Increasing household income and a human population expected to grow from seven to nine billion people in the next 20 years have driven up global demand for food, fiber, fuel and other natural resources. Rapid urbanization means that more people are consuming in a way that puts untenable pressure on nature. Read more here.
More than 20 native animals would disappear from the Great Dividing Range before the end of the century if global emissions continue at business as usual rates, according to new analysis by Australian researchers. Read more here.
Few people have heard of the 'buff breasted button quail' and even fewer have seen one. In fact, there hasn't been a confirmed sighting in 100 years. Now a young man from Gatton is taking on the ambitious task of tracking the elusive bird down. Listen here.
Biodiversity loss could become a greater threat to humanity than climate change and we are “running out of time” to turn things around, a Queensland academic warns. On Monday, a new international report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction across the globe, more than ever before in human history. In Australia three native species have become extinct in the last decade and scientists say 17 more could be wiped out in the next 20 years. Read more here.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud's Queensland electorate has had the worst threatened species habitat loss in the nation over the past two decades, new analysis reveals. Read more here.
According to PhD Candidate Michelle Ward and the Australian Conservation Foundation, an area the size of Tasmania containing habitat for endangered species has been lost in Australia since 2000. Read more here.
One million of the Earth's species are now under threat of extinction in an accelerating crisis. A United Nations body has released the biggest-ever review of the state of nature, finding there will likely be grave impacts on humanity from unprecedented declines in biodiversity. The report, three years in the making, was based on systematic reviews of 15,000 scientific and government sources. Global talks are planned next year to chart a post-2020 plan to prevent further damage to biodiversity – but Australia is accused of being missing in action. Listen here
One million of the world's species are now under threat of extinction, according to the biggest-ever review of the state of nature on Earth. Read more here.