, especially at dawn and dusk.
  • Using insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units and mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes (mosquito coils should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas)
  • Covering windows and doors with insect screens and checking there are no gaps.
  • Removing items that may collect water such as old tyres and empty pots from around your home to reduce the places where mosquitoes can breed.
  • Using repellents that are safe for children. Most skin repellents are safe for use on children aged three months and older. Always check the label for instructions. Protecting infants aged less than three months by using an infant carrier draped with mosquito netting, secured along the edges.
  • While camping, use a tent that has fly screens to prevent mosquitoes entering or sleep under a mosquito net.
Remember, Spray Up – Cover Up – Screen Up to protect from mosquito bite. For more information go to NSW Health.

Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land: Survey

This survey aims to document mountain bike related incidents on public land, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K88PSNP

Sent in by Pittwater resident Academic for future report- study. 

Report fox sightings

Fox sightings, signs of fox activity, den locations and attacks on native or domestic animals can be reported into FoxScan. FoxScan is a free resource for residents, community groups, local Councils, and other land managers to record and report fox sightings and control activities. 

Our Council's Invasive species Team receives an alert when an entry is made into FoxScan.  The information in FoxScan will assist with planning fox control activities and to notify the community when and where foxes are active.



marine wildlife rescue group on the Central Coast

A new wildlife group was launched on the Central Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast (MWRCC) had its official launch at The Entrance Boat Shed at 10am.

The group comprises current and former members of ASTR, ORRCA, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, WIRES and Wildlife ARC, as well as vets, academics, and people from all walks of life.

Well known marine wildlife advocate and activist Cathy Gilmore is spearheading the organisation.

“We believe that it is time the Central Coast looked after its own marine wildlife, and not be under the control or directed by groups that aren’t based locally,” Gilmore said.

“We have the local knowledge and are set up to respond and help injured animals more quickly.

“This also means that donations and money fundraised will go directly into helping our local marine creatures, and not get tied up elsewhere in the state.”

The organisation plans to have rehabilitation facilities and rescue kits placed in strategic locations around the region.

MWRCC will also be in touch with Indigenous groups to learn the traditional importance of the local marine environment and its inhabitants.

“We want to work with these groups and share knowledge between us,” Gilmore said.

“This is an opportunity to help save and protect our local marine wildlife, so if you have passion and commitment, then you are more than welcome to join us.”

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast has a Facebook page where you may contact members. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076317431064


Watch out - shorebirds about

Summer is here so watch your step because beach-nesting and estuary-nesting birds have started setting up home on our shores.
Did you know that Careel Bay and other spots throughout our area are part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)?

This flyway, and all of the stopping points along its way, are vital to ensure the survival of these Spring and Summer visitors. This is where they rest and feed on their journeys.  For example, did you know that the bar-tailed godwit flies for 239 hours for 8,108 miles from Alaska to Australia?

Not only that, Shorebirds such as endangered oystercatchers and little terns lay their eggs in shallow scraped-out nests in the sand, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Threatened Species officer Ms Katherine Howard has said.
Even our regular residents such as seagulls are currently nesting to bear young.

What can you do to help them?
Known nest sites may be indicated by fencing or signs. The whole community can help protect shorebirds by keeping out of nesting areas marked by signs or fences and only taking your dog to designated dog offleash area. 

Just remember WE are visitors to these areas. These birds LIVE there. This is their home.

Four simple steps to help keep beach-nesting birds safe:
1. Look out for bird nesting signs or fenced-off nesting areas on the beach, stay well clear of these areas and give the parent birds plenty of space.
2. Walk your dogs in designated dog-friendly areas only and always keep them on a leash over summer.
3. Stay out of nesting areas and follow all local rules.
4. Chicks are mobile and don't necessarily stay within fenced nesting areas. When you're near a nesting area, stick to the wet sand to avoid accidentally stepping on a chick.


Possums In Your Roof?: do the right thing

Possums in your roof? Please do the right thing 
On the weekend, one of our volunteers noticed a driver pull up, get out of their vehicle, open the boot, remove a trap and attempt to dump a possum on a bush track. Fortunately, our member intervened and saved the beautiful female brushtail and the baby in her pouch from certain death. 

It is illegal to relocate a trapped possum more than 150 metres from the point of capture and substantial penalties apply.  Urbanised possums are highly territorial and do not fare well in unfamiliar bushland. In fact, they may starve to death or be taken by predators.

While Sydney Wildlife Rescue does not provide a service to remove possums from your roof, we do offer this advice:

✅ Call us on (02) 9413 4300 and we will refer you to a reliable and trusted licenced contractor in the Sydney metropolitan area. For a small fee they will remove the possum, seal the entry to your roof and provide a suitable home for the possum - a box for a brushtail or drey for a ringtail.
✅ Do-it-yourself by following this advice from the Department of Planning and Environment: 

❌ Do not under any circumstances relocate a possum more than 150 metres from the capture site.
Thank you for caring and doing the right thing.



Sydney Wildlife photos

Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed

Pittwater Online News has interviewed Lynette Millett OAM (WIRES Northern Beaches Branch) needs more bird cages of all sizes for keeping the current huge amount of baby wildlife in care safe or 'homed' while they are healed/allowed to grow bigger to the point where they may be released back into their own home. 

If you have an aviary or large bird cage you are getting rid of or don't need anymore, please email via the link provided above. There is also a pressing need for release sites for brushtail possums - a species that is very territorial and where release into a site already lived in by one possum can result in serious problems and injury. 

If you have a decent backyard and can help out, Lyn and husband Dave can supply you with a simple drey for a nest and food for their first weeks of adjustment.

Bushcare in Pittwater: where + when

For further information or to confirm the meeting details for below groups, please contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or visit Council's bushcare webpage to find out how you can get involved.

BUSHCARE SCHEDULES 
Where we work                      Which day                              What time 

Avalon     
Angophora Reserve             3rd Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Dunes                        1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Golf Course              2nd Wednesday                 3 - 5:30pm 
Careel Creek                         4th Saturday                      8:30 - 11:30am 
Toongari Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer) 
Bangalley Headland            2nd Sunday                         9 to 12noon 
Catalpa Reserve              4th Sunday of the month        8.30 – 11.30
Palmgrove Park              1st Saturday of the month        9.00 – 12 

Bayview     
Winnererremy Bay                 4th Sunday                        9 to 12noon 

Bilgola     
North Bilgola Beach              3rd Monday                        9 - 12noon 
Algona Reserve                     1st Saturday                       9 - 12noon 
Plateau Park                          1st Friday                            8:30 - 11:30am 

Church Point     
Browns Bay Reserve             1st Tuesday                        9 - 12noon 
McCarrs Creek Reserve       Contact Bushcare Officer     To be confirmed 

Clareville     
Old Wharf Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      8 - 11am 

Elanora     
Kundibah Reserve                   4th Sunday                       8:30 - 11:30am 

Mona Vale     
Mona Vale Beach Basin          1st Saturday                    8 - 11am 
Mona Vale Dunes                     2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday     8:30 - 11:30am 

Newport     
Bungan Beach                          4th Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
Crescent Reserve                    3rd Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
North Newport Beach              4th Saturday                    8:30 - 11:30am 
Porter Reserve                          2nd Saturday                  8 - 11am 

North Narrabeen     
Irrawong Reserve                     2nd Saturday                   2 - 5pm 

Palm Beach     
North Palm Beach Dunes      3rd Saturday                    9 - 12noon 

Scotland Island     
Catherine Park                          2nd Sunday                     10 - 12:30pm 
Elizabeth Park                           1st Saturday                      9 - 12noon 
Pathilda Reserve                      3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon 

Warriewood     
Warriewood Wetlands             1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 

Whale Beach     
Norma Park                               1st Friday                            9 - 12noon 

Western Foreshores     
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay      2nd Sunday                        10 - 1pm 
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay           1st Monday                          9 - 12noon

Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities

Bush Regeneration - Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment  
This is a wonderful way to become connected to nature and contribute to the health of the environment.  Over the weeks and months you can see positive changes as you give native species a better chance to thrive.  Wildlife appreciate the improvement in their habitat.

Belrose area - Thursday mornings 
Belrose area - Weekend mornings by arrangement
Contact: Phone or text Conny Harris on 0432 643 295

Wheeler Creek - Wednesday mornings 9-11am
Contact: Phone or text Judith Bennett on 0402 974 105
Or email: Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment : email@narrabeenlagoon.org.au

Gardens and Environment Groups and Organisations in Pittwater


Ringtail Posses 2023

Earth is heading for 2.7°C warming this century. We may avoid the worst climate scenarios – but the outlook is still dire

Aliraza Khatri's Photography/Getty
Sven TeskeUniversity of Technology Sydney

Is climate action a lost cause? The United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement for the second time, while heat records over land and sea have toppled and extreme weather events have multiplied.

In late 2015, nations agreed through the Paris Agreement to try to hold warming well under 2°C and ideally to 1.5°C. Almost ten years later, cutting emissions to the point of meeting the 1.5°C goal looks very difficult.

But humanity has shifted track enough to avert the worst climate future. Renewables, energy efficiency and other measures have shifted the dial. The worst case scenario of expanded coal use, soaring emissions and a much hotter world is vanishingly unlikely.

Instead, Earth is tracking towards around 2.7°C average warming by 2100. That level of warming would represent “unprecedented peril” for life on this planet. But it shows progress is being made.

How did we get here?

Global greenhouse gas emissions have risen since industrialisation began around 1850. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is far and away the most common greenhouse gas we emit, while methane and nitrous oxide also play a role. These gases trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, preventing it from radiating back out to space.

In 2023, 41% of the world’s energy-related CO₂ emissions came from coal, mainly for electricity generation. Some 32% came from burning oil in road vehicles, and 21% from natural gas used for heating buildings and industrial processes.

The world is certainly feeling the effects. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed 2024 was the hottest year on record, temporarily hitting 1.5°C over the pre-industrial era. In turn, the world suffered lethal heatwaves, devastating floods and intense cyclones.

flooded houses, climate change.
Extreme weather hit hard in 2024. Pictured: Flooded houses after Cyclone Debby hit Florida. Bilanol/Shutterstock

How are we tracking?

In 2014, the world’s peak body for assessing climate science – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – began using four scenarios called Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). These four big picture climate scenarios are based on what actions humanity does or doesn’t take. They comprise:

  • rapid climate action, low emissions (RCP 2.6)
  • two scenarios of some action and medium emissions (RCP 4.5 and 6.0)
  • no action, high emissions (RCP 8.5).

The numbers refer to how many more watts of heat strike each square metre of the planet.

Of these four, only the RCP 2.6 scenario is compatible with the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding climate change well under 2˚C.

But Earth is tracking towards somewhere between RCP 2.6 and 4.5, which would translate to about 2.7°C of warming by 2100.

IPCC experts also developed five pathways of possible social, economic and political futures to complement the four scenarios.

Of these pathways, we are tracking closest to a middle of the road scenario where development remains uneven, the intensity of resource and energy use declines, and population growth levels off.

While effective, these scenarios are now more than a decade old and need to be updated. In response, my colleagues and I produced the One Earth Climate Model to outline rapid pathways to decarbonise. We set an ambitious carbon budget of 450 gigatonnes of CO₂ before reaching net zero – a pathway even more ambitious than the RCP 2.6.

The US, European Union and China together represent about 28% of the global population, but are responsible for 56% of historic emissions (926 gigatonnes) . The pathways compatible with 1.5°C give them a remaining carbon budget of 243 Gt CO₂. China would require the largest carbon budget to reach decarbonisation.

For this to happen, by 2050, the world would have to be 100% powered by clean sources and phase out fossil fuel use. This would limit global warming to around 1.5°C, with a certainty of just over 50%. We would also have to end deforestation within the same timeframe.

Emissions peak – are we there yet?

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have still not plateaued, despite sharply increasing renewable electricity generation, battery storage and lower-cost electric vehicles.

But there has been real progress. The EU says its emissions fell by 8.3% in 2023 compared to 2022. Europe’s net emissions are now 37% below 1990 levels, while the region’s GDP grew 68% over the same period. The EU remains on track to reach its goal of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

Australia’s emissions fell by 0.6% last year. The country is now 28.2% below June 2005 levels, which is the baseline set for its Paris Agreement goal of a 43% reduction by 2030.

