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SENG National Newsletter - August 2014

A landholders fact sheet is now available for the recently listed Kangaroo Island Narrow-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia) Woodland, a critically endangered ecological community.

The Threatened Species Scientific Committee is seeking comments on the listing assessment of Natural Damp Grasslands of the South East Coastal Plain Bioregion. The consultation period closes on 19 September 2014.

Achvaneran, Highlands: Smaller badgers, uneasy at sharing their snack, fled when the doe appeared, but the biggest and most dominant barely hesitated before starting to eat

The first two badgers appeared earlier than usual, so there was no need for me to use the red filtered torch to see them. They were eating the peanuts I had put out earlier on top of an old oak stump only 3 metres from the window at the end of the house.

When I first started feeding them I thought they would eat the peanuts very quickly but, as usual, these two were picking up one or two and chewing them carefully. They began to mesmerise me in the wonder of being so close to them feeding away but then, suddenly, possible confrontation.

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Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 19 September 2014

Comments close 22 September 2014.

The Department of the Environment has released more than 1700 new maps and data that local communities can use to find threatened species in their area.

From 14 September 2014, CITES permits will be required to internationally export or import any part or derivative (e.g. fillets, fins) of the following species: Scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini), Smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena)...

High Speed Rail Report Launch!

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 16 September 2014.

SENG Victoria news - August 2014

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has released the 2014 Outlook Report on the Reef's health, management and likely future.

Wildlife groups demand action over danger from fishing nets to vaquita marina, whose numbers are estimated at under 100

The world's smallest porpoise faces imminent extinction unless the Mexican government eliminates gill-net fishing in its only habitat, the upper Sea of Cortez, scientists have warned.

Recent studies conducted using underwater acoustic technology show that since 2012 the population of the vaquita marina – Spanish for little sea cow – has fallen to fewer than 100.

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SENG SA News and Events - August 2014

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 10 September 2014.

Rise in blocking-patterns – hot or wet weather remaining stuck over regions for weeks – causing frequent heatwaves or floods

Extreme weather like the drought currently scorching the western US and the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010 is becoming much more common, according to new scientific research.

The work shows so-called “blocking patterns”, where hot or wet weather remains stuck over a region for weeks causing heatwaves or floods, have more than doubled in summers over the last decade. The new study may also demonstrate a link between the UK’s recent flood-drenched winter and climate change.

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Traditionally a symbol of wealth and luxury, public attitidues towards shark fin are changing in China, according to a new report

A popular dish at weddings and banquets in China, shark fin soup is increasingly off the menu due to a government frugality drive and awareness campaigns and by conservationists, according to a new report.

The trade in shark fins, a symbol of wealth in China and other parts of Asia, has led to the decline in some shark populations by up to 98% in the last 15 years. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year with up to 73 million used for their fins.

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Muli coalfield is illegally gobbling up a nature reserve, blasting away alpine meadows and destroying the ecosystem of the country’s second largest river, Greenpeace investigation shows

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Allan Savory tells us that increasing livestock can reduce desertification and reverse climate change – but where is the scientific evidence?

It doesn’t matter how often miracles are disproved; our willingness to believe in them remains undiminished. Miracle cures, miracle crops, miracle fuels, miracle financial instruments, miracle profits: the continued enthusiasm for these claims reflects the triumph of hope over experience.

Here’s another one: a miracle technique that allows us to reconcile our insatiable demand for meat with the need to protect the living planet. Better still, it proposes, eating meat could actually save the biosphere. A TED talk which makes this claim has been viewed 2.6m times.

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