Land & environment

NSW councils looking for a quick fix to the ownership issues plaguing the Red Fleet have been left disappointed. The NSW government has released its Response to the Parliamentary Accounts Committee's Inquiry into Assets, premises and funding of the NSW RFS. Its response to the major recommendations that the assets be recognised as the property of the NSW RFS, has effectively been kicked down the road ...

After requesting a buyback offer of up to $20 million for fishermen to exit the industry, the Clarence Prawn Trawl committee say NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty's offer is embarrassing. Last Wednesday afternoon, CVI was contacted by Minister Moriarty's office with news that the NSW Government would commit $4.5 million toward buybacks for the prawn trawl industry.

Normanby Aboriginal Corporation and Esparq Ventures have announced they have raised $600,000 as part of their mission to raise $10 million to commercialise, launch, and nationally scale their innovative and sustainable enterprise, Bush Beef ... ethical, climate-friendly food sources are in growing demand ... ARR.News found out more from Dominiqe Bird of Esparq Ventures.

Michelle Daw. A team of citizen scientists is monitoring the impact of the harmful algal bloom on two southern Yorke Peninsula jetties that were home to a dazzling array of sea life. Certified volunteer divers involved in the Edithburgh and Wool Bay Jetties Marine Watch are conducting monthly photography, transects of the seafloor, and quadrat observations under and around both jetties.

The Americans had Apollo. The Soviets had Soyuz. The Chinese have Tiangong. And Australia? We now have the world’s first taxpayer-funded attempt to guide space exploration using songlines ... The real culprit here is modern academia, which now treats all “knowledge systems” as equal. They are not. Knowledge that is testable, repeatable, measurable and falsifiable is superior to knowledge that is not.

With the first day of the 2025-26 abalone season underway on Saturday fishers, who are no doubt keen to get their hands on the delicacy, are being asked to keep safety front of mind ... Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) has reported an increase in incidents over the past few years, with their lifesaving services performing 118 rescues during the four hours of fishing last season and 101 rescues the previous year.

A study tracking not only the forces that drive drought but the damage it leaves behind has revealed that droughts have lasted longer in Australia in recent decades, especially in areas with the most people and farms. UNSW researchers analysed drought trends across Australia between 1911 and 2020 based on rainfall shortages and falling river and dam levels.

When koalas were declared as Endangered north of Victoria, the expert guesstimate of numbers in NSW was 36,350, a very precise and very wrong number. Now, two and a half years after effective surveys commenced in NSW, the estimate is 274,000, eight times higher. This is a less precise and more accurate number, but probably an underestimate. In any case it shows that NSW koalas are not endangered.

Using new tools such as heat-detecting drones and acoustic recorders, scientists surveyed more than 1,000 locations across national parks, state forests and private land. The updated estimate of 274,000 koalas reflects improved technology and more extensive survey work.

Gus van Hart. A young angler has landed the catch of a lifetime off the Cohuna pier, reeling in a metre-plus Murray cod that has kids around town asking him how to fish. Personal trainer Jye Hill, who recently turned 20, was only a few minutes into a session at the popular Cohuna spot when his rod suddenly came to life.

Family members and friends of some of the victims of the Koolewong fires have started gofundme appeals to help them get back on their feet ... Elyse, her boyfriend, her mother, her one-year-old son and their greyhound luckily escaped the flames but have lost their home and every belonging inside it.

The community is still reeling after a devastating bushfire destroyed 16 homes and damaged a further nine at Koolewong on Saturday, December 6 ... News of the fire first broke at around 1pm on Saturday at which time four homes had been lost, with reports of more homes destroyed surfacing during the afternoon and early evening...

Narrandera Shire Council is excited to announce that the community is one step closer to safer, more reliable water, with $908,000 in funding from the Albanese Government to develop a full business case for a new, state-of-the-art Narrandera Water Treatment Plant.

Mat Dalby. A Department of Water and Environmental Regulation report, Wilson Inlet (Nullaki) – Condition of the Estuary 2025, was tabled at the Wilson Inlet Community Science Forum ... Department officials presented the report which assesses the main drivers of estuary health that includes rainfall, river flows, catchment condition, nutrient inputs and sandbar dynamics, as well as the estuary's water quality and seagrass pastures.

Andrew George. On Tuesday 18th November, the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) facilitated the first of four meetings of the Community Reference Group (CRG) for Disaster Adaptation Planning (DAP) for the Northern Rivers (NR). This is a positive step for democratic, community participation in disaster preparedness and adaptation in collaboration with the RA. It is also a sliver of hope for deliberative democracy for the region.

It has stood in place since the 1870s, but the significance of the Stone Pine that towers over the Apex Park in Church Street has now been immortalised. A research project, headed by Hay Landcare member Sally Ware, has unearthed the history and probable provenance of the tree.

A sea of red Santa hats on the beach is a common Christmas Day sight in Australia, and a new study pinpoints the exact beaches near you that almost guarantee perfect beachside weather conditions this December 25th 2025.

Cameron Keane explains how mine tyres can be recycled into pretty much free energy and fishing banned in WA? Fiona L Fox delves into this contentious law in your regional news.

“Water use has drastically declined since the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “with one in three litres of irrigation water, now out of production and new Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) set by the Basin Plan in force” ... “More water is no substitute for these projects. It’s a lose-lose, the environment can’t get the important projects, and communities and industries will further suffer from less water, unless alternatives are considered,” said Ms Lowien.

“Net zero means we have to completely change everything we do in a single generation, from how we drive, to what we eat and make ... There needs to be new modelling done on what the exact cost of net zero is. In Senate estimates, the government was unable to outline the cost of Australia reaching net zero. That is unacceptable. Australians deserve to know how much this radical proposal will cost them”: Senator Matt Canavan.

Alex Nelson. When I moved to Pitchi Richi Sanctuary in October 2022, buffel grass smothered almost the entire site. Aside from a small area around the resident caretaker's cottage, I assessed that buffel grass comprised a minimum of 99.9 per cent of the groundcover across the entire property.

Negotiations to create a new western Queensland national park on Vergemont Station have been finalised ... The proposed 300,000-hectare national park ... will form part of a 1.5 million-hectare protected area corridor. ARR.News asked the department some further questions.