National environmental standards ?

"Federal government accused of watering down proposal to protect Australia’s threatened species and ecosystems."

“There’s no requirement for these processes to actually deliver the outcomes and objectives expressed in the standard.”

"...Australia’s populations of threatened species had declined, on average, by 50% over the past two decades." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/02/federal-government-accused-of-watering-down-proposal-to-protect-australias-threatened-species-and-ecosystems
#biodiversity #ecosystems #wildlife #EPBCAct #destruction #harm #extractivism #extinctions #StreamlineEnvironmentalApprovals #Australia

Federal government accused of watering down proposal to protect Australia’s threatened species and ecosystems

Wilderness Society says changes undermined intent of national standards intended to reverse decline of plants, animals and ecosystems

The Guardian

Reversing biodiversity decline through individual good will ?

“With a paucity of government support, philanthropy … has become an invaluable enabler for people dedicated to working for the environment.” >>

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/18/privately-protected-managed-land-australia-biodiversity-protection

#biodiversity #conservation #ecosystems #wildlife #PrivateLandholders #extinction #governance #begging #EPBCact #ArbitraryAction

‘The environmental movement needs many hands’: saving Australia’s biodiversity is getting personal

Powered by individual donations and bequests, the country now has one of the world’s largest networks of privately protected and managed land

The Guardian

Platypus decline: First south-east Queensland, then northern Queensland

"In communities in south-east Queensland, we're certainly starting to hear that narrative that they're not seeing them...Dr Brunt said a comparison of historical records of platypus sightings with a recent survey of their populations in south-east Queensland had shown a marked decrease in numbers."

"It is not something she wants to see repeated in north Queensland, and Dr Brunt is part of a push to have platypuses recognised as "vulnerable" under the national Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act." >>

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-15/platypus-marian-vulnerable-conservation-register/106562272
#Platypus #Biodiversity #EPBCAct #sprawl #suburbia #HabitatDestruction #extinction

Push to have platypus listed as 'vulnerable' on national register

A lack of hard data on platypus numbers holds back a Queensland-led effort to list the iconic monotreme as "vulnerable" on the national Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation register.

Farmer "preferred profit and commercial interest over the environment."

The owner of Treetops Estate Pty Ltd has been fined $84,000 for illegal land clearing — much less than the $2.2 million it would have cost him if he had obtained a permit for the work. The farmer was convicted over clearing 112 hectares of bushland.

"The clearing significantly reduced high-value remnant vegetation and the habitat of 18 species of native birds, including three of conservational significance: peregrine falcon, purple-gaped honeyeater and black-chinned honeyeater." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-09/farm-owner-convicted-over-land-clearing-fine-less-than-permit/106543362
#biodiversity #LandClearing #deforestation #farming #crime #CostOfDoingBusiness #extinction #birds #EPBCact

'Preferred profit ... over the environment': Farm owner fined for clearing 112 hectares of bushland

The owner of a farm in South Australia's south-east is convicted and fined for clearing 112 hectares of bushland, but the penalty is much less than the $2.2 million he would have had to pay for a permit for the work.

Automating rapid environment assessments for extractions could ultimately push Australian flora and fauna closer to extinction.

Using AI to prepare and evaluate environmental assessments risks ‘robodebt-style’ failures, scientists say >>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/06/ai-environmental-assessments-robodebt-style-failures
#biodiversity #EPBCAct #conservation #ecosystems #extraction #mining #Robodebt #AI #governance #speed #EcologySlop

Using AI to speed up Australia’s environmental approvals risks ‘robodebt-style’ failures, scientists say

Conservationists say move could push species closer to extinction and clearer environmental rules are needed instead

The Guardian

Koala habitat logged by farmers. Will they be charged under the new environment laws?

"Carte blanche" for bulldozing endangered ecosystems?

"The Australian Conservation Foundation has identified a dozen cases of land clearing since December that should have sought environmental approval."

"The ACF has found, via satellite imagery, a dozen cases in Queensland and NSW of old bushland containing endangered habitats being cleared without any of the necessary referrals for approval."

"The maximum penalty for breaches of the EPBC Act is up to $1.565 million for individuals and up to $15.65 million for corporate breaches." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-19/epbc-land-clearing-koala-unaware-farmers/106452434
#biodiversity #EPBCAct #LandClearing #farmers #koalas #NativeVegetation #law #EndangeredEcosystems #NSW

Koala habitat logged by farmers unaware of new environment laws

Koala habitat has been bulldozed in an apparent breach of new environment laws that took effect in December, with fears farmers are unaware of their new obligations.