In the US, emissions are still below pre-pandemic levels and remain about 20% below 2005 levels. Since peaking in 2004, US emissions have trended downward.

The world’s largest emitter, China, is finally cutting its emissions. Huge growth in renewables has now led to the first emissions drop on record, despite surging demand for power. This is good news. For years, China’s domestic emissions remained high despite its leading role in solar, wind, EVs and battery technology.

China produces almost one-third (31%) of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions – not least because it is the workshop of the world. Every cut China makes will have a major global effect.

According to the IPCC, limiting warming to around 1.5°C requires global emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest. It now looks like the peak may occur this year.

Despite daily negative news, the decarbonisation train has left the station. In 2024, renewables accounted for more than 90% of growth in electricity production globally. Electric vehicles became cost competitive, while heat pumps are developing fast and solar is on a winning streak.

So, is it too late to save the climate? No. The technologies we need are finally cheap enough. The sooner we stop climate change from worsening, the more disasters, famine and death we avert. We might not manage 1.5°C or even 2°C, but every tenth of a degree counts. The faster we make the shift, the better our climate future.The Conversation

Sven Teske, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

As Australia’s carbon offset industry grapples with integrity concerns, how can companies genuinely tackle climate change?

Deemerwha studio/Shutterstock
Andrew MacintoshAustralian National University

Australia’s largest carbon market player, GreenCollar, has quit the federal government’s voluntary carbon neutral program, Climate Active. More than 100 companies have left the program in the past two years.

Climate Active provides certification to businesses and other organisations to verify that they are carbon neutral. Certification is supposed to mean an organisation has neutralised the impacts its greenhouse gas emissions have on global warming by buying carbon offsets, which represent emission reductions achieved elsewhere.

GreenCollar is among many Australian organisations that develop emissions-reduction projects, such as storing carbon in vegetation. Upon exiting the Climate Active scheme, GreenCollar co-founder James Schultz told The Australian that Climate Active had become too risky, due to criticism from environmentalists the carbon abatement associated with offsets is often not genuine.

Electricity retailer EnergyAustralia has also acknowledged “legitimate public concern” about carbon offsets and programs such as Climate Active that rely on them.

Effective carbon offset projects do exist in Australia. However, research by my colleagues and I, and many other experts, has found integrity issues are widespread in carbon offset schemes – and low integrity projects are all too common, including in Australia.

So how has this situation arisen, and what should companies do to genuinely reduce their climate impact?

What are carbon offsets for?

Every day, companies emit greenhouse gas emissions. This can occur directly from their own operations, or indirectly through electricity they use and products they consume. Some emissions can be cut easily and cheaply, but others are harder and more expensive to reduce.

Carbon credits emerged to fill this gap. Where it is expensive for companies to reduce their own emissions, they can buy carbon credits to offset them. Each credit is supposed to represent one tonne of carbon abatement.

For the credits to be legitimate, they must represent real, additional and permanent abatement. Real refers to whether the emissions abatement has actually occurred. Additional means the abatement would not have occurred without the incentive provided by the crediting scheme. Permanent means the carbon stored in, say, planted trees, will stay there over the long term.

Under the scheme, companies that buy carbon credits to offset their emissions can be certified as “carbon neutral”.

A key problem is that companies can purchase old, super-cheap credits issued under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. These credits come from overseas projects such as windfarms and landfill gas projects overseas.

Serious doubts exist over the integrity of these credits. For example, a comprehensive review by European researchers in 2016 found the credits had “fundamental flaws” and most were “not providing real, measurable and additional emission reductions”.

Historically, these cheap credits have accounted for most carbon credits used in the Climate Active scheme.

The remainder have come from the Australian carbon offset scheme, which issues Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). But this scheme has also been plagued by integrity problems such as:

These problems exist in carbon offset schemes around the world. Last year, an international group of researchers assessed carbon credits covering almost one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. They found less than 16% constituted real emission reductions.

Where to now?

So what should be done?

The first step is for companies to ensure they are investing in high-integrity projects. In overseas markets, ratings agencies exist to assist with this. In Australia, ratings agencies do not assess domestic projects because the federal government doesn’t publish enough information to make this possible.

The government could help companies invest in genuine emissions reductions by requiring more transparency from carbon offset projects, and ensuring relevant information is publicly accessible.

Rather than purchasing carbon abatement, companies may be better off directly cutting their own emissions as much as possible, by changing the way they operate. This might mean investing in new low-emissions equipment, reducing air travel by employees, or switching to green electricity.

Companies can also make direct investments in quality projects which help mitigate climate change and support biodiversity conservation.

And the federal government should clamp down on the significant number of low integrity offset projects in Australia’s offset scheme.


In response to issues raised in this article, a spokesperson from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, which oversees Climate Active, said:

The Australian Government is actively considering the future direction of the Climate Active program. We recognise that Climate Active needs reform and that work is under way as a priority that will involve proper consultation.

The Climate Active program continues to operate, certifying entities that have met the program requirements.

The Australian Government continues to work to ensure the integrity of the ACCU Scheme, following recent reviews by the Climate Change Authority (CCA), independent experts and the Australian National Audit Office. These reviews have found the ACCU Scheme is well designed, well administered, and contributing to Australia’s transition to net zero by 2050.The Conversation

Andrew Macintosh, Professor and Director of Research, ANU Law School, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

UNESCO expresses ‘utmost concern’ at the state of the Great Barrier Reef

Jon C. DayJames Cook University and Scott F. HeronJames Cook University

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has again raised grave fears for the future of the Great Barrier Reef, highlighting the problems of water pollution, climate change and unsustainable fishing.

The committee this week released draft decisions regarding the conservation of 62 World Heritage properties. This included the Great Barrier Reef, for which it noted:

Overall, while progress has been made, significant challenges remain in achieving water quality targets, managing extreme climate impacts, and ensuring the long-term resilience of the property.

The comments confirm what experts already know too well: despite substantial investments from successive Australian governments, threats to the Great Barrier Reef remain.

Climate change is the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef and other coral reefs around the world. But water pollution is the most significant local threat. That issue, along with unsustainable fishing, is entirely within Australia’s control.

The World Heritage Committee will consider the draft decision at its next meeting in Paris in July. It may amend the decision, but the concerns are now on the public record.

What’s all this about?

The Great Barrier Reef has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage list for more than 40 years. The listing recognises outstanding natural and cultural places around the world.

The reef is jointly managed by the Australian and Queensland governments. UNESCO’s draft decision expressed “utmost concern” at the findings of last year’s outlook report, published by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It noted:

the overall outlook for the property remains one of continued deterioration due largely to climate change, while the long-term outlook for the ecosystem of the property also remains ‘very poor’.

Poor water quality persists

Poor water quality is a major issue on the Great Barrier Reef. It is caused when sediment, nutrients, pesticides and pollution from land-based activities, such as land clearing, farming and coastal development, are carried into the ocean.

In its draft decision, UNESCO noted with “regrets” that the latest water quality targets for sediment and nitrogen – a key component of fertilisers – were not achieved. UNESCO said the updated water quality plan should ensure targets and actions “are sufficiently ambitious and funded”.

As the below graph shows, actions from 2009 to now have reduced pollution only by about half the desired amounts. At the existing rate of progress and funding commitments, the targets will not be met until 2047 (for sediment) and 2114 (for dissolved inorganic nitrogen).

Huge gaps exist between current pollutants levels and the water quality targets. These and some other targets are well out of reach under existing funding levels.

The draft decision also requests a halt to illegal land clearing while strengthening vegetation laws – both fundamental to reducing water pollution.

Severe weather events exacerbate the water quality problem. In February this year, for example, floodwaters from ten major rivers merged to form extensive flood plumes along 700 kilometres of coastline from Cairns to Mackay, and up to 100 kilometres offshore.

Such plumes can remain present for months after a flood. They can smother seagrass and corals, and cause damaging algal growth.

satellite image of sediment in floods Queensland.
Queensland’s floods in February discharged large plumes of sediment-laden floodwaters towards the Great Barrier Reef. This Sentinel 2 satellite image shows sediment from the Burdekin River estuary south of Townsville. TropwaterCC BY-NC-ND

The wicked problem of climate change

UNESCO’s draft decision noted “the overall outlook for the property remains one of continued deterioration due largely to climate change”.

Ocean heatwaves can lead to coral bleaching and potentially death. Mass bleaching occurred again this year on the Great Barrier Reef – the sixth such event since 2016.

UNESCO described as “deeply concerning” preliminary results showing heat stress was the highest on record during the 2023–24 mass bleaching event.

Climate change is also expected to produce more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, which can damage reefs and island ecosystems.

UNESCO called on Australia to align its policies with the global goal of “limiting global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, and to take steps to mitigate negative impacts from extreme weather events.

The challenges of fishing

Unsustainable fishing practices damage the Great Barrier Reef. UNESCO’s draft decision noted progress in eliminating gillnet fishing, which is on track for the target of 2027.

The fishing method involves mesh nets which can accidentally kill other wildlife, including threatened species such as dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sawfish.

But smaller nets can still be used throughout much of the World Heritage area, so some threats to threatened species remain.

UNESCO also urged Australia to expand electronic monitoring of commercial fishing vessels, and to ensure the targets in its Sustainable Fisheries Strategy are met. It also called for a comprehensive review of coral harvesting, which primarily supplies the global aquarium trade.

What next?

Despite the significant resources and management efforts Australia expends on the Great Barrier Reef, serious threats remain.

The Great Barrier Reef is struggling under the cumulative impacts of a multitude of threats. The problems outlined above are not isolated challenges.

Both the Queensland and Australian governments could do far more to boost the health of the reef. Clearly, more funding is needed. Without it, the future of the Great Barrier Reef is in jeopardy, and so too its tourism and fishing economies, and thousands of jobs.

UNESCO has now asked Australia to provide more comprehensive results from the recent mass bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, along with an updated plan to improve water quality. Its draft decision maintains the spotlight on conservation concerns for this precious natural asset.


Support for the aerial footage in the lead image to this article was provided by TropWATER JCU, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Office of the Great Barrier Reef, NQ Dry Tropics and CSIRO.The Conversation

Jon C. Day, Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University and Scott F. Heron, UNESCO Chair on Climate Change Variability of Natural and Cultural Heritage and Professor in Physics, James Cook University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Antarctica’s sea ice is changing, and so is a vital part of the marine food web that lives within it

Jacqui Stuart, VUWCC BY-NC-ND
Jacqui StuartTe Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Natalie RobinsonNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

Antarctica is the world’s great cooling unit. This vital part of Earth’s climate system is largely powered by the annual freeze and melt of millions of square kilometres of sea ice around the continent.

Our research shows changes to this annual freeze cycle in McMurdo Sound can lead to shifts in the diversity of algal communities that live within the sea ice.

At the start of the southern winter, as sea water begins to freeze, it expels salt and forms heavy and very cold brine. This sinks to the seafloor, ultimately forming what’s known as Antarctic Bottom Water. This is then pumped out to the rest of the world through several major oceanic currents.

Historically, this cycle meant that Antarctica effectively doubled in size and the continent was surrounded by an enormous apron of sea ice at the peak of winter. But the changing climate is shifting this annual cycle.

A stylised map showing the currents that transport cold Antarctic Bottom Water out to the rest of the world.
Major ocean currents transport cold Antarctic Bottom Water out to the rest of the world. Jacqui Stuart, VUWCC BY-NC-ND

For the past decade, Antarctic sea ice has been in decline. It hasn’t been a steady trend, but each year since 2016 less sea ice has formed compared to historic averages.

Antarctica’s annual maximum sea ice extent in September 2023 was the lowest on record, with approximately 1.75 million square kilometres less sea ice than normal – an area equivalent to about 6.5 times the land area of Aotearoa.

Change happening at the continental scale is usually well documented and publicised. However, smaller, more local changes are also occurring in places such as McMurdo Sound, the home of Aotearoa New Zealand’s only Antarctic outpost.

