Climate change puts ecosystems on the run

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/december21/climate-species-habitats%20-122409.html

Rapid investment needed to protect biodiversity

http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2651

EPBC Act review calls for better protection of our natural environment

http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2638

Get Active for Nature workshop

Be inspired by the wonderful ways in which individuals and community groups are looking after their patch of bush, local rivers, creeks and wetlands.
From tree planting to bird watching, weeding and even poetry writing, there are hundreds of ways ordinary Victorians are "getting active for nature".
This workshop is part of the 2010 Sustainable Living Festival and has been organised by the Victorian National Parks Association and Victoria Naturally Alliance.
The workshop will be held in the 'The Feel Tent' on Saturday, 20 February, at 1pm. For more information visit the VNPA website.

Act up for nature

Victorians are being urged to sign up to the Act4Nature campaign, which encourages people to protect the state’s precious animals, plants and ecosystems.
Launched by environment and climate change minister Gavin Jennings last week, the campaign asks people to make a different pledge every month for one year that in some way helps protect the environment.
This month’s theme focuses on how harsh washing detergents can place many of Victoria's frog, fish and platypus populations under threat.
Read more
> www.act4nature.org.au

'Defence Strategy' needed to tackle environmental crisis

Organisers of the Linking Landscapes Summit 2009 have presented federal environment minister Peter Garrett with a 'natural defence strategy' for Australia's environment that would focus on the creation, protection and restoration of major ecological corridors across the country.
Delivered to the minister in December last year, the communique came out of the Linking Landscapes Summit, which looked at the future of land use in Australia.
The summit is seen as the first step in developing a co-ordinated response to the conservation of Australia’s ecosystems in the face of climate change, bringing together Indigenous people, private landholders and the busiess sector.

For more info about the summit see http://www.linkinglandscapes.net.au/

10,000 voices needed to help keep VEAC alive

The Victorian National Parks Association has launched a statewide campaign to stop the Brumby Government from axing the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council.
The VNPA says plans to abolish VEAC would put future habitat protection at risk, and is instead calling on the State Government to strengthen the council with more powers and resources.
VEAC is an independent, science-based body that looks at the ecological value of habitats and advises government on what to protect. It was instrumental in the creation of Victoria’s new River Red Gum national parks.
The campaign needs 10,000 people to sign a petition that will be presented to Victorian Premier John Brumby by June 5, World Environment Day.
Sign the petition at http://www.vnpa.org.au/subsection.php?subsection_id=226

Free forum: Saving Victoria's Nature in a Changing Climate

The Victoria Naturally Alliance is kicking off 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, with an important forum at this year’s Sustainable Living Festival.
Featuring Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Change Institute, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dr Paul Sinclair and Victorian bush regenerator Karen Baker, the forum will take a close look at the implications of climate change for the state’s biodiversity.
The forum, Saving Victoria’s Nature in a Changing Climate, is being held at the BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square, on Sunday 21 February, 1-2.30pm.

Small is beautiful, and bountiful, for endangered grasslands

Victorian researchers have warned that plans to extend Melbourne’s urban growth boundary could destroy important conservation areas.


http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-219

Camels to rescue in ecosystem

This is an interesting debate....


THE much maligned feral camel may eventually be tolerated in Australia's red centre, albeit in lower numbers, as a "proxy" for the giant marsupial herbivores that went extinct about 50,000 years ago. That's if ecologists seeking to "rewild" Australia get their way.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/camels-to-rescue-in-ecosystem/story-e6frgcjx-1225828459967

Uranium mine leak '5400 times normal level'

Contaminated water seeping from a mine in Kakadu National Park has a uranium concentration more than 5,000 times the normal level, a Senate estimates committee has heard.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/09/2814665.htm?section=business

The 10 Solutions to Save the Oceans

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/the_10_solutions.php

New Guidelines: How Sustainable is Your Seafood?

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/guidelines-sustainable-seafood.html?campaign=daylife-article

So Much For Fish & Chips: Greenpeace List Of Most Over-fished Species

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/greenpeace-endangered-fish.php

5 Stories About Overfishing & What Can Be Done to Stop It

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/5-stories-about-overfishing-what-can-stop-it.php