The government's spending on harming nature

"For the first time, research published this year, identified 36 federal subsidies worth $26.3 billion annually that are potentially harmful to biodiversity. Fossil fuel subsidies alone account for $14.1 billion. It is extraordinary the Australian Government believes it can exclude fossil fuel subsidies on the basis of a technicality. Meanwhile, independent estimates place federal biodiversity conservation spending at below $1 billion annually. "

"The arithmetic is stark: the government spent more than $26 billion a year on harming nature, less than $1 billion conserving it. No government serious about halting biodiversity loss would preside over such an imbalance and say they were “on track”. >>
https://theconversation.com/australia-claims-it-is-on-track-to-save-nature-we-disagree-278081

Biodiversity-harmful subsidies in Australia
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14486563.2026.2623910
#FossilFuels #FossilFuelsSubsidies #biodiversity #harm #conservation #KMGBF #restoration #NoTake #fishing #ThreatenedSpecies #Australia #MarineLife #degradation #EPBCAct #war #climate #pollution #governance #values

Australia claims it is ‘on track’ to save nature. We disagree

The federal government needs to drop the spin and get on with the hard work of addressing biodiversity loss.

The Conversation

Australia claims it is ‘on track’ to save nature. We disagree

"Ecosystems are being left to degrade, rare and precious species are sliding toward extinction, and billions of dollars are being used to quietly fund subsidies, including for fossil fuels, which contribute to the very destruction the government claims to be fixing."

"Australia already holds the world’s worst record for modern mammal extinctions – 38 species lost since colonisation, more than any other country. Against that grim inheritance, having no further extinctions (that we know about) is a remarkably low bar."

1. Restoration: not enough done, and the report knows it
2. Protected areas: national figures mask failures
3. Threatened species: declining, not recovering
4. Harmful fossil fuel subsidies hidden, conservation spending inflated

"This new report confirms those weaknesses extend to Australia’s self-assessment, which lacks the rigour and ambition the nature crisis demands.The reforms of Australia’s nature laws, passed in late 2025, are the most significant in a generation, and we welcome them. But legislation without implementation, adequate funding or a delivery plan is not enough."

"This important report – with its hidden subsidies, inflated spending figures, missing implementation plan, and a definition of “on track” that mistakes promises for progress – is not worthy of a nation with both the means and the obligation to lead." >>
https://theconversation.com/australia-claims-it-is-on-track-to-save-nature-we-disagree-278081
#biodiversity #conservation #KMGBF #restoration #NoTake #fishing #ThreatenedSpecies #FossilFuels #FossilFuelsSubsidies #Australia #MarineLife #degradation #EPBCAct

Australia claims it is ‘on track’ to save nature. We disagree

The federal government needs to drop the spin and get on with the hard work of addressing biodiversity loss.

The Conversation

Australian wildlife in ‘harm’s way’, with volunteers left to ‘pick up the pieces’ amid climate crisis, fires and floods

"Last financial year, volunteers responded to more than 320,000 calls for help for sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. Nearly 130,000 rescue operations were conducted and vets assessed 51,000 injured animals."

"The soaring demand is being driven by climate change and habitat destruction."

“As a consequence of these pressures, more and more animals are getting in harm’s way. When they get in harm’s way, governments take very little interest. So it is left to volunteers to pick up the pieces and get those animals back into the wild. Currently responsibility for injured animals falls on the community."

"We need a national approach.”
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/03/australian-wildlife-in-harms-way-with-volunteers-left-to-pick-up-the-pieces-amid-climate-crisis-fires-and-floods
#biodiversity #wildlife #conservation #EPBCAct #volunteers #FossilFuels #sprawl #roads #LandClearing #climate #governance

Australian wildlife in ‘harm’s way’ with volunteers left to ‘pick up the pieces’ amid climate crisis, fires and floods

Ken Henry leads push for federal government to do more to protect animals as biodiversity declines

The Guardian

Bulldozing Australia’s great tropical savanna
"One of the largest intact and biodiverse savanna ecosystems left on Earth”.

"The environment minister, Murray Watt, has given the green light for the bulldozing of nearly 3,000 hectares of tropical savanna in the Northern Territory without an assessment under Australia’s nature laws."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/24/federal-green-light-bulldoze-tropical-savanna-northern-territory-threatened-species
#biodiversity #cotton #monoculture #ThreatenedSpecies #EPBCAct #LandClearing #NationalInterest #exemptions #laws #Australia #extractivism #water

Image: The Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gouldian_Finch_(8952067299).jpg