For four of the last seven years, unseasonable winter southerly storms have been associated with significant delays in the timing of sea-ice formation within McMurdo Sound.

Where measurements were taken during these “unusual” years, the sea ice that formed later was thinner (1.5 metres compared to 2.5 metres) and had less snow cover (about 5 centimetres versus 15-30 centimetres) compared to the same locations during “typical” years.

Two people dropping a tape measure into a hole in the ice in Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Ken Ryan and Jacqui Stuart measuring the depth of sea ice and the sub-ice platelet layer in McMurdo Sound in 2022. Svenja Halfter, NIWACC BY-NC-ND

Icy reefs and algal meadows

Another type of ice, known as “platelet ice”, also appears to be affected by the later formation of sea ice.

A layer of platelet ice extends into the ocean below the sea ice in some regions around Antarctica, including McMurdo Sound. It is a fragile lattice structure made up of loosely consolidated plate-shaped ice crystals, creating an upside-down reef-like structure.

The resulting protective environment is a hot spot for primary productivity – microscopic algae that support the base of the marine food web. When sea ice forms later, the platelet ice doesn’t have as much time to accumulate beneath and can be metres thinner than beneath older ice (down to about 1 metre from more than 3 metres).

Three people with a sled travelling on sea ice in McMurdo Sound.
Scientist collecting cores of sea ice in McMurdo Sound. Jacqui Stuart, VUWCC BY-NC-ND

Why should we care about sea ice? Because, it isn’t just a frozen, lifeless sheet expanding out from the continent, broken by the odd silhouette of a seal or a gathering of penguins on the top.

Beneath the desolate surface, where ice meets water, green meadows of microalgae can spread out as far as the eye can see.

View from under the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, with the sub-ice platelet layer extending down into the water.
View from under the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, with the sub-ice platelet layer extending down into the water. The green-yellow tinge shows thriving microalgae living within the reef-like structure. Leigh Tate, NIWACC BY-NC-ND

Microalgae are single-cell, plant-like organisms that use sunlight to create energy. Similar to land-based meadows, they provide food for many other creatures. In winter, when other sources of food can be scarce, this sea-ice superstore plays a crucial role in feeding other inhabitants of McMurdo Sound.

Diminishing algal diversity under thinner sea ice

Our research indicates that when the sea ice forms later, microalgal communities living within the ice are also different. In later-forming sea ice, these vital communities are less diverse and dominated by fewer species.

Some species usually abundant in earlier-forming sea ice are absent or in low numbers when the sea ice forms later. Interestingly, though, it appears the quantity of microalgae in later-forming ice conditions is similar to “typical” ice. However, instead of being spread out through almost three metres depth of the platelet layer, they are crammed into a metre-thick habitat instead.

These microscopic snacks are diverse in shape, size and the roles they play in the ecosystem. It can help to think of microalgal communities as the produce section in the supermarket. Each type has preferred growing conditions and different nutritional values, producing varied quantities of important resources such as proteins, carbohydrates and fatty acids.

A graphic showing different microalgae and a range of fruits and vegetables.
Microalgae come in different shapes, sizes and nutritional content, like fruits and vegetables. Jacqui Stuart, VUWCC BY-NC-ND

Imagine, one winter the weather is different and all that grows are cabbages and sweet peas. These won’t provide you with all the nutrients you need. This mirrors the problem when there is less diversity at the base of the food web. As the microalgal communities shift in the ways our research has observed, the quantity and quality of resources they provide are likely to change, too.

These early signals matter. They foreshadow wider ecological impacts, especially, if Antarctic sea ice continues to thin, retreat or form later each year.

We need more research to establish the nuances of these changes and the extent of their impact. But it is worth remembering that what happens at the base of the food web in Antarctica doesn’t necessarily stay there. These changes could ripple through ecosystems further afield with the potential to affect key fisheries in the Southern Ocean.

By paying close attention now, we have a chance to understand and adapt, to ensure ecosystems stay resilient in a changing world.The Conversation

Jacqui Stuart, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Ecology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Natalie Robinson, Marine Physicist, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Most of Australia’s conservation efforts ignore climate risks – here are 3 fixes

Yi Fei ChungThe University of Queensland and Jonathan RhodesQueensland University of Technology

Imagine replanting various native species only to have them die because the area is too hot or too dry. Or reconnecting woodland habitat only to lose large tracts to bushfire.

Well, our new research suggests those scenarios are entirely possible.

We analysed the two most common ways to prevent overall biodiversity loss on private land in Australia. We found these efforts largely ignore climate risks such as fire, heat, drought and floods.

Climate change is already threatening the survival of species. Unless conservation efforts are made more resilient to climate change, Australia’s aim to to reverse biodiversity loss could fail.

What we found

We examined two types of biodiversity measures in Australia. One is “biodiversity offsets”, which aim to compensate for damage caused by development. The other is voluntary conservation programs, including “conservation covenants”.

We analysed 77 policy documents underpinning nine biodiversity offset policies and 11 voluntary conservation programs.

Of the 77 documents, 84% did not consider the impact of climate change. What’s more, only 44% of biodiversity offset policies and 27% of voluntary conservation programs considered climate risk. Even then, they often lacked detail or tools to translate policy into real action on the ground.

The most common climate adaptation strategies were:

  • safeguarding climate refuges
  • connecting habitat so wildlife can escape extreme heat, fires or droughts
  • targeting funding
  • avoiding offset sites vulnerable to threats such as sea-level rise.

But most documents lacked details on implementing these strategies.

We suggest three practical steps to ensure conservation efforts deliver lasting results in a changing climate.

Bar chart showing the proportion of climate-informed programs / policies in voluntary conservation programs and biodiversity offset policies
Few private land conservation programs or biodiversity offset policies took climate change into account. Chung, Y. F., et al, (2025) Biological Conservation

1. Identify and protect climate refuges

Climate refuges are areas somewhat shielded from the effects of climate change. Gullies, sheltered slopes and forests with good water supplies can help species survive during heatwaves and droughts.

These places can provide a lifeline for endangered species and prevent local extinctions. Species may shelter in these areas during climate extremes and recolonise well-connected habitats when conditions improve.

Protecting climate refuges by restricting land clearing or other damaging activities is a common climate adaptation strategy. We found it featured in six policy documents supporting voluntary conservation programs and biodiversity offsets across Australia. But few policy documents explain where these places are or how to protect them.

For example, the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Investment Strategy lists climate refuges as high-priority assets under threat. The strategy says future investment should target these areas.

But we found no explanation of how investments would be prioritised, or where to find that information. Without this detail, mentioning climate refuges in policy documents is little more than having good intentions.

To be effective, refuges need to be mapped, prioritised and supported with appropriate protections and incentives. Nature law reform must strengthen protection of climate refuges to prevent further loss.

Conservation programs could also specifically incentivise landholders to protect or restore refuges on their properties.

Here’s how to protect Australia’s native species from climate change (The Climate Council)

2. Promote the actions that build resilience

On the ground, conservation actions must adapt to climate change. That could mean doing things differently. For example, planting species more likely to survive future climates, or connecting habitat so wildlife can move to new areas.

While these strategies are well established, we only found three policy documents that mention them. One is the Heritage Agreement policy in South Australia. This offers guidance and potential funding to help landholders implement these actions.

As Australia’s nature laws are reformed, funding commitments and conservation guidelines need to follow suit.

Financial incentives or technical support could be offered to landholders for activities that build resilience. Biodiversity offset policies could also mandate conservation actions that improve climate resilience at offset sites.

3. Adapting to climate change needs to link policy to on-ground action

Our research found a clear gap between high-level intent and guidelines for on-ground actions. If they don’t line up, then conservation efforts risk falling short. Field programs may lack legal backing, or legislation may not translate into action where it matters most.

Climate change should be considered at all levels of conservation policies – from high-level legislation to guidelines for implementing individual programs.

Policies should include clear and consistent targets informed by climate risk. This should be supported by regulations ensuring compliance and practical guidelines for on-ground action.

Voluntary conservation programs in New South Wales show how it can be done. State biodiversity conservation legislation includes conserving biodiversity under climate change as a key objective. This can then shape real-world programs. For example, the NSW Conservation Management plan echoes this climate commitment. It makes addressing climate change impacts one of the main targets.

A chance to get it right

National nature law reform and state reviews present an opportunity to future-proof Australia’s conservation policies.

These policies must consider the accelerating pace of change and ensure adaptation is embedded through to action. Such actions must be clear, well-resourced, and equipped with practical tools government agencies and landholders can use.

Otherwise, we risk making conservation policies unfit for the future – missing a golden opportunity to safeguard biodiversity.The Conversation

Yi Fei Chung, PhD Candidate in Environmental Policy, The University of Queensland and Jonathan Rhodes, Professor & Director, QUT Centre for Environment and Society, Queensland University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Earth’s seasonal rhythms are changing, putting species and ecosystems at risk

Shutterstock/Colin Stephenson
Daniel Hernández CarrascoUniversity of Canterbury and Jonathan TonkinUniversity of Canterbury

Seasonality shapes much of life on Earth. Most species, including humans, have synchronised their own rhythms with those of Earth’s seasons.

Plant growth cycles, the migration of billions of animals, and even aspects of human culture – from harvest rituals to Japanese cherry blossom viewings – are dictated by these dominant rhythms.

However, climate change and many other human impacts are altering Earth’s cycles. While humans can adapt their behaviour by shifting the timing of crop harvests or Indigenous fire-burning practices, species are less able to adapt through evolution or range shifts.

Our new research highlights how the impacts of shifting seasons can cascade through ecosystems, with widespread repercussions that may be greater than previously thought.

This puts species and ecosystems at risk the world over. We are still far from having a full picture of what changes in seasonality mean for the future of biodiversity.

Almost every ecosystem on Earth has seasons

From tropical forests to polar ice caps and abyssal depths, the annual journey of Earth around the Sun brings distinct seasons to all corners of the planet.

These seasonal rhythms shape ecosystems everywhere, whether through monsoonal rains in equatorial regions or the predictable melt of snowpack in mountain ranges.

But the seasonality of these processes is changing rapidly due to local human impacts. This includes dams in many rivers, which completely and abruptly disrupt their natural flow, and deforestation, which changes the timing of the onset of the rain season.

These local influences are compounded by climate change, which is systematically modifying seasonal patterns in snow covertemperature and rainfall around the world.

Monsoon rain in Kerala, India, with buffaloes grazing in heavy rain.
Monsoon rains represent one of Earth’s major seasonal cycles. Shutterstock/Milju varghese

From the earlier seasonal melting of glaciers and the snowpack to the disruption of monsoonal rain cycles, the effects of these changes are being felt widely.

Many important ecological processes we rely on could be affected. A mismatch between plankton blooms and the life cycles of fish could affect the health of fisheries. Tourism dependent on seasonal migrations of large mammals could suffer. Even the regulation of the climate system itself is tightly controlled by seasonal processes.

Changing seasonality threatens to destabilise key ecological processes and human society.

Evolutionary adaptations to seasonal fluctuations

The seasonal rhythms of ecosystems are obvious to any observer. The natural timing of annual flowers and deciduous trees – tuned to match seasonal variations in rainfall, temperature and solar radiation – transforms the colours of whole landscapes throughout the year.

The arrival and departure of migratory birds, the life cycle of insects and amphibians, and the mating rituals of large mammals can completely change the soundscapes with the seasons.

These examples illustrate how seasonality acts as a strong evolutionary force that has shaped the life cycles and behaviour of most species. But, in the face of unprecedented changes to Earth’s natural rhythms, these adaptations can lead to complex negative impacts.

White snowshoe hare in the snow during a Canadian winter - mostly white with brown feet.
Snowshoe hares are struggling to adapt to shifts in the timing of the first snowfall and melt. Shutterstock/Karen Hogan

For instance, snowshoe hares change coat colour between winter and summer to blend in with their surroundings and hide from predators. They are struggling to adapt to shifts in the timing of the first snow and snowmelt. The impact of changing seasonality on hare populations is linked with changes in predation rates. But predators themselves may also be out of sync with the new onset of seasons.

Our research highlights that these kinds of complex interactions can propagate impacts through ecosystems, linking individual species’ seasonal adaptations to broader food web dynamics, or even ecosystem functions such as carbon sequestration.

