Environment
Conservation
NSW government asked by UN to hand over Warragamba dam impact study
The Berejiklian government has been asked by UNESCO to submit the environmental impact study on its plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall for review before final approval out of concern about the damage the project will have on wildlife and indigenous culture.
- by Peter Hannam
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Export trade
Global green energy hub in WA knocked back over toxic ‘dead zone’ risk
It’s not easy being green: a globally significant renewables project also represents a risk of continuous and catastrophic spills of a highly toxic ammonia mix.
- by Emma Young
Opinion
Property development
Siriusly Sydney? What a way to mark the anniversary of one of people power’s great triumphs
Fifty years ago the world’s first green ban took place, and people knew they had the power to say “stop”. Has the multimillion-dollar sale of an apartment in the Sirius building shown us we have lost that power?
- by Helen Pitt
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Tourism
From Botany Bay to Illawarra: NSW’s first major multi-day hiking path
NSW will join other states in promoting multi-day walks in popular national parks, with the government tipping in $80 million to ease access to destinations with a growing global profile.
- by Peter Hannam
Dredging and levees among Warragamba options ignored by NSW government
The options, from building levees to dredging the Hawkesbury-Nepean River or releasing water ahead of big rain events, were detailed in submissions developed in 2014 and 2015 and provided to cabinet, according to internal documents.
- by Peter Hannam
Exclusive
Biodiversity
NSW government gives retrospective nod to land clearing for a fence
The NSW government intervened to downgrade the status of an important wildlife corridor near Jervis Bay four months after a developer had cleared a swath of the forest to put in a new fence.
- by Peter Hannam
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Indigenous culture
‘Legacy of trauma’: Warragamba survey downplays cultural risks, opponents say
A survey of Indigenous cultural values likely to be affected by raising the height of the Warragamba Dam wall has been blasted for downplaying the damage the multibillion-dollar plan will cause and for relying on “desktop analysis”.
- by Peter Hannam
First act of reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and Cook recognised
A rocky outcrop near Cooktown where Captain James Cook and Indigenous leaders reached a peaceful settlement over turtles in July 1770 has been added to Queensland’s heritage register.
- by Tony Moore
‘Sea of whales’: First sightings off Australia of huge humpback pods
Humpback whales are being sighted in giant pods on a scale never recorded before off Australia as conservation measures help restore numbers thought to be approaching those of pre-whaling days.
- by Peter Hannam
The fish and bird species at risk from Australia’s failure to manage wetlands
Australia risks breaching its international commitments to preserving critical wetlands, with many fish and bird species facing extinction.
- by Peter Hannam
Exclusive
Biodiversity
‘Real sense of achievement’: The next step to preserve the Wollemi pine
The remarkable efforts to save the famous ‘dinosaur tree’ have now moved to replanting the conifer at two secret locations deep within the Wollemi wilderness.
- by Peter Hannam