Category Archives: Conservation

‘They’re being cooked’: baby swifts die leaving nests as heatwave hits Spain

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Ecologists raise concern over chicks’ attempts to escape high temperatures during one of earliest heatwaves on record

Hundreds of baby swifts in southern Spain have died after leaving their nests prematurely, in what ecologists described as an attempt to escape the extreme temperatures during one of the country’s earliest heatwaves on record.

Concerns were raised for the protected species late last week after residents in Seville and Córdoba noticed dozens of recently hatched birds scattered across sidewalks.

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Malaysia’s ‘mystery hybrid monkey’ could be result of habitat loss

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Researcher says proboscis monkey may have mated with silver langur when unable to reach female of own species

The emergence of a “mystery monkey”, believed to be a rare hybrid of two distantly related primates, highlights the importance of protecting habit connectivity, according to a researcher who studied the animal.

The female monkey first attracted attention in 2017, when photographs taken of it along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysia, were uploaded to social media wildlife photography groups.

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‘Secretive, adorable weirdos’: rare possum caught in the Northern Territory for first time

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Ecologists say discovery of scaly-tailed possum at Bullo River Station is a sign of positive benefit of private land conservation

A rare scaly-tailed possum has been caught in the Northern Territory for the first time in what scientists say is a sign that private land conservation is having a positive effect.

The scaly-tailed possum, also known as the Wyulda, is a rock-dwelling marsupial with stout limbs and a “grippy” tail it uses to hang from branches and rock ledges to reach for seeds, fruits and flowers.

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Florida’s manatees are dying in record numbers – but a lawsuit offers hope

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US wildlife agency agrees to review protection for habitats after conservationists sue over mass die-offs from poor water quality

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has agreed to update critical habitat protections for manatees after legal pressure from environmental groups, as the animals continue to die in record numbers.

More than 1,000 manatees died in Florida last year, wiping out more than 10% of the state’s population, the deadliest year on record. The unusually high mortality rate for the threatened mammals has continued into 2022, with 562 deaths in the first five months.

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Paris protesters celebrate saving trees around the Eiffel Tower

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City abandons €72m scheme to develop area and create huge garden in time for 2024 Olympics

Protesters in Paris are celebrating having saved more than 40 trees – one of them over 200 years old – from being chopped down or threatened with damage around the Eiffel Tower as part of a €72m scheme to create a huge garden.

Paris’s city hall has been forced to row back on plans to clear the area around the structure on the Champ-de-Mars to improve access to the tower and make the traffic-clogged area greener in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Coalition scrapped recovery plans for 176 threatened species and habitats in one of its final acts

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‘On what sort of planet does the commonwealth think they don’t need a recovery plan for a Tasmanian devil’, asks Wilderness Society

Recovery plans designed to prevent the extinction of almost 180 threatened species and habitats, including the Tasmanian devil, were scrapped by the Coalition in one of Sussan Ley’s final acts as environment minister.

Last year, the Morrison government proposed removing the requirement for a legislated plan for 185 plants, animals and habitats, including several plans that were years overdue.

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Species recovery targets in England damaging and illogical, scientists warn

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Exclusive: PM told there could be eight years’ decline before any gains despite already being at ‘rock bottom’

The government has set damaging and illogical targets for species recovery in England that could mean there is eight years of decline before any improvement, despite already being at “rock bottom”, scientists have warned the prime minister.

Twenty-three leading scientists from institutions including Oxford and Cambridge universities, the Natural History Museum, the Zoological Society of London and the RSPB have written to Boris Johnson expressing their alarm over the nature targets.

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Rewilding the red centre: bilbies released into NT predator-free sanctuary in bid to save threatened species

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The animals are a crucial part of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven scheme to reintroduce 11 vulnerable native mammals

In the red centre of Australia, a ring-fenced refuge for threatened native mammals is slowly but surely expanding its population.

Earlier this week, 32 threatened greater bilbies moved in and 65 burrowing bettongs will join them before the weekend is out.

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European fishing fleets accused of illegally netting tuna in Indian Ocean

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Reports handed to EU claim vessels likely to have entered coastal states’ waters where stocks are dwindling

European fishing fleets have been illegally netting tuna from dwindling stocks in the Indian Ocean, according to data presented to EU authorities and analysed by expert groups.

EU purse seine (a type of large net) fishing vessels were present in the waters of Indian Ocean coastal states, where they were likely to have carried out unauthorised catches, and have reported catches in the Chagos archipelago marine protected area and in Mozambique’s exclusive economic zone.

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Half of UK’s butterfly species vulnerable to extinction as five join red list

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Time is running out to save 58 resident species, Butterfly Conservation warns

Half of Britain’s butterfly species are now listed as threatened with extinction after five more joined the new “red list” of endangered butterflies.

The increase in the number of species listed as “vulnerable” from nine in 2011 to 16 today is a warning that time is running out to save the 58 resident species, according to Butterfly Conservation, which compiled the red list from scientific monitoring data according to the criteria set out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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‘Extremely active’ jumping worms that can leap a foot raise alarm in California

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Earthworm native to east Asia and known for its large appetite poses threat to forest ecosystems, scientists say

An invasive worm species known for its “voracious appetite” and ability to jump a foot in the air is raising alarm in California, where scientists have expressed concerns about the threat the worms pose to forest ecosystems.