Although biologists have studied seasonal processes for centuries, we know surprisingly little about how they mediate any ecological impacts of altered seasonality. Our findings show we are likely underestimating these impacts.

The distinct mechanisms involved deserve further attention. Until we account for these complex processes, we risk overlooking important ecological and human consequences.

The more we understand, the better prepared we are

Understanding the extent to which impacts of altered seasonality can interact and propagate from individuals to whole ecosystems is a big challenge. It will require different types of research, complex mathematical modelling and the design of new experiments. But it is not easy to manipulate the seasons in an experiment.

Scientists have come up with inventive ways of experimentally testing the effects of altered seasonality. This includes manually removing snow early in springmanipulating rainfall patterns through irrigation and moving plants and animals to places with different seasonality.

Some researchers have even recovered seeds from centuries-old collections to sprout them and look at how recent changes in climate have affected plant populations.

These efforts will be of great value for forecasting impacts and designing effective management strategies beneficial for ecosystems and humans alike. Such efforts help to anticipate future shocks and prioritise interventions.

For instance, understanding the mechanisms that allow native and non-native species to anticipate seasonal changes has proven useful for “tricking” non-native plants into sprouting only in the wrong season. This gives an advantage to native plants.

Similarly, studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in the response to seasonality can help us determine whether certain species are likely to adapt to further changes in seasonal patterns. This research can also point out genes that could be targeted for improving the resilience and productivity of crops.

Not only are we likely underestimating the ecological risks of shifting seasons, we tend to forget how much our everyday lives depend on them. As Earth’s rhythms change, the risks multiply. But so does our opportunity to better understand, anticipate and adapt to these changes.The Conversation

Daniel Hernández Carrasco, PhD Candidate in Ecology, University of Canterbury and Jonathan Tonkin, Associate Professor of Ecology and Rutherford Discovery Fellow, University of Canterbury

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries

Maarten De Brauwer
Maarten De BrauwerSouthern Cross UniversityKaitlyn HarrisSouthern Cross University, and Kelly GittinsIndigenous Knowledge

Rivers up and down the north coast of New South Wales have been hammered again, just three years after devastating floods hit the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

The events of 2022 sparked our latest research into the estuaries of NSW. These special places, where the rivers meet the sea, are teeming with life. Now – for the first time – we can reveal what lives where, in maps based on tell-tale traces of DNA.

Together with Indigenous rangers from six language groups, we surveyed 34 estuaries to capture evidence of living species – everything from microbes to fish, plants and mammals.

We were surprised to find platypus in places they had not been seen for years. We also identified elusive native species such antechinus and rakali, and 68 invasive or pest species including cane toads – spreading further south than previously thought.

This catalogue of species in NSW estuaries can be used by authorities and scientists – but anyone, anywhere can explore the map online.

Mapping life in NSW estuaries (Southern Cross University)

Estuaries are vital, yet many questions remain

First Nations Peoples have long recognised the vital importance of the areas where land meets sea. Estuaries are have provided food resources for thousand of years and are home to important historical and contemporary cultural sites.

Today, 87% of Australians live within 50km of the sea. This makes estuaries one of the most intensively used areas of NSW. They provide critical habitats such as seagrass or mangroves, host high biodiversity, and have a high social value as places for recreational activities such as fishing.

Yet research into the species that live in estuaries is mostly limited to large estuaries such as Sydney HarbourBotany Bay or Port Stephens.

NSW has excellent water quality monitoring programs, and vital habitats such as seagrass meadows have been the subject of long-term mapping programs. However, large gaps remain.

Understanding how biodiversity in estuaries changes over time, especially in response to extreme events, can help governments design appropriate responses to maintain or restore ecosystem health. But with nearly 200 estuaries in NSW, studying changes in biodiversity is not a simple task.

A screenshot showing the results for one of the estuaries.
Find out what lives in your local estuary free, online. Wilderlab

Our DNA detective work

Measuring salinity or oxygen levels in water is relatively straightforward, using equipment on the shoreline or hanging off the side of a boat. Finding out what lives where is much more difficult. This where new genetic methods come in.

Three people standing on a pier collecting DNA samples with the Clarence River estuary in the background
Collecting environmental DNA samples at the Clarence River estuary. Southern Cross University

Life forms leave tell-tale traces of DNA in the environment. Animals may shed hair, skin or scales, as well as poo. Plants produce pollen and leaves that end up in the water.

We matched small snippets of DNA to find the species it belonged to – a bit like scanning a barcode in the supermarket.

This technique allows us to analyse the full extent of biodiversity in estuaries. This includes not just fish, but also species at the base of the food chain such as microscopic algae – all from a few litres of water.

Indigenous rangers live and work on Country and know it well. We formed alliances with six groups of Indigenous rangers through the state’s Cultural Restoration Program:

  • Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council (Walbunja)
  • Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council
  • Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council
  • Jerinja Local Aboriginal Land Council
  • LaPeruse Local Aboriginal Land Council (Gamay)
  • Yaegl Wadyarr Gargle Land and Sea Contractors.

Our research builds on the different strengths and interests of local groups. The rangers worked with us all the way through, from the design phase to selecting sampling sites of ecological or cultural significance, helping to conduct surveys and working with scientists to interpret the results.

Trained in environmental DNA methods, rangers can monitor their Country independently in future.

What did we find?

We now have the largest publicly available biodiversity dataset for NSW estuaries. It covers everything from single-celled algae at the base of the food chain, to top predators such as great white sharks and white-bellied sea eagles.

Anyone can explore the interactive map to find out what lives in the estuaries nearby or further afield.

Rangers detected platypus in the lower reaches of Bega River, in places where they were thought to have disappeared. Totemic species such as dolphins were widespread across the state, including urban estuaries such as Botany Bay in Sydney, while mullet and bream were found shifting between the mouth and further upriver. Cane toads were found at Sandon River in the Northern Rivers region, and most recently in Coffs Harbour, much further south than expected.

These results mean a lot to local Indigenous mobs. They can integrate contemporary scientific results into traditional ecological knowledge and use both approaches to better understand how estuaries respond to extreme weather events or activities such as habitat restoration.

We also recently returned to sample sites following Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the extreme rainfall events in March. Being able to compare the data to a well-established baseline survey means we will be able to see which species were worst affected.

Knowledge sharing for the future

Two-way knowledge sharing between Indigenous knowledge holders and research scientists is improving our understanding of estuarine health.

The results of this project will help Indigenous groups to care for their Country while also improving scientific knowledge to better respond to environmental impacts such as floods for decades to come.

A group of four people standing with their arms around each other on a jetty with an estuary in the background.
The project was a team effort. L to R: Kait Harris (NSW Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development), Maarten De Brauwer (Southern Cross University), Shaun Laurie (Yaegl Rangers), and Amos Ferguson (Yaegl Rangers). Southern Cross University

The authors wish to acknowledge this program was delivered collaboration with and on behalf of the Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Fisheries & Forestry, with funding provided by the Australian and NSW governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements as part of the NSW Estuary Asset Protection program (NEAP).The Conversation

Maarten De Brauwer, Senior Research Scientist in Marine and Estuarine Ecology, Southern Cross UniversityKaitlyn Harris, Research Assistant, NSW Estuary Monitoring Program, Southern Cross University, and Kelly Gittins, Aboriginal Project Officer, Fisheries, Department of Primary Industries, Indigenous Knowledge

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

This rare alpine frog is fighting against a lethal fungus – by breeding faster and faster

Laura BrannellyCC BY-NC-ND
Laura BrannellyThe University of MelbourneAlex WendtThe University of Melbourne, and Danielle WallaceThe University of Melbourne

For a small frog, the alpine tree frog (Litoria verreauxii alpina) packs a lot of surprises.

For one, this tree frog lives in snowy gullies and high mountain crags across the Australian Alps, far from the tropical areas we normally associate with tree frogs.

But these frogs have another surprise. Their numbers have been decimated by a deadly fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, which spreads in water, enters the frog’s skin, and kills by causing cardiac arrest. The chytrid fungus has wiped out almost all alpine tree frogs, whose numbers have fallen more than 80% since the 1980s. The species now occurs in only a few fragmented and highly isolated sites. Even here, the fungus kills almost all alpine tree frogs in their first breeding season.

Given these odds, it begs the question – how is the species not extinct? To find out, we used lab and field studies to investigate whether the threat of chytrid infection was forcing these frogs to change.

To our surprise, we found clear signs of change. When infected with the fungus, male frogs set about fathering more offspring.

alpine tree frog
The alpine tree frog can survive cold – and perhaps even a deadly fungus. Tiffany Kosch/Corey DoughtyCC BY-NC-ND

The fungal threat

Before the emergence of the fungus, brisk spring nights across the Australian Alps would have been filled with the songs of male alpine tree frogs.

These choruses are long gone across most of the species’ range. The alpine tree frog is now critically endangered.

The call of the alpine tree frog. Laura BrannellyCC BY-NC-ND274 KB (download)

In the 1970s, frog species around the world began to die off en masse. But it wasn’t until 1998 that an Australian team figured out the cause wasn’t natural – it was an introduced fungus.

Wherever chytrid fungus has gone, it has laid waste to amphibians – especially frogs, where death rates can reach 100%. Worldwide, more than 500 amphibian species have been driven to decline and at least 90 species have been lost to extinction.

The fungus doesn’t like heat and needs water to spread. As a result, frogs in colder, wetter areas have been hardest hit. Seven Australian frog species have gone extinct due largely to the fungus, including remarkable gastric brooding frogs.

Some frogs have tried to fight this deadly disease by producing skin secretions called antimicrobial peptides, which reduce fungal growth. But not every frog’s skin secretions work against this disease.

Unfortunately, the invasive cane toad is strongly resistant to the fungus. More positively, one native species, Fleay’s barred frog, appears to have developed natural resistance to the fungus.

But for the alpine tree frog, chytrid fungus poses an existential threat.

Breeding at double speed

To find out how the species was still clinging on, we examined these frogs in the field and in laboratories. We tested sperm quality, analysed breeding patterns and looked at breeding success.

What we found suggests the species is adapting in real time, pushed by the huge selective pressure of the fungus.

When a male tree frog was infected, it set about breeding with new fervour. Infected males took part in almost a third (31%) more breeding events than uninfected frogs.

There were more changes, too. Infected males produced higher quality sperm and in greater volumes than healthy males. This meant their fertility was actually greater than those not carrying the fungus.

Not only that, but infected males produced more colourful mating displays in their throat patches. The more colourful the patch, the more attractive it could be to female frogs. Infection was making individual males more attractive as breeding partners.

These changes resulted in better breeding success for infected males – they fathered more tadpoles than uninfected frogs. The fungus doesn’t affect the eggs, and leaves tadpoles largely unharmed.

For the species, this had real benefits – it meant more and more tadpoles were being produced. While the fungus would kill most of them as adult frogs, their increased numbers bolstered the species.

alpine frog habitat
This frog likes ponds and wetlands in the Australian Alps. Laura BrannellyCC BY-NC-ND

Spawning before succumbing

These findings can seem counterintuitive. We might expect a sick animal would save its energy and try to fight the infection rather than try to reproduce. But these frogs are taking the opposite approach, spawning frantically before they succumb.

This strategy isn’t common in the animal kingdom, but it’s not unheard of. Tasmanian devils face a similar threat from a lethal cancer which spreads from animal to animal by biting. In areas where devil facial tumour disease is present, females reproduce earlier and have more babies with each pregnancy than in disease-free areas.

Like the devils, alpine tree frogs were choosing reproduction over their personal survival.

These adaptations had real use. In fact, we believe the changes have made it possible for the frog species to avoid extinction in the wild alongside the disease.

That’s not to say all is well. The species is only just holding on. If other threats emerge, it could be enough to tip it over the edge into extinction.

This is where human intervention can help. Now we know their accelerated breeding patterns are important, we can focus on protecting breeding habitat. Creating new breeding ponds and corridors between breeding sites could give these frogs a helping hand.

