The Nature Conservancy publication Innovation for 21st Century Conservation expresses the profound belief that retaining Australia’s unique and rich terrestrial and marine species and varied ecosystems is an urgent challenge that requires innovative partnerships across sectors, and illustrates a richness of examples of such innovation.
The Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) is seeking articles for the June–August 2013 issue of Australasian Plant Conservation (APC), the bulletin of the ANPC. The issue will be on the theme ‘Fire and threatened biodiversity’. If you are intending to submit an article or wish to discuss possibilities, please contact the APC Editor by 26 April.
Commonwealth Environment Minister, Tony Burke, has announced in a media release that the western Sydney dry rainforest and moist woodland on shale will be protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Minister Burke said that the listing of this critically-endangered ecological community was vital to protect it from threats.
In the report Spineless prepared by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in conjunction with IUCN and the IUCN Species Survival Commission more than 12,000 invertebrates from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were reviewed by conservation scientists. Freshwater species were found to be under the highest risk of extinction, followed closely by terrestrial and marine invertebrates. The findings indicate that the threat status of invertebrates is likely very similar to that of vertebrates and plants.
In new research, scientists from the University of Sydney have traced the causes of biodiversity loss to their origin by creating a complex map of the world economy. The researchers cross-referenced the supply chains of more than 15,000 commodities – such as coffee, sugar, tea and fish – with the entire threatened species register from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
How can we save the koala if we don’t know how many are left, where they live, and in what condition? KoalaTracker (previously known as KoalaDiaries) was a first in terms of integrating location intelligence technology with community engagement to record the occurrence of a single species nationally. It plots the points of crowdsourced (contributed by members of the public) koala sightings on a dynamic national map. KoalaTracker shows that koalas are trying to live with us, regardless of whether we notice or not, and graphically records the impacts of urbanisation, loss of habitat and increased disease.
Environment Minister Tony Burke has announced Australia’s most at-risk koala populations need to be included on the national list of threatened species. Minister Burke has decided to list koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as vulnerable under national environment law.
In Decision Point issue 56, Environmental Decisions Group (EDG) scientists examine the evidence on what saved houses in the 2009 Black Saturday fires in Victoria. Does prescribed burning save homes and lives? And should this be a general prescription for how we manage landscapes? In issue 56 you’ll find the following stories:
The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010, published in September 2011, is the third in a series of action plans that have been produced at the start of each decade. The book analyses the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) status of all the species and subspecies of Australia’s birds, including those of the offshore territories. The book contains some surprises – some alarming, some encouraging. The status of some birds has improved over the last two decades as a result of dedicated conservation management. Some may not have changed status but at least they are holding their own. Many, however, are continuing to decline and a distressing number are new to the list.
The new Glossy Black-Cockatoo Conservation Guidelines launched this week summarise the ecology, threats and appropriate research and management actions for addressing the conservation needs of this threatened species. The conservation guidelines have been developed by the Glossy Black-Cockatoo Conservancy. Formed in 2005, the conservancy is a partnership between government, community groups and business to facilitate improved conservation outcomes and inform management responses to protecting the vulnerable glossy black-cockatoo across the South Wast Queensland and Northern NSW region.