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These masters of disguise are some of the world’s oldest surviving mammals, but they are threatened by habitat loss, traffic and feral cats – and they need our help

They may be one of the world’s oldest surviving mammals – around for at least 25m years – but scientists don’t know much about echidnas. Now researchers believe the remaining Australian population may be threatened and they need citizen scientists’ help to save them.

Related: 'Fantasy documents': recovery plans failing Australia's endangered species

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Minette Batters becomes first woman to hold top job since NFU was founded in 1908

The National Farmers’ Union has elected Minette Batters as the first female president in the organisation’s 110-year history.

Batters, a Wiltshire beef, sheep and arable farmer who has also diversified her business into weddings and catering, was previously the NFU’s deputy president.

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Government loses third court case as judge says approach to tackling pollution in 45 local authority areas is ‘not sufficient’

The government will have to do more to tackle illegal levels of air pollution after a high court judge ruled its current plans are “unlawful”.

Mr Justice Garnham told the London court on Wednesday the approach to tackling pollution in 45 local authority areas was “not sufficient”.

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Campaigners win a third High Court victory over the UK government's plans to tackle air pollution.

Scientists scan Tasmanian tiger specimens to better understand the marsupial's development in the pouch.

Without regulations that scrutinise food standards and trade deals, we cannot trust the safety of the food on our plates

It should come as no surprise that the global meat industry is a major source of disease and crime. We are talking about a substance of animal origin, inherently alive with risky micro-organisms, necessitating expensive traceability and investment to make it safe, and worth hundreds of billions of dollars in global trade.

But in the UK, regulation is increasingly underfunded. Meat inspection services have been slashed over the past decade in favour of greater industry self-regulation, favouring private assurance schemes and meat companies being given fewer inspection if they can show general compliance. This might sound sensible until you look back over recent history and realise that it has been some highly reputable companies that have been the source of bad meat news, and that it was a spot-check random inspection that uncovered the Russell Hume case. Without robust regulation and independent checks, food scandals are too often the result. And the picture is the same all over the world, as the global demand for meat increases rapidly as wealth increases, government seeks to reduce ‘red tape’ and more people adopt western, meat-heavy diets.

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Belle needed treatment for an injured leg and is Cotswold Wildlife Park's first hand-reared white rhino calf.

Luckett, Tamar Valley: Vegetation hides the extensive spoil heaps and the midday sun gilds catkins on sprawling hazels

On the north side of Kit Hill, remnants of last night’s hail lie beside the steep road leading to the old mining settlement of Luckett. A solitary stack in a field above Deer Park Farm used to vent poisonous arsenic fumes from works in the valley below; down there, beside abandoned mine workings, dilapidated single-storey dwellings have been mooted as a mining museum.

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Government-backed power-to-gas plant in Adelaide to store renewable electricity and distribute it in gas network as hydrogen.

Brisbane City Council has been certified carbon neutral against the Australian Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).

Frydenberg goes to Adelaide and is trumped again by Weatherill's big vision. Leading analysts say SA Premier stands apart. "At least this man has balls."

Carnegie Clean Energy wins $3m SA govt grant to build 2MW/500kWh battery and renewable microgrid on old GM Holden site.

The Government is currently consulting on ways to improve the Safeguard Mechanism to make it fairer and simpler. Submissions are due 30 March 2018.

The Government is currently consulting on ways to improve the Safeguard Mechanism to make it fairer and simpler. Submissions are due 30 March 2018.

Study highlights urgent need to adapt urban areas to cope with floods, droughts and heatwaves

Major British towns and cities, including Glasgow, Wrexham, Aberdeen and Chester, could be much more severely affected by climate change than previously thought, according to new research.

The study, by Newcastle University, analysed changes in flooding, droughts and heatwaves for every European city using all climate models.

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The $1.7 million project will investigate if the existing mine pit of “Iron Duchess North” could be utilised as a lower reservoir for a PHES plant creating an estimated capacity of 90 MW and 390 MWh of storage.

On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA has announced an additional $500,000 in funding to EnergyAustralia for the next stage of the 225 MW Cultana seawater pumped hydro plant in South Australia.

CEFC backs Macquarie fund, linked with CSIRO, to boost energy efficiency, sustainability – and productivity – in agribusiness.

South Australia government commits to 750MW energy storage target to go with its enhanced 75 per cent renewable energy target.

Seagrass shelters fish and acts against erosion and climate change, but is under threat

Meadows of seagrass are one of our great but sorely neglected wild plant spectacles. This humble plant spreads out in lush green carpets that can stretch for miles around much of Britain’s coast. There they shelter young fish and shellfish, as well as protecting against erosion of the coast by storms and floods, by trapping sediment in their roots.

And the seagrass meadows also play a big part in fighting climate change. They soak up carbon dioxide and hold tremendous stores of carbon on the sea floor, more than twice the carbon stored by a forest of similar area. And across the world, seagrasses are believed to lock away more than 10% of all the carbon buried each year in the oceans.

Related: Species and habitats found in recommended marine conservation zones – in pictures

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