The Reimagining Conservation Forum - Working Together for Healthy Country, will be held in Brisbane from Nov 2nd - 4th, 2022. This First Nations-led Forum brings together First Nations leaders and practitioners involved in the policies and practices of land and sea management across Australia.
A video is now live on the critical post-fire monitoring project we are conducting in the Grose Valley region of the Blue Mountains. A diverse team of hydrologists, geomorphologists and ecologists is collecting data and modelling scenarios to inform remedial actions and fire preparations.
In Dec 2021 the public was invited to hear cultural ecologist David Abram in conversation with the leading voices of Australia’s First Peoples as they explored our place in the more-than-human world. The video recording of each webinar is now available to view.
Scenic World and the Institute are committed to collaborating to continue the ecological monitoring program in the Jamison Valley, below and around Scenic World, and contributing to ecological data sets for the benefit of science and the public.
We’re pleased to report that our iNaturalist project, capturing observations of flora and fauna across the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, surpassed 50,000 observations of over 4000 species in January 2022, thanks to over 2,000 citizen scientists.
On Sunday 31st October, Dr Ian Wright and project intern Holly Nettle ventured out into the field to collect new sets of data from the swamps we are monitoring at Lawson, Bullaburra and Medlow Bath, as part of our Upland Swamps project. Dr Wright shared posts about the expedition on Twitter.
Is it the start of ecosystem collapse? The drought in Australia was a significant driver of the summer bushfires. But it also caused another, less well known environmental calamity: entire hillsides of trees turned from green to brown.
Collective trauma is the community wide reaction to a traumatic event, the shared disturbance of a group of people when their world is suddenly upended. The term has gained prominence in the wake of the bushfire crisis and it could hamper Australia’s bushfire recovery.
Kosciuszko National Park provides habitat for many endangered and vulnerable native species. The bushfires have decimated a lot of what was left. Feral horses now threaten to destroy the remainder, and an urgent culling program is needed.
Many Australians feel compelled to help our damaged wildlife after this season’s terrible bushfires. Suggested actions have included donating money, leaving water out for thirsty animals, and learning how to help the injured. But there is an equally, if not more, important way to assist: weeding.
Dr. Jack Pascoe, who completed his PhD on Apex Predators in the GBMWHA under the supervision of Dr Rosalie Chapple, writes in the Guardian on the need for a vision for our environment, for the species and ecosystems it will support, and how our communities will sit within these environments.
With other concerned conservation biologists, researchers from the Threatened Species Recovery Hub have developed a blueprint for management responses to the 19-20 fires. After the catastrophe: a blueprint for a conservation response to large-scale ecological disaster, can be downloaded here.
The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment works with the community and wildlife rehabilitation groups to rescue and care for injured and distressed native wildlife in an emergency, such as prolonged drought or after fire or flood. This is their guide to helping wildlife during emergencies.
As climate change continues, large, intense, and severe fires will become more common. But what does this mean for animals living in fire-prone environments? New research published in the Journal of Animal Ecology looked at studies from around the world to identify how predators respond to fire.
