Eradication would cost billions – NT’s lessons for Pilbara’s cane toad management: Charles Darwin University
Cane toads are predicted to invade Western Australia’s Pilbara region by 2041 if left unchecked, but the Northern Territory’s population of the pests hold key lessons that could save billions in eradication costs ... academics found the toxic creatures could colonise three quarters of the Pilbara, threatening 25 native species in the biodiversity hotspot.
Tailoring carbon farming can realise greater co-benefits: Matthew Harrison
Without agriculture, hundreds of millions of people would go hungry every day. Yet modern agriculture is increasingly judged not just on how much food it produces — but on how well it stores carbon, protects biodiversity, and reduces emissions. Farmers are being asked to deliver food, climate solutions and conservation outcomes, while still running profitable businesses.
West Coast shark fishers caught up in demersal ban
A Lancelin based shark fisher says there has been no commercial fishing in the West Coast bioregion between Lancelin and Tims Thicket (south of Mandurah) for nearly 20 years ... Mr Stokke, who also partners with his brother in a western rock lobster boat, said he thought the ban was probably targeting the wet liners but they (the shark fishers) were thrown under the bus with them.
Local hay helping heal fire wounds
The generosity of locals has been on display over the past week as truckloads of hay have been donated, stockpiled and delivered to fire-affected regions within Victoria.
Fire fuel load reaching critical levels: TasFarmers
Farmers across the north of the state are increasingly worried by the huge fuel load on the roadside, especially in the Meander Valley, Northern Midlands and Latrobe Municipalities and on roads controlled by the state government. “The risk of a catastrophic fire caused by too much long grass and weeds on the edges of the roads is increasing by the day,” said TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman.
Warning from Koolewong bushfire survivor
When bushfires roared through Koolewong on December 6, Katie Greene's home was the only one left standing in a row of six houses. She has issued a stark reminder to other home owners to make sure their houses are bushfire safe.
Value of Murray-Darling conference lauded by councillor
The Murray-Darling Association 2025 National Conference saw its new Strategic Plan unveiled, building on the direction of Vision 2025. Narrandera Shire Council was represented by Cr Jenny Clarke, who presented a report to the Council recently.
Powering up
Ausnet repair crews have been acknowledged by the community for the rapid response in rebuilding the electricity network in the wake of the Walwa-River Road bushfire despite facing tough terrain, high temperatures and even lightning and hailstorms.
Aerial shooters engaged to reduce feral pig numbers during flood recovery: McBain, Perrett
Experienced aerial shooters are being engaged to reduce feral pig numbers in flood-ravaged north-west Queensland, backed by the Albanese and Crisafulli Governments. The initiative is part of a $11.32 million Primary Producer Support Package announced under joint Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) in response to the North Queensland Monsoon Trough and ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.
Water matters: Practical outcomes needed in Basin
Rosalie Auricht. A lot can happen in a very short time in the water space, and 2026 is shaping up to be a big year in water policy within the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) ... Federal water recovery from intensive irrigation networks across the Basin can so easily rip the heart out of the social and economic fabric of those communities. The underfunded Federal Sustainable Communities Program, now opened in SA, is designed to diversify economies as they transition away from irrigation. The program provides no comfort to irrigators in intensive irrigation network areas like the Riverland.
Large-scale limestone shellfish reef to rebuild lost habitat: Hood
Preparations for a large-scale limestone shellfish reef – the first delivered under the Malinauskas Government’s Summer Plan – are underway on the Yorke Peninsula, in one of the biggest marine restoration projects ever undertaken in South Australia.
Catastrophic fires highlights coordinated fire management is essential: Timber Towns Victoria
Victoria must embrace a coordinated, science-based approach to fire management in the wake of the state’s largest major bushfires in years, which saw more than 400,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land burnt, destroying hundreds of structures, and claiming life during catastrophic fire conditions.