The deadly fungus isn’t going away. But the frogs aren’t either. If we lend our help alongside their ingenious survival strategies, perhaps the beautiful whistling songs of the alpine tree frog will ring out across the Australian Alps once again.The Conversation

Laura Brannelly, Senior Lecturer in One Health and Biostatistics, The University of MelbourneAlex Wendt, PhD candidate, The University of Melbourne, and Danielle Wallace, PhD candidate, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia-Indonesia bird flu partnership takes flight on global stage

May 30, 2025

A new avian influenza collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and Indonesia has gained international recognition in Paris overnight, with endorsement from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

The project is part of WOAH’s prestigious Laboratory Twinning Programme and brings together CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) and Indonesia’s Disease Investigation Centre (DIC) Wates’s laboratory to strengthen the Asia-Pacific region’s response to the continuing threat of avian influenza.

The project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, reflecting Australia's commitment to health security and regional cooperation.

Dr Debbie Eagles, Director of ACDP, said the project comes at a critical time as highly pathogenic avian influenza strains like H5 continue to pose serious risks across the globe.

“H5 bird flu remains one of the most significant animal disease threats globally, with growing impacts on wildlife, agriculture and trade,” Dr Eagles said.

“By sharing our expertise as a WOAH Reference Centre, we’re helping build a stronger, more connected network for early detection and response.

“This strengthens regional capacity and also supports Australia’s national efforts to protect our own environment, poultry industry and food security.”

The three-year initiative, called BICOLLAB, was formally endorsed at the World Assembly of Delegates during WOAH’s General Session—a key annual gathering of world animal health authorities—marking a significant step in regional biosecurity collaboration.

Australia's Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson, said the endorsement was an important vote of confidence in the science-led collaboration.

"This project is about more than knowledge sharing; it’s about building sustainable diagnostic capacity that protects animal and public health across our region. We’re proud to support our Indonesian colleagues as they work toward becoming a WOAH Reference Laboratory for avian influenza,” Dr Cookson said.

Under the three-year initiative, DIC Wates will receive expert mentorship, hands-on training, and technical support to strengthen its diagnostic capabilities, quality systems, and biosafety procedures. The project also promotes international standards, long-term sustainability, and integration into global disease surveillance systems.

Dr Imron Suandy, Director of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture-Republic of Indonesia, welcomed the endorsement as a major opportunity for Indonesia’s animal health system.

“Through BICOLLAB, we are enhancing Indonesia’s capacity for avian influenza diagnostics and surveillance through support to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture’s Disease Investigation Centre Wates as the designated avian influenza national reference laboratory and ASEAN Regional Reference Centre for Bioinformatics in animal health,” Dr Suandy said.

“Furthermore, this project is enhancing our ability to detect and respond to avian influenza outbreaks more quickly and reliably. This collaboration strengthens not only our laboratory, but the resilience of the entire region.”

CSIRO has a strong track record in this space, having completed three previous twinning projects in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. BICOLLAB represents the next chapter in CSIRO’s long-standing commitment to science-driven partnerships that improve regional and global biosecurity.

Photo: The collaboration was endorsed by the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris. L-R: Dr Pebi Purwo Suseno, Animal Protection Team Leader, Directorate of Animal Health, Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services; Dr Hirofumi Kugita, WOAH Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific; Dr Imron Suandy, Director of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture-Republic of Indonesia; Dr Beth Cookson, Australian Chief Veterinary Officer; Dr Mariana Marrana, Programme Manager, Preparedness and Resilience Department, WOAH; Dr Dwane O’Brien, Deputy Director, CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness

Faces you hear? Dolphin ‘signature whistles’ may transmit more than just identity information

Ekaterina Ovsyanikova
Ekaterina OvsyanikovaThe University of Queensland

Like us humans, many animals rely on social interactions to survive and thrive. As a result, effective communication between individuals is essential.

Highly social animals often have more complex communication systems. Think of a group of chimpanzees gesturing and vocalising at each other, or a family of elephants communicating through touch or low-frequency calls.

Bottlenose dolphins live in complex societies where each animal has a small number of closely connected individuals and a larger number of looser associates (not dissimilar to our own social networks). They rely heavily on interpersonal interactions to maintain a healthy social balance.

Scientists have long known that dolphins use “signature whistles” to identify themselves to others. In our recent study, we present evidence suggesting that these whistles may contain more information than just identity.

Dolphins frolicking.
Dolphins live in complex societies where communication is important. Ekaterina Ovsyanikova

A unique but variable sound

Dolphins use various sounds, such as burst pulses and whistles, to communicate. There are two broad categories of whistles: signature whistles (distinctive whistle types that are unique to each individual) and non-signature (the rest).

Dolphins use the unique frequency patterns of their signature whistles to broadcast their identity. They develop these signals when they are young and maintain them throughout their lives.

When interacting with others, up to 30% of a dolphin’s whistling may be comprised of its signature whistle. There is often some variation in the whistle versions produced by the individual animals. This led us to analyse the balance between stability and variability of the signature whistles to test if they can contain more information than just the whistler’s identity.

Listening to whistles

In 2017 and 2018, our research team made repeated sound recordings of a group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) at Tangalooma Island Resort near Moreton Island, off the coast of Brisbane in eastern Australia.

We collected many instances of signature whistles produced by the same animals. We also used historical data collected from the same group 15 years earlier.

We found that, while the whistles were exceptionally stable in their frequency patterns, they did vary a certain amount (this variability also remained similar across the years). This suggests that even though frequency patterns of signature whistles encode identity, they are also likely to transmit more information, such as emotional or contextual cues.

Photo of a dolphin's dorsal fin emerging from the water, accompanied by several graphs showing a changing frequency pattern.
An example of the variability in signature whistle renditions produced by a single animal. Dolphins can be individually identified by their dorsal fins. Ekaterina Ovsyanikova

Our study group of animals was too small to draw definitive conclusions, but our findings indicated that males demonstrate more variability in their signature whistles than females. It could be linked to the differences in their social roles and the nature of their interactions with others.

We also identified a whistle much like a signature, but which was shared between several individuals. This supports recent findings that groups of dolphins may have shared distinctive whistles, along with their individual ones.

Faces that you hear

What does all this mean?

First, signature whistles are likely to be more versatile than previously thought. They may carry additional information within their frequency patterns, and possibly other structural elements.

The second lesson is that, while signature whistles are individually learned “labels” that are like human names in many ways, in terms of the information they transmit, a useful analogy may be human faces.

Humans carry identity information in our fixed facial features. At the same time, we transmit a lot of additional information, including emotional and contextual cues, through more transient facial expressions. Like signature whistles, our faces combine stability and variability in their “information package”.

A pair of dolphins swimming along the surface.
Like human faces, dolphin signature whistles may convey a stable identity alongside other information. Ekaterina Ovsyanikova

Making the whole world blurry

Understanding dolphin communication helps us better understand the challenges these animals face in an increasingly human-affected world.

Take noise pollution in the oceans. It’s a hot topic among marine bioacoustics researchers, but rarely at the front of the general public’s mind.

If we do think of it, it’s probably in human terms. Living in a noisy environment for us might be annoying and stressful, but we could still do most of the things we need to do.

But for dolphins, deafening shipping noise would be the equivalent of the whole world going blurry for us. Imagine what it would be like to navigate through life, make friends, stay away from bad connections, and be socially effective (which is necessary for survival), if you can’t recognise anyone’s face or see their expressions.

Thinking of the dolphins’ key signal, a signature whistle, as informational equivalent of our faces, may help us see (and hear) the world from a dolphin’s perspective.The Conversation

Ekaterina Ovsyanikova, Academic, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Raining one week, dusty the next – how did a dust storm make it all the way to rainy Sydney?

A false-colour satellite showing dust as a pink cloud. Himawari-9 satelliteCC BY-SA
Tegan ClarkAustralian National University

Much to the surprise of Sydney-siders, a dusty haze settled over the city on Tuesday morning after a week of heavy rain.

Satellite images reveal the dust storm formed in the Mid-North region of South Australia, east of Spencer Gulf, at around 11am on Monday. It then travelled through western Victoria into New South Wales, reaching Sydney approximately 18 hours later.

It’s an odd time of year for a dust storm, but South Australia is in drought. The soil is very dry, bare and loose. So when a cold front with strong winds moved through SA earlier this week, it picked up lots of dust.

This demonstrates how everything is interconnected in Australia, despite the nation’s huge size. Extreme weather events such as drought in one part of the country can cause trouble for people “downwind”, hundreds of kilometres away. Climate change is likely to further raise the risk of dust storms in the future.

The dust bowl era

In the 1930s, prolonged drought in the United States coupled with poor land management practices caused devastating dust storms. This eroded valuable agricultural soils and forced many families off the land. All this took place across the Central Plains, which became known as the American Dust Bowl – later immortalised in Steinbeck’s book The Grapes of Wrath.

Australia experienced its own smaller dust bowl about a century after British settlers arrived. Overgrazing in the late 1800s removed native vegetation from large parts of western New South Wales. Dust storm activity picked up dramatically from the late 1800s onwards and hit a maximum in 1944-45 during the World War II drought.

Fortunately, the dust storms and drought experienced during the 1940s soon prompted a change in both policy and attitude. The focus of land management shifted from “taming the land” to more sustainable use, such as moving livestock around from time to time – allowing paddocks to rest and recover. The government also provided more financial support to manage drought.

Growing awareness and the desire to protect environmental assets also led to development of the NSW Soil Conservation Service.

Australia has continued to experience heightened dust activity and major dust storms after 1945. In 2009, Sydney awoke to what looked like apocalyptic scenes straight out of the movie Mad Max when a dust storm engulfed the city.

The last big dusty period was the Black Summer of 2019-20. Parts of NSW such as Wagga Wagga and Sydney were shrouded in smoke and dust for days. But there were significantly fewer “dust storm days” compared to 1944-45. This is partly due to improved land management practices that value sustainability, including the revegetation of denuded land.

The movie Mad Max featured apocalyptic dust storm scenes.

More dust storms as the climate changes

Around the world, climate change is expected to make dust storms more common globally.

Recent research suggests southern Australia may experience longer and more frequent droughts in the future. Grazing and cropping will put extra pressure on the land.

In addition, the cold fronts that typically trigger large dust storms are expected to intensify with climate change. This means a growing chance of major dust storms such as the one this week.

Dust is a health hazard

Dust consists of tiny particles, some smaller than the width of a single strand of hair. These particles may include sand, topsoil, pollen, microbes, iron and other minerals, lifted into the air.

When these tiny particles enter the lungs, they can cause breathing difficulties and respiratory diseases such as asthma. Dust storms are also known to transport diseases such as Valley Fever.

The 2009 dust storm in Sydney led to an increase in emergency hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses, especially asthma.

During the latest dust storm, health authorities warned people with respiratory issues to stay indoors and monitor symptoms.

Developing early warning systems

The 2019-20 dusty period and the current SA drought shows Australia can still fall victim to these major dust storms. But there are things we can do to be better prepared and more resilient.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification suggests better ways to reduce harm from dust. These include improving land management practices, implementing early warning systems and improving monitoring of dust events.

On the ground, NSW is well equipped to monitor dust through the DustWatch network. The air quality monitoring network acts as an early warning system, particularly for people in Sydney living downwind of sources interstate. But usually no more than 12-24 hours notice is provided. This means the authorities might might start to prepare to issue a warning when they detect poor air quality in Western NSW.

However, these systems pale in comparison to the predictive capacity available in South Korea and Japan. There, alerts of dust storms and poor air quality can be issued days in advance.

Using our eyes in the sky

My PhD research project involves using satellites to deepen our understanding of where dust storms are coming from and where they might travel to.

For instance the Himawari-8/9 satellite scans Australia every ten minutes, allowing us to track the evolution of dust events from start to finish.

We can pinpoint almost the exact moment a dust storm begins. These areas can then be targeted using satellites to understand the conditions of the land causing dust storms to form and monitor high-risk areas for erosion in the future.

