Platypuses need threatened species recognition in NSW, researcher says

"The species was only "hanging on, not thriving" in NSW and the Murray-Darling Basin."

"There's no state or national monitoring framework for platypuses...Dr Bino said platypuses had survived Australia's natural cycles for millions of years, but were now struggling to adapt to human-driven changes. We've been disrupting the natural flow regime and fragmenting and isolating platypus populations."

"Platypus are pretty much wiped out from the mainland in South Australia. They used to occur all along the Murray but that's no longer the case." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-27/platypuses-should-be-threatened-species-in-nsw-researcher-says/106520128
#platypuses #conservation #habitat #rivers #NSW #monotremes #MDB #ThreatenedSpecies #biodiversity #water #pollution #sprawl #ImperviousSurfaces #roads #runoff #drowning #WipeoutAU

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

"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

Add it to the list of atrocities. Republicans don't care about conservation; they only care about profits (and bigotry, which doesn't really apply to this particular situation). The oil, gas, and ranching industries have been clamoring for years to see federal protections overturned and now Trump is giving them what they want. #FDT #conservation #ThreatenedSpecies #uspol

https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/26/trump-removes-lesser-prairie-chicken-endangered-species-protections/

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

Call for citizen scientists to monitor threatened turtle species on NSW beaches https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/27/call-for-citizen-scientists-to-monitor-threatened-turtle-species-on-nsw-beaches

#ThreatenedSpecies #WildLife #Conservation #Preservation #MarineLife #Environment

Flora and fauna artist Bing Famoso’s brush keeps Philippine nature alive

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/environment/nature/profile-flora-fauna-artist-bing-famoso/

Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world
It also has the highest loss of mammal species anywhere in the world

"Almost three-quarters of Australian households own a pet...In the 12 months to March, owners spent an estimated $21.3bn on their pets, with food representing almost half of that spend."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/18/most-popular-dog-breeds-names-animal-medicines-australia-2025-survey

What’s in the 2025-26 federal budget for nature?
"Australia's direct government spending on on-ground biodiversity programs was around $474 million in 2025-26, but this figure is forecast to drop significantly in subsequent years, making it a temporary election-year increase. While this is the specific government investment, experts argue it's far below the necessary amount, with figures like $1.69 billion annually needed to address threatened species recovery and around $2 billion annually needed for ecosystem restoration and management."
>>
https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/news/what-s-in-the-2025-26-federal-budget-for-nature

"Australia needs to spend around $15.6 billion per year for 30 years to prevent the extinction of 99 priority species, a figure derived from a 2025 study, but current federal budget allocations fall significantly short of this amount. Studies show Australia currently spends far less, estimated at approximately $122 million per year, and environmental groups consider this insufficient to combat the extinction crisis."
https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/admin/uploads/Factsheet_Spending_to_save_what_it_will_take_to_end_extinction_bd8b84d8c5.pdf
#biodiversity #conservation #values #care #pets #dogs #cats #canines #meat #nature #extinction #ThreatenedSpecies #EndemicSpecies #Australia #ExtinctionCrisis

Dahlia cultivar being pollinated by a threatened species American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on August 6, 2025

Some of the camera settings I used to make this photo are at: https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Aug31_birds_and_cats/2025aug06_bumblebee_IMG_4366c.html

Also: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/305295115

#bumblebee #pollinators #threatenedspecies #naturephotography #Oklahoma #photography