News

News June 18, 2018

IBSA launched

Making biodiversity information readily accessible is at the heart of a new initiative, launched by the Minister for Science, Innovation and ICT Dave Kelly. The new system, the Index of Biodiversity Surveys for Assessments (IBSA) was developed as a collaborative effort between The Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI) and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Each…

Read More

News May 14, 2018

The WA Feral Cat Symposium 31 May

“The Australian feral cat population fluctuates between 1.4 to 5.6 million, and cats kill more than 1 million birds, more than 1 million reptiles, and more than 1 million mammals in Australia every day.” Professor John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University The Feral Cat Symposium in Mandurah on the 31st May at the Mandurah Performing Arts…

Read More

Updates May 12, 2018

Helping resource sector meet regulator and community expectations

The CRC for Resource Sector Environmental Management is an initiative designed to help the resources sector meet regulator and community expectations for better environmental management with a focus on mine site closures, rehabilitation and relinquishment. Some of the challenges the CRC would address include high cost and policy uncertainty relating to mine site closure, inconsistent…

Read More

News

Embarking on a subterranean fauna research program

Following several months of extensive consultation with end-users and the research community, WABSI has identified key knowledge gaps that hinder informed decisions regarding subterranean fauna. This little-known group of mainly invertebrates has been considered in many environmental impact assessments since the mid-1990s. A research program and prospectus that articulates a clear value proposition to potential…

Read More

News March 28, 2018

New initiative to enhance resilience of urban biodiversity

A major challenge confronting policymakers, industry leaders and land managers is how to optimise biodiversity management and achieve a better balance with the need for economic development in Western Australia. It is often difficult to balance social, economic and environmental needs.  Stakeholder interests, motivations and constraints are diverse and each interest group generally works within…

Read More

News

Dongolocking project

Researchers from ECU are monitoring sites south east of Narrogin in an effort to understand the effectiveness of restoration efforts over the past 20 years. “WABSI is assisting with science initiatives that can help restore biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and this project can help us better understand if such long term restoration is able to…

Read More

Updates

Congratulations Bronte Van Helden!

UWA Albany student announced as scholarship winner Bronte Van Helden from The University of Western Australia has been awarded a prestigious PhD top up scholarship from The Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute. Over the next three years, Bronte, based in Albany at UWA’s Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM), will provide critical information about…

Read More

News December 4, 2017

Bee-ing sustainable

The bee industry in Western Australia relies on the presence of native flora in the Southwest Australian floristic region and access to flowering plants for pollination to produce honey and related bee products. However, vegetation here is under pressure from urban and agricultural expansion, forest disease such as Phytophthora, rising temperatures and a continued decline…

Read More

Updates November 28, 2017

Shedding new light on subterranean fauna

    Western Australia’s Pilbara and Yilgarn regions are two areas that are rich in organisms broadly classified as subterranean fauna. These species occur in either the groundwater (stygofauna) or above the water table in caves and voids (troglofauna). This highly diverse fauna are a key consideration in many environmental assessments in Western Australia. However,…

Read More