Putting technology to good use will get us part of the way to a more resilient Australia. There is also a clear need to adapt to the changing climate in our nation’s grazing and cropping systems.The Conversation

Tegan Clark, PhD Candidate, College of Systems and Society, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

For many island species, the next tropical cyclone may be their last

The Bahama warbler, a species which suffered greatly as a result of Hurricane Dorian in 2019. David Pereira
Simon ValleBangor University and David Jorge PereiraUniversity of Birmingham

When a major cyclone tears through an island nation, all efforts rightly focus on saving human lives and restoring livelihoods. However, these storms have permanent consequences for other species that are often forgotten.

As the world continues to heat, cyclones are expected to become more frequent, intense and unpredictable. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on biodiversity, lists storms as one factor threatening species. But just how much of a threat is still poorly understood.

The effects of cyclones on biodiversity are easily neglected because the damage is sudden, scattered and hard to measure. Extinctions can be abrupt and go unnoticed. This largely overlooked extinction crisis is likely to worsen with climate change.

In a new study, we measured the threat posed by tropical cyclones on the diversity of land-based mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles globally. We mapped all severe tropical cyclones that occurred between 1972 and 2022 and checked how many overlapped with areas widely recognised to be exceptionally rich in species, otherwise known as biodiversity hotspots.


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We focused on severe cyclones only – those with wind speeds exceeding 130 mph – as historically, it is these that have caused species to severely decline or go extinct.

What we found surprised us: three-quarters of all severe cyclones struck hotspots which are entirely comprised of islands. This seemed alarming. Islands have an inherently high extinction risk anyway because they support many species that are found nowhere else and which evolved in isolation. These species often have very small populations and nowhere to escape when disaster strikes.

Even more worrying, more than 95% of the severe cyclones that struck island biodiversity hotspots hit the same five ones. In descending order of cyclone frequency these are: Japan, Polynesia-Micronesia, the Philippines, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, and the Caribbean islands.

We clearly identified high-risk areas, but what does this mean for the animal species that live there? To find out we consulted the red list of threatened species which is compiled and regularly updated by the IUCN to see how many vertebrate species were noted for their vulnerability to storms.

One cyclone away from extinction

The hotspots experiencing the most severe cyclones are not necessarily those that have the most storm-threatened species. For example, Japan has the most storms but the fewest species at risk, whereas the Caribbean has fewer storms but over 128 species are threatened by them. This suggests that the frequency of cyclones alone does not determine the danger to each region’s biodiversity.

Other aspects are likely to play a role. In particular, the data indicates that species in island biodiversity hotspots made up of a lot of small islands are more at risk of local or global extinction.

The more we learned about the dangers posed by cyclones, the more concerned we became. Many species are so restricted in range that they could be entirely wiped out by just one cyclone. It has happened before. The Bahama nuthatch (Sitta insularis), a small forest-dwelling songbird, is thought to have gone extinct following the passage of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

One of the last known sightings of the Bahamas nuthatch.

Preparing for the unpredictable

To begin raising awareness and help conservationists prioritise their efforts, we compiled a watchlist of the species that are most at risk from tropical cyclones. This includes 60 storm-threatened species which are present only on a single location on a single island.

For each of these 60 species, the next severe tropical cyclone may be their last. A better understanding of the distribution and status of these species is only the beginning. Conservationists need to plan how to help them avoid a sudden demise.

The need to act quickly is clear. Of the 60 species on our list, only 24 are part of any active conservation effort and just six are in captive breeding programmes. Coordinated efforts are our best bet and we propose a task force under the IUCN to allow better preparation, rapid response and international support.

With the right knowledge and foresight, we can ensure human recovery and ecological survival for future generations.


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Simon Valle, Conservation Planning Officer at IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group & Honorary Lecturer in Conservation Science, Bangor University and David Jorge Pereira, PhD Candidate, Conservation Science, University of Birmingham

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Anti-environmentalism is on the rise but it’s full of contradictions

Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock
Alastair BonnettNewcastle University

Anti-environmentalism is gaining ground. Attacks on the net zero goal and hostility to conservation measures and anti-pollution targets are becoming more common. And, as recent election results have shown, these tactics are reshaping politics in Britain and across the west.

Anti-environmentalism is a rejection of both environmental initiatives and activism. But despite its sudden rise and bold rhetoric, it is built on shaky foundations. The messages it offers are often contradictory and row against the tide of everyday experience.

Take the US president, Donald Trump. He dismantled many environmental protections in his last term of office, and is now removing those that are left – including support for research that even mentions the word climate. Yet he told a rally in Wisconsin in 2024: “I’m an environmentalist. I want clean air and clean water. Really clean water. Really clean air.”


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Some of the contradictions of anti-environmentalism reflect its departure from traditional conservatism. Although routinely identified as “conservative”, the populist anti-green politics of Republicans in the US and Reform in the UK, along with the AfD in Germany and National Rally in France, represent a radical challenge to the ideals of continuity and conservation that were once at the heart of conservatism.

The Conservative Environment Network is an organisation which pitches itself as an “independent forum for conservatives in the UK and around the world who support net zero, nature restoration and resource security”. Much of this network’s work involves reminding people that important environmental protections, from America’s national parks to controls on pollution and climate change in Britain and elsewhere, were introduced by conservatives.

But few on the right appear to be listening. A populist tide is washing this conservative tradition away, despite the fact that support for environmental protection remains very popular.

Polling indicates that 80% of people in the UK worry about climate change. Public backing for the work of the US Environmental Protection Agency is also overwhelming, including among Republican voters.

In part, this support reflects the fact that environmental damage is an everyday reality: unpredictable weather, the collapse of animal and insect populations, and a range of other challenges are not just on the TV, they are outside the window.

In my research for a forthcoming book on environmental nostalgia across the world, I keep bumping into an irony. In western nations, voices from the right say they want their country back, yet appear hostile to environmental policies that would protect their country and ensure its survival.

There are many reasons for this disconnect, including resentment against initiatives that require lifestyle and livelihood changes. However, the enmity and disengagement is more complicated than a simple rejection of nature.

Many people – including Trump himself – claim they are environmentalists even when the evidence suggests otherwise. The signs and symbols of environmental care are knitted into every aspect of our commercial and cultural life: if wildlife could sue for copyright, there would a lot of rich bears.

I argue that a distinction can be made between what I call “cold” and “hot” forms of environmentalism. The former values and mourns the loss of nature, but as a spectacle to be observed – a set of appealing images of flora and fauna – while the latter feels implicated and anxious.

The former position allows people to claim they love nature yet be indifferent or even hostile to initiatives to save it. However, the line between cold and hot, or between anti- and pro-environmentalist, is neither fixed nor hard.

Another quality of anti-environmentalism is that its beliefs are changeable, even quixotic. Climate change is an example.

Reform’s leaders have long flirted with climate change denial. “Climate change has happened for millions of years,” explained former Reform UK leader Richard Tice in 2024, adding that “the idea that you can stop the power of the Sun or volcanoes is simply ludicrous”. Tice has not changed his views but later the same year, the party’s new leader, Nigel Farage, told the BBC that he was “not arguing the science”.

Like other populist parties, Reform adopts a mobile position on the environment, moving between denying that climate change is happening or that humans are causing it, and the very different contention that anthropogenic climate change is real but that environmental targets are unreachable and unfair, given that other nations (China is often mentioned) supposedly do so little.

A post-western paradox

Researchers are only just starting to think about anti-environmentalism. One key analysis is environmental politics researcher John Hultgren’s The Smoke and the Spoils: Anti-Environmentalism and Class Struggle in the United States. This new book explains how Republicans managed to convince working-class voters that there is “zero-sum dichotomy between jobs and environmental protection, workers and environmentalists”.

This kind of binary has also been found by contributors to The Handbook of Anti-Environmentalism, who identify and critique the stereotyping of environmentalism as middle-class and elite in several western countries.

Yet the geographical focus of these pioneering works misses yet another of the paradoxes of anti-environmentalism: that although its rhetoric often accuses China and other non-western countries of doing little, there has been a significant environmental turn in both policy and public attitudes beyond Europe and the US.

Environmentalism is becoming post-western. This is partly because the realities of environmental damage are so stark across much of Asia and Africa.

Extreme temperatures and unpredictable rainfall are leading to food insecurity and community displacement. Environmentalism in the African Sahel and south Asia might better be called “survivalism”.

And despite its continuing reliance on fossil fuels, China’s state-led vision of a transition to a conservationist and decarbonised “ecological civilisation” is positioning it as a global environmental leader.

Stereotypes of environmentalism being primarily a western concern are crumbling. Because of this, along with the many contradictions that beset it, the rise of anti-environmentalism appears not only complex, but curious and unsustainable.


Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.The Conversation


Alastair Bonnett, Professor of Geography, Newcastle University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Pittwater Reserves: histories + Notes + Pictorial Walks

A History Of The Campaign For Preservation Of The Warriewood Escarpment by David Palmer OAM and Angus Gordon OAM
A Saturday Morning Stroll around Bongin Bongin - Mona Vale's Basin, Mona Vale Beach October 2024 by Kevin Murray
A Stroll Along The Centre Track At Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park: June 2024 - by Kevin Murray
A Stroll Around Manly Dam: Spring 2023 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
A Stroll Through Warriewood Wetlands by Joe Mills February 2023
A Walk Around The Cromer Side Of Narrabeen Lake by Joe Mills
A Walk on the Duffy's Wharf Track October 2024 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
America Bay Track Walk - photos by Joe Mills
An Aquatic June: North Narrabeen - Turimetta - Collaroy photos by Joe Mills 
Angophora Reserve  Angophora Reserve Flowers Grand Old Tree Of Angophora Reserve Falls Back To The Earth - History page
Annie Wyatt Reserve - A  Pictorial
Annie Wyatt Reserve, Palm Beach: Pittwater Fields of Dreams II - The Tree Lovers League 
Aquatic Reflections seen this week (May 2023): Narrabeen + Turimetta by Joe Mills 
Avalon Beach Reserve- Bequeathed By John Therry  
Avalon Beach This Week: A Place Of A Bursting Main, Flooding Drains + Falling Boulders Council Announces Intention To Progress One LEP For Whole LGA + Transport Oriented Development Begins
Avalon's Village Green: Avalon Park Becomes Dunbar Park - Some History + Toongari Reserve and Catalpa Reserve
Bairne Walking Track Ku-Ring-Gai Chase NP by Kevin Murray
Bangalley Headland  Bangalley Mid Winter
Bangalley Headland Walk: Spring 2023 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
Banksias of Pittwater
Barrenjoey Boathouse In Governor Phillip Park  Part Of Our Community For 75 Years: Photos From The Collection Of Russell Walton, Son Of Victor Walton
Barrenjoey Headland: Spring flowers 
Barrenjoey Headland after fire
Bayview Baths
Bayview Pollution runoff persists: Resident states raw sewerage is being washed into the estuary
Bayview Public Wharf and Baths: Some History
Bayview Public Wharf Gone; Bayview Public Baths still not netted - Salt Pan Public Wharf Going
Bayview's new walkway, current state of the Bayview public Wharf & Baths + Maybanke Cove
Bayview Sea Scouts Hall: Some History
Bayview Wetlands
Beeby Park
Bilgola Beach
Bilgola Plateau Parks For The People: Gifted By A. J. Small, N. A. K. Wallis + The Green Pathways To Keep People Connected To The Trees, Birds, Bees - For Children To Play 
Botham Beach by Barbara Davies
Brown's Bay Public Wharf, on McCarrs Creek, Church Point: Some History
Bungan Beach Bush Care
Careel Bay Saltmarsh plants 
Careel Bay Birds  
Careel Bay Clean Up day
Careel Bay Marina Environs November 2024 - Spring Celebrations
Careel Bay Playing Fields History and Current
Careel Bay Steamer Wharf + Boatshed: some history 
Careel Creek 
Careel Creek - If you rebuild it they will come
Centre trail in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Chiltern Track- Ingleside by Marita Macrae
Clareville Beach
Clareville/Long Beach Reserve + some History
Clareville Public Wharf: 1885 to 1935 - Some History 
Coastal Stability Series: Cabbage Tree Bay To Barrenjoey To Observation Point by John Illingsworth, Pittwater Pathways, and Dr. Peter Mitchell OAM
Cowan Track by Kevin Murray
Curl Curl To Freshwater Walk: October 2021 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
Currawong and Palm Beach Views - Winter 2018
Currawong-Mackerel-The Basin A Stroll In Early November 2021 - photos by Selena Griffith
Currawong State Park Currawong Beach +  Currawong Creek
Deep Creek To Warriewood Walk photos by Joe Mills
Drone Gives A New View On Coastal Stability; Bungan: Bungan Headland To Newport Beach + Bilgola: North Newport Beach To Avalon + Bangalley: Avalon Headland To Palm Beach
Duck Holes: McCarrs Creek by Joe Mills
Dunbar Park - Some History + Toongari Reserve and Catalpa Reserve
Dundundra Falls Reserve: August 2020 photos by Selena Griffith - Listed in 1935
Elsie Track, Scotland Island
Elvina Track in Late Winter 2019 by Penny Gleen
Elvina Bay Walking Track: Spring 2020 photos by Joe Mills 
Elvina Bay-Lovett Bay Loop Spring 2020 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
Fern Creek - Ingleside Escarpment To Warriewood Walk + Some History photos by Joe Mills
Hordern Park, Palm Beach: Some History + 2024 Photos of park from top to beach
Iluka Park, Woorak Park, Pittwater Park, Sand Point Reserve, Snapperman Beach Reserve - Palm Beach: Some History
Ingleside
Ingleside Wildflowers August 2013

