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Environmental Impact

Indigenous custodians embrace chance to curb tourism at 'trashed' swimming spot

Traditional owners in the Bellingen Valley now have a big say in how to protect a culturally significant site that has been paying a heavy environmental price for its popularity.
Never Never River

Wanted: 10,000 feral pig ears to help control 'one of Australia's worst pest animals'

From national parks to farmland, feral pig numbers continue to explode despite control efforts. But the pig hunting industry hopes a collection of 10,000 pig ears will provide the answers they have been searching for. 
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Feral Pig standing in muddy water in front of sugar cane

Queensland park rangers urge people to poo more responsibly while hiking

Hundreds of people set out on multi-day hikes through Queensland's bush each day, but most tracks don't have a toilet. Rangers say it's creating a big problem in the otherwise pristine environments.
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The feet of someone pretending to be going to the toilet in the bush, with a poo pot.

Nannas on the mend aim to prolong the life of clothes through free sewing lessons

While Australia overtakes the US as the largest per capita consumer of textiles, a group of nannas in the South West of WA is having a darn good go at fixing fashion waste through thrifty sewing sessions.
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Woman holds jumper with a small patch of darning

How Australia's fragile native orchids could be evolving themselves towards extinction

With only a few hundred charming spider orchids left in the wild, the species' complex relationships with other organisms are thought to be hindering its survival.
Two green and maroon orchids.

A deadly virus is 'likely' to arrive in Australia in spring, and has potential to cause localised extinctions

The H5N1 strain of bird flu is different to the strain affecting eggs, but it has been decimating wildlife on every other continent on earth. Ecologists say it could arrive in Australia in spring.
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a close up photo of a small penguin.

Cheers as snuggling marsupial sighting sparks hope for fire-ravaged colony

An image of two greater gliders cuddled up in a treetop nesting box has been hailed as a long-awaited sign that efforts to rehabilitate a colony in NSW are working.
Two possum-like marsupials lying together in a wooden container.

Government flags massive expansion of Antarctic marine park for 'untouched' Heard and McDonald Islands

The marine park that includes the subantarctic Heard and McDonald Islands is set for a massive expansion, with the federal government planning to protect an extra 300,000 square kilometres of ocean.
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Four king penguins on a wide pebbly expanse in front of icy mountains. Two are standing, one is lying down and one is grooming

Why enough sewage to fill 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools poured into a Queensland river for three months

The worst sewage spill in Queensland history was caused by corrosion and a local government’s over-reliance on the public and another council to detect leaks, an independent investigation has found.
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Groups of people stand in a muddy field.

Car import loophole allows manufacturers to rush polluting vehicles into Australia

A loophole in the government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard could be exploited by car makers seeking to import higher-polluting vehicles, and would undermine the first three years of the new climate laws.
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Rows of cars in a car park, with stacked shipping containers behind them.

'It was truly abandoned': Decommissioned Antarctic base a pollution risk as French team calls on Australia to clean up

Wilkes Station in Antarctica has been abandoned since 1969. The site, with its old fuel drums, asbestos buildings and other waste, has been described by a French inspection team as "concerning" to the local environment.
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Timber crates in thawed, refrozen lake

analysis:Disposable vapes are not designed to be disassembled. We pulled some apart anyway — here's what we found

There are no practical means to collect or recycle vapes, and most end up as electronic waste in landfill. Some are simply thrown on the street as litter. So what's really inside vapes?
A photo of various vape parts: batteries, leads, plastics, casings etc

Maura had to endure sub-Antarctic conditions to create her latest artworks. The 'joy' was worth it

Before botanical illustrator Maura Chamberlain made her way to Macquarie Island, her experience with sub-Antarctic plants was limited to those in the local botanical gardens. Now she knows what it's like to walk through them. 
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A lady working on the details of a drawing.

Native plants bring life back to garden and a rejuvenated home owner

Carmel Marks is among a growing number of people making a transition from traditional gardens, saying the planting of natives on her property was the self-sustaining answer she had been searching for.
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a woman in a blue-purple cardigan, with white hair and glasses, squatting next to a tree in her garden

Meet the 'time-rich, cash-poor' Australian family hitchhiking their way to India on the adventure of a lifetime

A few weeks ago, the Jones family was waking to icy cold winter mornings. Now, they're seeing how far their thumbs can take them on the journey from central Victoria to India. 
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Two adults and a child holding a sign on the side of a road, near street signs.

Aurora chaser joins fight to protect thrombolites after 'embarrassing' walk on ancient fossil site

When Wesley Lamont set up his camera to capture the aurora australis, he had no idea he was trampling on a fragile ecosystem and potentially causing decades of damage.
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The aurora taken off the boardwalk at the thrombolites

Food scraps make up about a third of general waste bins. City of Sydney hopes maggots can help reduce this

A 12-month trial using Goterra's black soldier fly larvae system will begin with hopes it can be extended to all Sydney residents. 
Two women with hands in gloves sift through a tray of dirt and maggots.

Coorong fishers call for action over ailing South Lagoon in largest fish kill in 40 years

Commercial fishers say fish are dying "left, right, and centre" in the South Lagoon and they are sick of waiting for governments to make a decision on how to fix the degraded environment.
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Dead and decaying fish scattered on the shoreline of a lagoon

With the rise of ecommerce websites, kids' toyshops may become a thing of the past

While international ecommerce offers cheap prices, there are fears the online giants are contributing to a culture of over-consumption by shoppers — and killing off traditional toy stores.
A man in a brown sweater, a black beanie and denim jeans stands in front of children's car toys.

'I'm very anti-fast fashion': How a wave of second-hand shopping is cutting NSW's carbon footprint

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to grow, some NSW residents have turned their attention to second-hand shopping. That move has helped divert 49,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, while allowing residents to pocket millions in savings.
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Two men and an older woman ineract with one another at a warehouse filled with recycled goods

Rule-breaching miner's billion-dollar plan raises red flags for farmers

Farmers fear a company that "couldn't do the right thing" when exploring western NSW for rare earth minerals won't be able to manage if its project goes into full production.
A man wearing a hat stands at a gated entrance to a rural property.

River stink no cause for alarm as ecosystem strengthens to bring exciting new life

The River Murray is expected to emit an unpleasant odour this week but experts say it has been years since they have seen it so healthy.
Surface scum in the Murray River from the blue green algae outbreak in April 2016.

Fiji works to recover patrol boat that ran aground after being gifted by Australia

Australia has sent specialised recovery equipment to Fiji to help with the recovery of RFNS Puamau, with Fijian authorities working to prevent any potential oil spill from the accident.
A boat sits in the ocean with its rear covered by water against a blue sky

Astronomy tourism business ready to fight Australia's first compressed air energy storage project

A stargazing tourism operation says it has "legalled up" in response to a billion-dollar renewable energy project set to be located down the road from the business that relies on dark skies.
A mine near Broken Hill at sunset with the horizon and the city.

The Maldives is building new islands to fend off rising seas — and environmentalists are outraged

The Maldivian government says controversial land reclamation projects are necessary to fight rising sea levels and land scarcity. Experts say tourism is trumping the environment.
An aerial shot of a tropical blue lagoon, with beachfront bungalows, resorts and yachts.