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Reintroduction programmes of animals driven from their once-natural habits are a cause for optimism

In May, Dutch and Romanian European bison reintroduction programmes were declared successful after several years of conservation efforts. The Dutch project began back in 2007; the wild cattle had been extinct in that region for two centuries. Now, though, both national parks in question are reaping great environmental benefits from the bisons’ grazing, with a consequent flourishing of flora and fauna.

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Climate change has caused a catastrophic drop in the numbers of terns, kittiwakes and puffins

Sumburgh Head lies at the southern tip of mainland Shetland. This dramatic 100-metre-high rocky spur, crowned with a lighthouse built by Robert Louis Stevenson’s grandfather, has a reputation for being one of the biggest and most accessible seabird colonies in Britain.

Thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars gather there every spring to breed, covering almost every square inch of rock or grass with teeming, screeching birds and their young.

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As solar farms spread across the central agricultural regions of the sunshine state, opponents are becoming increasingly vocal

Colin Ash has spent a working lifetime in the cane fields near the Pioneer River in central Queensland, out past Marian, where the mill has processed sugar for more than 130 years.

“You can’t get sentimental about things,” he says from the front seat of his truck as he drives slowly around the boundary of his property. “You’ve got to pay your bills.”

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Pilot whale was found barely alive in Thai canal and vomited up five bags during fruitless rescue attempts

A whale has died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags, with rescuers failing to nurse the mammal back to health.

The small male pilot whale was found barely alive in a canal near the border with Malaysia, the country’s department of marine and coastal resources said.

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A 10-year fight between a group of residents and the East Gippsland shire council over grey-headed flying foxes is heating up again

The Australian town of Bairnsdale in Victoria – 300km east of Melbourne – is known as the gateway to east Gippsland’s natural wonders. It is also the scene of a 10-year battle between a group of residents and the East Gippsland shire council over a colony of grey-headed flying foxes that roost along the town’s Mitchell River.

In 2014, the council received federal government approval to clear critical habitat in a three-stage process, the first occurring in 2015. The debate is now heating up in the approach of stage-two clearing, which the council intends to complete by the end of 2018.

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Before the latest auction figures, Adam Morton investigates the plan Turnbull once called ‘a recipe for fiscal recklessness’

At some point in June, the Australian government will announce it has spent up to $2.3bn over three years on a scheme that the prime minister believes is a reckless waste of public money.

Related: Land-clearing wipes out $1bn taxpayer-funded emissions gains

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If a clock ticks for 10,000 years will anybody be there to hear it? Long term thinking... come on... let's do this.  

Start Point, Devon: Spider crabs rub pieces of seaweed against the backs of their shells until they stick, creating remarkable camouflage

The combe above the beach echoes with the calls of chiffchaffs, and cock stonechats flick and churr on the wind-stunted hawthorns that line the footpath. Around the twin radio masts – a 20th-century riposte to Start Point’s whitewashed gothic lighthouse – a small flock of swallows cut and swerve.

Beneath the sea there are signs of spring too. Common spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla), which have been overwintering in the depths, start to appear close to shore, a sight that has become a feature of my first sea swims of the year.

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Jodie Rummer and Adam Downie are putting fish through their paces in their lab hoping to discover how reef fish develop their athletic abilities, so early in their lives.

The Australian government proposes to fund research into carbon capture and storage.

From Canberra to Wellington via Cambridge. Nathaniel Davis is taking his solar research to New Zealand.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Environment minister says up to 2,500 wild horses are causing ‘significant damage’ to plant and animal species

The Victorian government has signed off on a plan to remove more than 1,200 feral horses from the Alpine national park, saying the impact of the animals on sensitive ecosystems has reached critical levels.

Two weeks ago the New South Wales government announced a proposal to protect Kosciuszko national park brumbies, which conservation advocates have labelled a “disaster” for Australia’s environmental heritage.

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EU carbon prices bounced back above €15 on Friday to claw back much of the previous day’s heavy losses, combining with weaker German power to knock generator profit margins to their lowest in at least a decade.

Energy firm obtains expanded injunction ahead of plans to begin large-scale fracking at Preston New Road site

A major energy firm has secured an expanded injunction against protesters after it took a big step towards starting fracking on a substantial scale.

Cuadrilla Resources went to court to obtain the injunction against all campaigners who opposed its drilling operations at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire. The injunction was granted on Friday on a temporary basis amid growing criticism of the corporate use of injunctions to counter protests. At least five companies have chosen to use them as legal weapons in this way.

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The EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) voted late Thursday to review whether several of the agency’s decisions to repeal or weaken environmental policies such as the Clean Power Plan (CPP) were based on insufficient scientific information, serving as a possible check on Administrator Pruitt’s efforts to scale back GHG regulations.

Christiana Figueres was also scathing of those who say it is inevitable that the global warming limit set out in the Paris agreement will be broken

Businesses are moving forward faster than ever on climate change despite the intransigence of US president Donald Trump, the former climate chief of the UN has said.

“There is a big difference between the economics of climate change and the politics of climate change,” said Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change, who oversaw the landmark Paris agreement on climate change.

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John Loader does the math on stapling the sections of the paper

May I ask all those readers who want their Guardian stapled (How the humble stapler came to one reader’s aid, 28 May) to consider the ecological effects of ther preference. The Guardian comes on weekdays in three sections, one part only using two staples. Given a circulation (ABC) of 142,318, the Guardian already thus uses 284,636 staples Monday to Friday. Each one is roughly 3cm long. So for every weekday the Guardian itself uses over 8.5km of steel. I don’t have a set of scales to weigh anything less than a quarter of an ounce, but that’s a hefty reel of steel every day. Bet you it’s Chinese, too, and most will end up as rust.

So, green-thinking Guardian readers: join the campaign to banish the staple and help save the planet. Take responsibilty for your pages, grasp the sides fully and say no to staples. You know it makes sense.
John Loader
Leyburn, North Yorkshire

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Blue-throated bee-eaters, a baby anteater and a dehydrated fruitbat are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.