Irrawong Falls Walk May 2025 by Joe Mills
Irrawong - Ingleside Escarpment Trail Walk Spring 2020 photos by Joe Mills
Irrawong - Mullet Creek Restoration
Katandra Bushland Sanctuary - Ingleside
Lucinda Park, Palm Beach: Some History + 2022 Pictures
McCarrs Creek
McCarrs Creek Public Jetty, Brown's Bay Public Jetty, Rostrevor Reserve, Cargo Wharf, Church Point Public Wharf: a few pictures from the Site Investigations for Pittwater Public Wharves History series 2025
McCarr's Creek to Church Point to Bayview Waterfront Path
McKay Reserve
Milton Family Property History - Palm Beach By William (Bill) James Goddard II with photos courtesy of the Milton Family   - Snapperman to Sandy Point, Pittwater
Mona Vale Beach - A Stroll Along, Spring 2021 by Kevin Murray
Mona Vale Headland, Basin and Beach Restoration
Mona Vale Woolworths Front Entrance Gets Garden Upgrade: A Few Notes On The Site's History 
Mother Brushtail Killed On Barrenjoey Road: Baby Cried All Night - Powerful Owl Struck At Same Time At Careel Bay During Owlet Fledgling Season: calls for mitigation measures - The List of what you can do for those who ask 'What You I Do' as requested
Mount Murray Anderson Walking Track by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
Mullet Creek
Muogamarra Nature Reserve in Cowan celebrates 90 years: a few insights into The Vision of John Duncan Tipper, Founder 
Muogamarra by Dr Peter Mitchell OAM and John Illingsworth
Narrabeen Creek
Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment: Past Notes Present Photos by Margaret Woods
Narrabeen Lagoon Entrance Clearing Works: September To October 2023  pictures by Joe Mills
Narrabeen Lagoon State Park
Narrabeen Lagoon State Park Expansion
Narrabeen Rockshelf Aquatic Reserve
Nerang Track, Terrey Hills by Bea Pierce
Newport Bushlink - the Crown of the Hill Linked Reserves
Newport Community Garden - Woolcott Reserve
Newport to Bilgola Bushlink 'From The Crown To The Sea' Paths:  Founded In 1956 - A Tip and Quarry Becomes Green Space For People and Wildlife 
Out and About July 2020 - Storm swell
Out & About: July 2024 - Barrenjoey To Paradise Beach To Bayview To Narrabeen + Middle Creek - by John Illingsworth, Adriaan van der Wallen, Joe Mills, Suzanne Daly, Jacqui Marlowe and AJG
Palm Beach Headland Becomes Australia’s First Urban Night Sky Place: Barrenjoey High School Alumni Marnie Ogg's Hard Work
Palm Beach Public Wharf: Some History 
Paradise Beach Baths renewal Complete - Taylor's Point Public Wharf Rebuild Underway
Realises Long-Held Dream For Everyone
Paradise Beach Wharf + Taylor's Wharf renewal projects: October 2024 pictorial update - update pics of Paradise Wharf and Pool renewal, pre-renewal Taylors Point wharf + a few others of Pittwater on a Spring Saturday afternoon
Pictures From The Past: Views Of Early Narrabeen Bridges - 1860 To 1966
Pittwater Beach Reserves Have Been Dedicated For Public Use Since 1887 - No 1.: Avalon Beach Reserve- Bequeathed By John Therry 
Pittwater Reserves: The Green Ways; Bungan Beach and Bungan Head Reserves:  A Headland Garden 
Pittwater Reserves, The Green Ways: Clareville Wharf and Taylor's Point Jetty
Pittwater Reserves: The Green Ways; Hordern, Wilshire Parks, McKay Reserve: From Beach to Estuary 
Pittwater Reserves - The Green Ways: Mona Vale's Village Greens a Map of the Historic Crown Lands Ethos Realised in The Village, Kitchener and Beeby Parks 
Pittwater Reserves: The Green Ways Bilgola Beach - The Cabbage Tree Gardens and Camping Grounds - Includes Bilgola - The Story Of A Politician, A Pilot and An Epicure by Tony Dawson and Anne Spencer  
Pittwater spring: waterbirds return to Wetlands
Pittwater's Lone Rangers - 120 Years of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase and the Men of Flowers Inspired by Eccleston Du Faur 
Pittwater's Great Outdoors: Spotted To The North, South, East + West- June 2023:  Palm Beach Boat House rebuild going well - First day of Winter Rainbow over Turimetta - what's Blooming in the bush? + more by Joe Mills, Selena Griffith and Pittwater Online
Pittwater's Parallel Estuary - The Cowan 'Creek
Pittwater Pathways To Public Lands & Reserves
Resolute Track at West Head by Kevin Murray
Resolute Track Stroll by Joe Mills
Riddle Reserve, Bayview
Salt Pan Cove Public Wharf on Regatta Reserve + Florence Park + Salt Pan Reserve + Refuge Cove Reserve: Some History
Salt Pan Public Wharf, Regatta Reserve, Florence Park, Salt Pan Cove Reserve, Refuge Cove Reserve Pictorial and Information
Salvation Loop Trail, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park- Spring 2020 - by Selena Griffith
Scotland Island Dieback Accelerating: November 2024
Seagull Pair At Turimetta Beach: Spring Is In The Air!
Some late November Insects (2023)
Stapleton Reserve
Stapleton Park Reserve In Spring 2020: An Urban Ark Of Plants Found Nowhere Else
Stealing The Bush: Pittwater's Trees Changes - Some History 
Stokes Point To Taylor's Point: An Ideal Picnic, Camping & Bathing Place 
Stony Range Regional Botanical Garden: Some History On How A Reserve Became An Australian Plant Park
Taylor's Point Public Wharf 2013-2020 History
The Chiltern Track
The Chiltern Trail On The Verge Of Spring 2023 by Kevin Murray and Joe Mills
The 'Newport Loop': Some History 
The Resolute Beach Loop Track At West Head In Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park by Kevin Murray
Topham Track Ku-Ring-Gai Chase NP,  August 2022 by Joe Mills and Kevin Murray
Towlers Bay Walking Track by Joe Mills
Trafalgar Square, Newport: A 'Commons' Park Dedicated By Private Landholders - The Green Heart Of This Community
Tranquil Turimetta Beach, April 2022 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Beach Reserve by Joe Mills, Bea Pierce and Lesley
Turimetta Beach Reserve: Old & New Images (by Kevin Murray) + Some History
Turimetta Headland
Turimetta Moods by Joe Mills: June 2023
Turimetta Moods (Week Ending June 23 2023) by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: June To July 2023 Pictures by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: July Becomes August 2023 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: August Becomes September 2023 ; North Narrabeen - Turimetta - Warriewood - Mona Vale photographs by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: Mid-September To Mid-October 2023 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: Late Spring Becomes Summer 2023-2024 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: Warriewood Wetlands Perimeter Walk October 2024 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: November 2024 by Joe Mills
Turimetta Moods: mid-February to Mid- March 2025 by Joe Mills
Warriewood Wetlands - Creeks Deteriorating: How To Report Construction Site Breaches, Weed Infestations + The Long Campaign To Save The Warriewood Wetlands & Ingleside Escarpment March 2023
Warriewood Wetlands and Irrawong Reserve
Whale Beach Ocean Reserve: 'The Strand' - Some History On Another Great Protected Pittwater Reserve
Whale Migration Season: Grab A Seaside Pew For The Annual Whalesong But Keep Them Safe If Going Out On The Water
Wilshire Park Palm Beach: Some History + Photos From May 2022
Winji Jimmi - Water Maze

Pittwater's Birds

Attracting Insectivore Birds to Your Garden: DIY Natural Tick Control small bird insectivores, species like the Silvereye, Spotted Pardalote, Gerygone, Fairywren and Thornbill, feed on ticks. Attracting these birds back into your garden will provide not only a residence for tick eaters but also the delightful moments watching these tiny birds provides.
Aussie Backyard Bird Count 2017: Take part from 23 - 29 October - how many birds live here?
Aussie Backyard Bird Count 2018 - Our Annual 'What Bird Is That?' Week Is Here! This week the annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count runs from 22-28 October 2018. Pittwater is one of those places fortunate to have birds that thrive because of an Aquatic environment, a tall treed Bush environment and areas set aside for those that dwell closer to the ground, in a sand, scrub or earth environment. To take part all you need is 20 minutes and your favourite outdoor space. Head to the website and register as a Counter today! And if you're a teacher, check out BirdLife Australia's Bird Count curriculum-based lesson plans to get your students (or the whole school!) involved

Australian Predators of the Sky by Penny Olsen - published by National Library of Australia

Australian Raven  Australian Wood Duck Family at Newport

A Week In Pittwater Issue 128   A Week In Pittwater - June 2014 Issue 168

Baby Birds Spring 2015 - Rainbow Lorikeets in our Yard - for Children Baby Birds by Lynleigh Greig, Southern Cross Wildlife Care - what do if being chased by a nesting magpie or if you find a baby bird on the ground

Baby Kookaburras in our Backyard: Aussie Bird Count 2016 - October

Balloons Are The Number 1 Marine Debris Risk Of Mortality For Our Seabirds - Feb 2019 Study

Bangalley Mid-Winter   Barrenjoey Birds Bird Antics This Week: December 2016

Bird of the Month February 2019 by Michael Mannington

Birdland Above the Estuary - October 2012  Birds At Our Window   Birds at our Window - Winter 2014  Birdland June 2016

Birdsong Is a Lovesong at This time of The Year - Brown Falcon, Little Wattle Bird, Australian Pied cormorant, Mangrove or Striated Heron, Great Egret, Grey Butcherbird, White-faced Heron 

Bird Songs – poems about our birds by youngsters from yesterdays - for children Bird Week 2015: 19-25 October

Bird Songs For Spring 2016 For Children by Joanne Seve

Birds at Careel Creek this Week - November 2017: includes Bird Count 2017 for Local Birds - BirdLife Australia by postcode

Black Cockatoo photographed in the Narrabeen Catchment Reserves this week by Margaret G Woods - July 2019

Black-Necked Stork, Mycteria Australis, Now Endangered In NSW, Once Visited Pittwater: Breeding Pair shot in 1855

Black Swans on Narrabeen Lagoon - April 2013   Black Swans Pictorial

Brush Turkeys In Suburbia: There's An App For That - Citizen Scientists Called On To Spot Brush Turkeys In Their Backyards
Buff-banded Rail spotted at Careel Creek 22.12.2012: a breeding pair and a fluffy black chick

Cayley & Son - The life and Art of Neville Henry Cayley & Neville William Cayley by Penny Olsen - great new book on the art works on birds of these Australian gentlemen and a few insights from the author herself
Crimson Rosella - + Historical Articles on

Death By 775 Cuts: How Conservation Law Is Failing The Black-Throated Finch - new study 'How to Send a Finch Extinct' now published

Eastern Rosella - and a little more about our progression to protecting our birds instead of exporting them or decimating them.