The Amynthas agrestis, also known as the Asian jumping worm, Alabama jumper or crazy snake worm, have been spotted in California in recent months. The earthworm is native to east Asia, particularly to Japan and the Korean peninsula. However, in recent years the worms made their way to North America via various landscape plants that have been imported from the region.

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‘Sleepwalking through extinction’: China urged to end delays to Cop15 summit

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Covid lockdowns in host country frustrate scientists as no date in sight for key UN conservation conference after two years of delays


China has been urged to name a date for a key UN nature summit this year, amid growing frustration with Beijing and concerns among experts that we are “sleepwalking through this cataclysmic climate extinction”.

After two years of delays, governments had been scheduled to meet in Kunming, China, for Cop15 in late April to negotiate this decade’s targets to halt and reverse the rampant destruction of ecosystems and wildlife crucial to human civilisation. It had been hoped the summit would be a “Paris moment” for biodiversity, with China holding the presidency for a major UN environmental agreement for the first time.

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Australian authorities to buy out fisheries citing climate crisis

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$20m permit buyback aims to help recovery of jackass morwong, redfish, john dory and silver trevally

The federal government will spend $20m to buy out fisheries in Australia’s south-east in part because the climate crisis is affecting population numbers of some species, making current fishing levels unsustainable.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority will buy back vessel permits in the south-east trawl fishery, which is the largest commonwealth-managed fin fish fishery in Australia.

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Labor pledges millions in funding to protect threatened species and Great Barrier Reef

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Opposition says it will also provide a response to the Samuel review into Australia’s national environmental laws

Labor says it will establish a national threatened species program and provide a full response to the independent review of national environmental laws if it forms government.

In a policy announced Thursday evening the party promised $224.5m over the forward estimates for a national threatened species program that will include addressing the backlog of almost 200 overdue and outdated species recovery plans.

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and Labor’s environment spokesperson, Terri Butler, said they would also work with state and territory governments to develop a national conservation strategy.

They did not say what the conservation strategy would entail.

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Endangered tree seedlings planted in secret locations on NSW north coast

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Seeds from nightcap oak trees were collected and propagated after black summer bushfires destroyed or damaged 20% of the population

Seedlings of an endangered tree are being planted in secret locations on the New South Wales north coast in an attempt to save the species after devastating bushfires.

The critically endangered nightcap oak trees date back to the Gondwana supercontinent era and can grow up to 40 metres tall, but are only found in northern NSW.

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Missing in action: five issues the major parties are avoiding in the 2022 federal election

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Key areas such as conservation, the arts, science and education have been neglected in a narrowly focused campaign

With two weeks to go until the 2022 federal election, most of the key policy offerings from the major parties have already been outlined – but there are some big gaps. From conservation to education and the arts, both Labor and the Coalition have been short on detail. Here are six areas where voters are left in the dark:

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Vaquita porpoise could survive … but only if illegal fishing stops immediately

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DNA study finds rarest cetacean, only found in Gulf of California, has enough genetic diversity to recover – if gillnet ban is enforced


Scientists studying the DNA of the world’s smallest cetacean and rarest marine mammal, the vaquita porpoise, have made a surprising and bittersweet discovery.

With a tiny population of fewer than 10 individuals left, the mammal was assumed by conservationists to be at a similar risk of harmful mutations and inbreeding as other species with small gene pools.

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‘Relentless’ destruction of rainforest continuing despite Cop26 pledge

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Tropics lost 11.1m hectares of tree cover in 2021, including forest critical to limiting global heating and biodiversity loss, finds World Resources Institute

Pristine rainforests were once again destroyed at a relentless rate in 2021, according to new figures, prompting concerns governments will not meet a Cop26 deal to halt and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade.

From the Brazilian Amazon to the Congo basin, the tropics lost 11.1m hectares of tree cover last year, including 3.75m ha of primary forest critical to limiting global heating and biodiversity loss.

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Clive Palmer’s proposed open-cut mine could have ‘far-reaching impact’ on Great Barrier Reef, study finds

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Study finds tidal currents could introduce pollution from coalmine into seagrass meadows and dugong sanctuary in marine park

Billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposal to build an open-cut coalmine 10km from the coast of the Great Barrier Reef would have a “far-reaching impact” on the world heritage area, say scientists, whose modelling shows concentrated pollution from the mine could reach sensitive marine ecosystems within weeks.

The Queensland government last year deemed the Central Queensland coal proposal by a subsidiary company of Palmer’s flagship entity, Mineralogy, “not suitable” and said it posed “a number of unacceptable risks” due to its location, the prospect of polluted water discharge and a lack of effective mitigation measures.

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Scientists find dingoes genetically different from domestic dogs after decoding genome

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The canine is an intermediary between wolves and domestic dog breeds, research shows

Dingoes are genetically distinct from domestic dogs and their evolution has been shaped by Australia’s environment, scientists who have fully decoded the dingo genome have said.

An international team of researchers have analysed the genetic makeup of a pure desert dingo called Sandy Maliki, finding that dingoes are an intermediary between wolves and domestic dog breeds.

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