Victoria’s bushfires show the need for smart, coordinated approaches to fire: Michelle Freeman, Forestry Australia
Michelle Freeman. Victorians are living through another black summer, with fires burning through more than 400,000 hectares of forest and farmland and leaving communities from Natimuk to Walwa confronting loss. The scale of the damage underscores the need to continue evolving how we manage our landscapes to better prepare for fire.
Potential for satellites and AI to help tackle critical invasive species problem: Charles Darwin University
Satellite imagery and artificial intelligence can detect with high accuracy two invasive weed species in Australia, posing a new opportunity for defense against these pervasive plants. Research conducted by Charles Darwin University (CDU) and Charles Sturt University (CSU) explored the potential for SkySat satellite imagery and AI algorithms to detect and map African lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) and bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata).
Tin mining dangers
Kaali King. Few of us know that tin is one of the fastest growing rare-earth mineral commodities in 2025, outstripping lithium, cobalt, silver and graphite. Demand for electronics and EVs, all of which use tin solder (48 per cent of the global tin market) is fuelling the boom.
Review – A Bold Endeavour: A history of our work in the Western Australian rangelands
Roger Underwood. A Bold Endeavour – a history of our work in the Western Australian rangelands is a terrific book. I read it from cover to cover and then went back and read some parts again ... if the political will for action ever arises, best-practice land management systems for the WA rangelands are now known and understood, and could be implemented across the rangelands tomorrow. This situation can be attributed to the work of that small band of tough, dedicated scientists of the Rangeland Management Branch during its short, but dramatic history.
Cattle keep land ‘intact’: Pastoral lobby
The Territory’s 45 million hectares of cattle country is “some of the most intact” land in Australia, something that pastoral families, over more than a century, have achieved not “by locking the country away ... Romy Carey, CEO of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, is making a powerful point in her group’s current newsletter, as her $1.5 billion a year industry is facing Chinese trade restrictions and criticism over its position on buffel weed.
The complexities of managing the waters of Menindee Lakes
The Menindee Lakes system is often described as the beating heart of the Darling-Baaka river system, but in the halls of Canberra and Sydney, it is also a vital "battery" for the Murray-Darling Basin. As we move into 2026, the lakes find themselves at the centre of a major policy shift - the "rescoping" of a controversial water-saving project that has pitted engineering efficiency against cultural survival.
The Cambrian Limestone Aquifer – stable and plentiful: NT
The Northern Territory Government takes a holistic, evidence-based approach to sustainably managing water in the Territory. The Cambrian Limestone Aquifer (CLA) is vast and plentiful and contributes to water resources across a large area of the Territory.
Recreational opportunities in the proposed Great Koala National Park? Government announcement with response from Vic Jurskis
The NSW Government has called for community input on recreational opportunities in the proposed Great Koala National Park. Regular ARR.News commentator on koala issues, Vic Jurskis, responds and has some questions for the Environment Minister ... Where do koalas no longer exist in NSW? What is the evidence they existed there when Europeans arrived? What is the evidence they are no longer there? Do you intend to reintroduce them?
Is there a future for the Snowy Mountain brumbies?
Colleen Krestensen. With the repeal of the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 (NSW), the Australian Brumby Alliance and brumby rehoming organisations are deeply concerned that the NSW Government and NPWS will move to quickly slaughter the remaining brumbies by aerial culling or other lethal methods ... The ABA strongly believes that with the brumby population in Kosciuszko National Park now as low as 579 horses, and the perceived density problem addressed, there is time to review how the remaining horses are managed and to make animal welfare an imperative.
Lower Murray River ecosystem listed as Critically Endangered – announcement and early reactions
On Thursday 15 January 2026, the Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt, announced the Federal Government's decision to list the Lower Murray River System as being of Critically Endangered conservation status pursuant to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). Minister Watt's statement together with early statements from National Farmers' Federation and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW demonstrate some of the points of difference over this contentious decision.