Endangered Little Tern Fishing at Mona Vale Beach

‘Feather Map of Australia’: Citizen scientists can support the future of Australia's wetland birds: for Birdwatchers, school students and everyone who loves our estuarine and lagoon and wetland birds

First Week of Spring 2014

Fledgling Common Koel Adopted by Red Wattlebird -Summer Bird fest 2013  Flegdlings of Summer - January 2012

Flocks of Colour by Penny Olsen - beautiful new Bird Book Celebrates the 'Land of the Parrots'

Friendly Goose at Palm Beach Wharf - Pittwater's Own Mother Goose

Front Page Issue 177  Front Page Issue 185 Front Page Issue 193 - Discarded Fishing Tackle killing shorebirds Front Page Issue 203 - Juvenile Brush Turkey  Front Page Issue 208 - Lyrebird by Marita Macrae Front Page Issue 219  Superb Fairy Wren Female  Front Page Issue 234National Bird Week October 19-25  and the 2015 the Aussie Back Yard Bird Count: Australia's First Bird Counts - a 115 Year Legacy - with a small insight into our first zoos Front Page Issue 236: Bird Week 2015 Front Page Issue 244: watebirds Front Page Issue 260: White-face Heron at Careel Creek Front Page Issue 283: Pittwater + more birds for Bird Week/Aussie Bird Count  Front Page Issue 284: Pittwater + more birds for Bird Week/Aussie Bird Count Front Page Issue 285: Bird Week 2016  Front Page Issue 331: Spring Visitor Birds Return

G . E. Archer Russell (1881-1960) and His Passion For Avifauna From Narrabeen To Newport 

Glossy Black-Cockatoo Returns To Pittwater by Paul Wheeler Glossy Cockatoos - 6 spotted at Careel Bay February 2018

Grey Butcher Birds of Pittwater

Harry Wolstenholme (June 21, 1868 - October 14, 1930) Ornithologist Of Palm Beach, Bird Man Of Wahroonga 

INGLESIDE LAND RELEASE ON AGAIN BUT MANY CHALLENGES  AHEAD by David Palmer

Issue 60 May 2012 Birdland - Smiles- Beamings -Early -Winter - Blooms

Jayden Walsh’s Northern Beaches Big Year - courtesy Pittwater Natural Heritage Association

John Gould's Extinct and Endangered Mammals of Australia  by Dr. Fred Ford - Between 1850 and 1950 as many mammals disappeared from the Australian continent as had disappeared from the rest of the world between 1600 and 2000! Zoologist Fred Ford provides fascinating, and often poignant, stories of European attitudes and behaviour towards Australia's native fauna and connects these to the animal's fate today in this beautiful new book - our interview with the author

July 2012 Pittwater Environment Snippets; Birds, Sea and Flowerings

Juvenile Sea Eagle at Church Point - for children

King Parrots in Our Front Yard  

Kookaburra Turf Kookaburra Fledglings Summer 2013  Kookaburra Nesting Season by Ray Chappelow  Kookaburra Nest – Babies at 1.5 and 2.5 weeks old by Ray Chappelow  Kookaburra Nest – Babies at 3 and 4 weeks old by Ray Chappelow  Kookaburra Nest – Babies at 5 weeks old by Ray Chappelow Kookaburra and Pittwater Fledglings February 2020 to April 2020

Lion Island's Little Penguins (Fairy Penguins) Get Fireproof Homes - thanks to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Fix it Sisters Shed

Lorikeet - Summer 2015 Nectar

Lyre Bird Sings in Local National Park - Flock of Black Cockatoos spotted - June 2019

Magpie's Melodic Melodies - For Children (includes 'The Magpie's Song' by F S Williamson)

Masked Lapwing (Plover) - Reflected

May 2012 Birdland Smiles Beamings Early Winter Blooms 

Mistletoebird At Bayview

Musk Lorikeets In Pittwater: Pittwater Spotted Gum Flower Feast - May 2020

Nankeen Kestrel Feasting at Newport: May 2016

National Bird Week 2014 - Get Involved in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count: National Bird Week 2014 will take place between Monday 20 October and Sunday 26 October, 2014. BirdLife Australia and the Birds in Backyards team have come together to launch this year’s national Bird Week event the Aussie Backyard Bird Count! This is one the whole family can do together and become citizen scientists...

National Bird Week October 19-25  and the 2015 the Aussie Back Yard Bird Count: Australia's First Bird Counts - a 115 Year Legacy - with a small insight into our first zoos

Native Duck Hunting Season Opens in Tasmania and Victoria March 2018: hundreds of thousands of endangered birds being killed - 'legally'!

Nature 2015 Review Earth Air Water Stone

New Family of Barking Owls Seen in Bayview - Church Point by Pittwater Council

Noisy Visitors by Marita Macrae of PNHA 

Odes to Australia's Fairy-wrens by Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen and Constance Le Plastrier 1884 and 1926

Oystercatcher and Dollarbird Families - Summer visitors

Pacific Black Duck Bath

Painted Button-Quail Rescued By Locals - Elanora-Ingleside escarpment-Warriewood wetlands birds

Palm Beach Protection Group Launch, Supporters InvitedSaturday Feb.16th - Residents Are Saying 'NO' To Off-Leash Dogs In Station Beach Eco-System - reports over 50 dogs a day on Station Beach throughout December-January (a No Dogs Beach) small children being jumped on, Native birds chased, dog faeces being left, families with toddlers leaving beach to get away from uncontrolled dogs and 'Failure of Process' in council 'consultation' open to February 28th 

Pardalote, Scrub Wren and a Thornbill of Pittwater

Pecking Order by Robyn McWilliam

Pelican Lamps at Narrabeen  Pelican Dreamsong - A Legend of the Great Flood - dreamtime legend for children

Pittwater Becalmed  Pittwater Birds in Careel Creek Spring 2018   Pittwater Waterbirds Spring 2011  Pittwater Waterbirds - A Celebration for World Oceans Day 2015

Pittwater's Little Penguin Colony: The Saving of the Fairies of Lion Island Commenced 65 Years Ago this Year - 2019

Pittwater's Mother Nature for Mother's Day 2019

Pittwater's Waterhens: Some Notes - Narrabeen Creek Bird Gathering: Curious Juvenile Swamp Hen On Warriewood Boardwalk + Dusky Moorhens + Buff Banded Rails In Careel Creek

Plastic in 99 percent of seabirds by 2050 by CSIRO

Plover Appreciation Day September 16th 2015

Powerful and Precious by Lynleigh Grieg

Red Wattlebird Song - November 2012

Restoring The Diamond: every single drop. A Reason to Keep Dogs and Cats in at Night. 

Return Of Australasian Figbird Pair: A Reason To Keep The Trees - Aussie Bird Count 2023 (16–22 October) You can get involved here: aussiebirdcount.org.au

Salt Air Creatures Feb.2013

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Sea Birds off the Pittwater Coast: Albatross, Gannet, Skau + Australian Poets 1849, 1898 and 1930, 1932

Sea Eagle Juvenile at Church Point

Seagulls at Narrabeen Lagoon

Seen but Not Heard: Lilian Medland's Birds - Christobel Mattingley - one of Australia's premier Ornithological illustrators was a Queenscliff lady - 53 of her previously unpublished works have now been made available through the auspices of the National Library of Australia in a beautiful new book

7 Little Ducklings: Just Keep Paddling - Australian Wood Duck family take over local pool by Peta Wise 

Shag on a North Avalon Rock -  Seabirds for World Oceans Day 2012

Short-tailed Shearwaters Spring Migration 2013 

South-West North-East Issue 176 Pictorial

Spring 2012 - Birds are Splashing - Bees are Buzzing

Spring Becomes Summer 2014- Royal Spoonbill Pair at Careel Creek

Spring Notes 2018 - Royal Spoonbill in Careel Creek

Station Beach Off Leash Dog Area Proposal Ignores Current Uses Of Area, Environment, Long-Term Fauna Residents, Lack Of Safe Parking and Clearly Stated Intentions Of Proponents have your say until February 28, 2019

Summer 2013 BirdFest - Brown Thornbill  Summer 2013 BirdFest- Canoodlers and getting Wet to Cool off  Summer 2013 Bird Fest - Little Black Cormorant   Summer 2013 BirdFest - Magpie Lark

The Mopoke or Tawny Frogmouth – For Children - A little bit about these birds, an Australian Mopoke Fairy Story from 91 years ago, some poems and more - photo by Adrian Boddy
Winter Bird Party by Joanne Seve

New Shorebirds WingThing  For Youngsters Available To Download

A Shorebirds WingThing educational brochure for kids (A5) helps children learn about shorebirds, their life and journey. The 2021 revised brochure version was published in February 2021 and is available now. You can download a file copy here.

If you would like a free print copy of this brochure, please send a self-addressed envelope with A$1.10 postage (or larger if you would like it unfolded) affixed to: BirdLife Australia, Shorebird WingThing Request, 2-05Shorebird WingThing/60 Leicester St, Carlton VIC 3053.


Shorebird Identification Booklet

The Migratory Shorebird Program has just released the third edition of its hugely popular Shorebird Identification Booklet. The team has thoroughly revised and updated this pocket-sized companion for all shorebird counters and interested birders, with lots of useful information on our most common shorebirds, key identification features, sighting distribution maps and short articles on some of BirdLife’s shorebird activities. 

The booklet can be downloaded here in PDF file format: http://www.birdlife.org.au/documents/Shorebird_ID_Booklet_V3.pdf

Paper copies can be ordered as well, see http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/shorebirds-2020/counter-resources for details.

Download BirdLife Australia's children’s education kit to help them learn more about our wading birdlife

Shorebirds are a group of wading birds that can be found feeding on swamps, tidal mudflats, estuaries, beaches and open country. For many people, shorebirds are just those brown birds feeding a long way out on the mud but they are actually a remarkably diverse collection of birds including stilts, sandpipers, snipe, curlews, godwits, plovers and oystercatchers. Each species is superbly adapted to suit its preferred habitat.  The Red-necked Stint is as small as a sparrow, with relatively short legs and bill that it pecks food from the surface of the mud with, whereas the Eastern Curlew is over two feet long with a exceptionally long legs and a massively curved beak that it thrusts deep down into the mud to pull out crabs, worms and other creatures hidden below the surface.

Some shorebirds are fairly drab in plumage, especially when they are visiting Australia in their non-breeding season, but when they migrate to their Arctic nesting grounds, they develop a vibrant flush of bright colours to attract a mate. We have 37 types of shorebirds that annually migrate to Australia on some of the most lengthy and arduous journeys in the animal kingdom, but there are also 18 shorebirds that call Australia home all year round.

What all our shorebirds have in common—be they large or small, seasoned traveller or homebody, brightly coloured or in muted tones—is that each species needs adequate safe areas where they can successfully feed and breed.

The National Shorebird Monitoring Program is managed and supported by BirdLife Australia. 

This project is supported by Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority and Hunter Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. Funding from Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and Port Phillip Bay Fund is acknowledged. 

The National Shorebird Monitoring Program is made possible with the help of over 1,600 volunteers working in coastal and inland habitats all over Australia. 

The National Shorebird Monitoring program (started as the Shorebirds 2020 project initiated to re-invigorate monitoring around Australia) is raising awareness of how incredible shorebirds are, and actively engaging the community to participate in gathering information needed to conserve shorebirds. 

In the short term, the destruction of tidal ecosystems will need to be stopped, and our program is designed to strengthen the case for protecting these important habitats. 

In the long term, there will be a need to mitigate against the likely effects of climate change on a species that travels across the entire range of latitudes where impacts are likely. 

The identification and protection of critical areas for shorebirds will need to continue in order to guard against the potential threats associated with habitats in close proximity to nearly half the human population. 

Here in Australia, the place where these birds grow up and spend most of their lives, continued monitoring is necessary to inform the best management practice to maintain shorebird populations. 

BirdLife Australia believe that we can help secure a brighter future for these remarkable birds by educating stakeholders, gathering information on how and why shorebird populations are changing, and working to grow the community of people who care about shorebirds.

To find out more visit: http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/shorebirds-2020/shorebirds-2020-program