When the continent of Australia was settled by Europeans they came with their cats, foxes, rabbits and any number of foreign animals. It didn’t take long for these ‘invaders’ to destabilise delicate ecosystems and lead to a wave of the extinction amongst native animals.
Continue reading “When the invaders are locked out: bringing back threatened native species in outback Australia “
What is the Law’s role, locally and internationally, in implementing good practises and emerging technologies to remedy declining biodiversity and a changing climate? Are legal systems too cumbersome to act with the urgency demanded by academia, community and industry?
Continue reading “The Cycle of Influence, Laws and Nature”
When you disregard human factors and ignore faulty systems, you might just be left up the creek without a paddle. CIFOR ICRAF has been tackling the deforestation dilemma for decades; and considers forests as part of a larger integrated system rather than an isolated problem.
Continue reading “Trees are not the problem: taking a holistic approach to reverse deforestation”
Join us in this energetic and motivating episode as I speak with Tiahni Adamson (Young South Australian of the Year 2024) and Shannon Evenden (Science Communicator with The Green Room). They talk all things kids, nature, and how being more like mud not stone might be just the answer to our conservation and climate change challenges.
Continue reading “Keeping curiosity: youth reflections on Dr Jane Goodall’s quest for a more sustainable future”
Jane Goodall is a living icon. While we’re most familiar with Jane’s conservation promotion through her work on animal behaviour, she also works tirelessly reaching out to the younger generation, fostering a global community of conservation. Jane was recently in Australia and as part of a public lecture spoke with Eco Futurist host Prof Andy Lowe during The Jane Goodall Institute’s ‘Reasons for Hope Tour’. This podcast is a recording of this public ‘fire side chat’ with Jane.
Continue reading “Jane Goodall on nature education, empathy, local focus, and some timeless advice from her mother”
There is increasing interest in owning wild and exotic animals and the internet is able to serve up whatever your heart desires, even if importing these animals is illegal.
Continue reading “Exotic plants and animals: the illegal wildlife trade happening right under your nose”
What happened when the head of Engineering for Google Australia and the Professor and author behind Australia’s first ever textbook on Marine Ecology came together? Nothing short of the miraculous bringing back to life of an extinct ecosystem in the waters of Australia’s biodiverse southern coastline.
And what’s next on the sparkly horizon?
Water is finally back on the global table after 46 years of not being discussed at a global scale conference. Conservation, salinity, pricing, agriculture, cultural use – the list goes on. Is the subject of water rights at risk of getting lost in an endless talk fest? Where do we start when trying to come up with solutions to the many water issues we face on a local and global scale? What even are ‘water rights’?
In this podcast episode host Prof Andy Lowe Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide, speaks with Assoc Prof Peter Burdon and Prof Sarah Wheeler, both from the University of Adelaide. Sarah is a water economist from the School of Economics and Public Policy, and Peter is an expert in environmental law from the Adelaide Law School.
Continue reading “Water: too much, too little, too dirty”
Nature is threatened, but it is also messy and complex. Ecologist try to untangle the mess of conservation, governments and industry. Small landowners are trying to help too. How do we work to save life on Earth?
How do we get the scale of investment required to restore our degraded land? Can we create markets for nature? Where does the money come from? And who are the buyers?
In this episode host Prof Andy Lowe Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide, speaks with renowned ecologist Prof Hugh Possingham about the need to set aside 30% of every different kind of habitat for conservation in order to sustain the health of our global biodiversity and to establish biodiversity markets to drive these outcomes.
Continue reading “Markets for nature. What’s the currency of biodiversity?”
This was the predicament facing the sailor in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner after becoming becalmed at sea and running out of drinking water.
But do we face an analogous predicament today with water resources running scarce, and if so how do we best conserve this most precious item?
Continue reading “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”
Prof Andy Lowe 