Our Wide Brown Land

Our fragile environment is under attack. Protections have been eroded, funding slashed and immediate dangers overlooked. Thanks to our readers, we’ve raised $150,000 to support this series shining the spotlight on Australia’s neglected environmental issues. Follow it here

By Guardian Australia

Guardian Australia
Ecosystems
The disaster movie playing in Australia's wild places – and solutions that could help hit pause
The Guardian - Adam Morton and Graham Readfearn
They read like scenes from a disaster movie, vignettes of a natural world slipping into decay. In the tropical wet rainforests of far north Queensland, outside Cairns, an estimated 23,000 spectacled flying...
2 days ago
Guardian Australia
Mangroves
Blue carbon: how three Australian marine sites lock away 2bn tonnes of CO2
The Guardian - Graham Readfearn
Three of Australia’s world heritage-listed marine sites have more than 2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide locked away in their vast seagrass meadows, coastal mangroves and tidal marshes, according to a new from...
5 days ago
Guardian Australia
Bees
Bee sting twice as likely to land Australians in hospital than encounter with venomous wildlife
The Guardian - Calla Wahlquist
Australia is home to the 11 most venomous snakes in the world, the deadliest spider in the world, and some of the most venomous marine life. And yet according to a study released on Wednesday, Australians...
6 days ago
Guardian Australia
Australasia
NSW organic farmers call for more protection as state lifts ban on GM crops
The Guardian - Graham Readfearn
Organic farming representatives say a decision by the New South Wales government to lift a ban on genetically modified crops will hurt its thriving industry. NSW agriculture minister Adam Marshall announced...
6 days ago
Guardian Australia
Biological Species
As many corals growing in the Pacific as trees in the Amazon, new study finds
The Guardian - Graham Readfearn
A world-first estimate of the number of corals across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean has suggested there are about half a trillion of the reef-building animals. Researchers say their findings, from analysis...
Mar 1