News

News July 11, 2019

Unifying feral cat control efforts

The Western Australian Government recently declared feral cats as a pest under section 22(2) of the WA Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (BAM Act). This declaration provides an opportunity to help improve collaborative management methods across Western Australia. WABSI has been working with several stakeholders over the past year to progress the formation of…

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Projects July 10, 2019

Can our urban areas be a haven for native wildlife?

Bronte Van Helden from UWA was awarded the WABSI PhD top up scholarship in 2018 and has been looking at how different types of urban areas differ in their ability to support animal biodiversity. Bronte’s research to date highlights that residential gardens can play a significant role in biodiversity conservation and should not be overlooked…

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Projects July 9, 2019

Bid for a CRC for mine closure: Stage 1 submitted

Stage 1 application submitted. All submissions will now be assessed by the CRC Advisory Committee. Stage 1 outcome will be announced in September 2019 Successful mine closure and relinquishment is a complex and expensive process; liabilities can amount to billions of dollars, in addition to other economic and social costs that are borne by industry,…

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Projects March 25, 2019

A framework for developing completion criteria

A new report soon to be released by The Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute will provide a framework for developing site-specific, risk-based completion criteria and associated monitoring.  Whilst it is aimed primarily at the resources sector, the framework will guide industries that are developing new criteria or wish to improve existing systems such as in…

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Projects

Mitigating feral cat impacts on biodiversity

The widespread impacts by feral cats on biodiversity are well recognised. The need to address knowledge gaps is a critical component in an attempt to mitigate the impacts. WABSI led a series of workshops this month, bringing together regulators, researchers, industry and NGOs. Over two days, they discussed their interests, management challenges and shared the…

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News December 10, 2018

Restoring Roe 8: New rehabilitation plan

“The best minds in the rehabilitation business have been hard at work putting together a plan for Roe 8’s future”. Excerpt from Particle: “Last year, Particle spoke with the Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI) to learn about plans to rehabilitate Roe 8. We catch up with them to hear what is happening. Now the…

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Updates

Taskforce report: Make environmental data more accessible

WABSI was instrumental this year in helping to establish the Index of Biodiversity Surveys for Assessment (IBSA) that will capture $38m worth of environmental data each year in Western Australia. A Resources 2030 Taskforce report, released in September 2018, highlights WABSI’s role in making environmental data more accessible and enable its value and use to…

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Updates

Research reveals Albany’s diversity

Bronte Van Helden, a UWA student and recipient of the 2018 WABSI scholarship, is based in Albany at UWA’s Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management and is researching how different types of urban areas differ in their ability to support animal biodiversity. Bronte has set up a seasonal trapping regime and has to date…

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Updates

Final phase of Completion Criteria project

The Completion Criteria & Monitoring Framework received broad support and valuable feedback from stakeholders at a forum last month, with strong interest being received from users in WA and other states. The final report is scheduled for release in early 2019 and will present the framework and foundational work including a review of relevant literature…

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Projects

Program steering subterranean fauna research

With a Steering Committee chaired by Dr Lesley Gibson now in place, WABSI’s Subterranean Fauna program of work is underway and addresses key focus areas that were identified by end-users. The program encourages complementarity and collaboration, rather than duplication of research effort, with expertise and contribution from multiple disciplines. Since the knowledge gaps and issues…

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