Australia’s fragile environment is under attack. Environmental protections have been dramatically eroded and funding slashed. The threat of climate change so dominates debate that other pressing and immediate environmental dangers struggle for attention. Few Australians know that our country has one of the worst records for species loss, with even the koala threatened; that microplastic pollution is so prevalent it can be found in the sediments of our river estuaries and nearby ocean floors; or that land clearing rates are just as severe as the notorious deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon jungle.
We’re thrilled and grateful to have reached our funding target of $150,000. We’re just as inspired by all the suggestions for environmental issues that need our attention. With your help, we can now cover more of Australia’s neglected environmental stories.
So over the next three months, with your support, we will be able to report on the animals at the very edge of extinction, the ecological fallout from invasive plant species, the looming fracking crisis, the threats to our oceans, and the plight of the Murray-Darling basin. You are helping us to move these most important of issues up the public agenda, empower those already taking a stand, and challenge governments to do more.