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Government required to create plan to protect greater glider in major legal win for Wilderness Society

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Tuesday, September 23, 2025

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to create mandatory recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction in a major legal win for one of Australia’s largest environmental organisations.The Wilderness Society has been successful in federal court proceedings it launched in March that sought to compel the minister to make recovery plans for species including the greater glider and the ghost bat.In a court settlement, reached Friday, the government agreed mandatory recovery plans for four threatened species – the greater glider, the ghost bat, the lungfish and the sandhill dunnart – had not been made and successive ministers had exceeded the timeframe in which the plans were required to be created and put in force.The government also agreed that recovery plans for seven other threatened species – including the baudin’s and carnaby’s black cockatoos – that were previously said to have expired or “sunsetted”, would remain in force.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“Today is a win for threatened wildlife across Australia. After decades of neglect by government after government, we took to the courts to fight for Australia’s pride and joy – its diverse and world-important environment,” the Wilderness Society biodiversity policy and campaign manager, Sam Szoke-Burke, said.“The resolution of this case provides much-needed certainty for Australia’s iconic plants and animals, some of whom have been waiting for over a decade for a legally required recovery roadmap to give them a better chance at surviving extinction.”Recovery plans set out actions needed to bring species back from the brink of extinction and put them on a better trajectory.Under Australia’s national environmental laws, the environment minister decides whether a species requires a recovery plan or not. If the minister decides a species does require one, the plan must usually be made within three years.Once a recovery plan is enacted, the minister must not make decisions that would be considered contrary to its goals and actions.The Wilderness Society’s legal action followed long-held concerns about a backlog of unfinished and undeveloped plans for species including the greater glider, which has required a recovery plan since 2016 but has no plan in place.Years of reporting by Guardian Australia has highlighted the failure by successive governments to make recovery plans within the required time frames. An auditor general’s report in 2022 found only 2% of recovery plans had been completed within their statutory timeframe since 2013.In 2020 the federal environment department told a Senate estimates hearing that 170 plants, animals and habitats were waiting for recovery plans.To reduce the backlog, the previous Coalition government had the threatened species scientific committee reassess whether some species still required a plan and, in 2022, scrapped the requirement for almost 200 plants, animals and habitats.In 2022, freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia revealed concerns within the federal environment department that 372 recovery plans covering 575 species and ecosystems were due to expire by the end of 2023.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionLast week before it reached its settlement with the Wilderness Society, the government updated its recovery plans webpage to state that recovery plans were exempt from sunsetting.Szoke-Burke said the legal victory set an important precedent that showed recovery plans were not optional.“The government now knows that when the law says the minister must do something, that doesn’t mean maybe,” he said.“This outcome should set a new tone for how the government treats Australia’s iconic and unique natural environment. It’s time to prioritise nature, or face legal action and further community outcry.”Ellen Maybery, a lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia which acted for the Wilderness Society in the proceedings, said the win “forces the government to act”.“For decades, successive governments have failed to follow their own laws and deliver these vital recovery plans. The court has now compelled the environment minister to do his job and make the required plans,” she said.Guardian Australia has sought comment from Watt.

Murray Watt agrees recovery plans for greater glider, ghost bat, lungfish and sandhill dunnart were not made by successive governmentsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to create mandatory recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction in a major legal win for one of Australia’s largest environmental organisations.The Wilderness Society has been successful in federal court proceedings it launched in March that sought to compel the minister to make recovery plans for species including the greater glider and the ghost bat. Continue reading...

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to create mandatory recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction in a major legal win for one of Australia’s largest environmental organisations.

The Wilderness Society has been successful in federal court proceedings it launched in March that sought to compel the minister to make recovery plans for species including the greater glider and the ghost bat.

In a court settlement, reached Friday, the government agreed mandatory recovery plans for four threatened species – the greater glider, the ghost bat, the lungfish and the sandhill dunnart – had not been made and successive ministers had exceeded the timeframe in which the plans were required to be created and put in force.

The government also agreed that recovery plans for seven other threatened species – including the baudin’s and carnaby’s black cockatoos – that were previously said to have expired or “sunsetted”, would remain in force.

Sign up: AU Breaking News email

“Today is a win for threatened wildlife across Australia. After decades of neglect by government after government, we took to the courts to fight for Australia’s pride and joy – its diverse and world-important environment,” the Wilderness Society biodiversity policy and campaign manager, Sam Szoke-Burke, said.

“The resolution of this case provides much-needed certainty for Australia’s iconic plants and animals, some of whom have been waiting for over a decade for a legally required recovery roadmap to give them a better chance at surviving extinction.”

Recovery plans set out actions needed to bring species back from the brink of extinction and put them on a better trajectory.

Under Australia’s national environmental laws, the environment minister decides whether a species requires a recovery plan or not. If the minister decides a species does require one, the plan must usually be made within three years.

Once a recovery plan is enacted, the minister must not make decisions that would be considered contrary to its goals and actions.

The Wilderness Society’s legal action followed long-held concerns about a backlog of unfinished and undeveloped plans for species including the greater glider, which has required a recovery plan since 2016 but has no plan in place.

Years of reporting by Guardian Australia has highlighted the failure by successive governments to make recovery plans within the required time frames. An auditor general’s report in 2022 found only 2% of recovery plans had been completed within their statutory timeframe since 2013.

In 2020 the federal environment department told a Senate estimates hearing that 170 plants, animals and habitats were waiting for recovery plans.

To reduce the backlog, the previous Coalition government had the threatened species scientific committee reassess whether some species still required a plan and, in 2022, scrapped the requirement for almost 200 plants, animals and habitats.

In 2022, freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia revealed concerns within the federal environment department that 372 recovery plans covering 575 species and ecosystems were due to expire by the end of 2023.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

Last week before it reached its settlement with the Wilderness Society, the government updated its recovery plans webpage to state that recovery plans were exempt from sunsetting.

Szoke-Burke said the legal victory set an important precedent that showed recovery plans were not optional.

“The government now knows that when the law says the minister must do something, that doesn’t mean maybe,” he said.

“This outcome should set a new tone for how the government treats Australia’s iconic and unique natural environment. It’s time to prioritise nature, or face legal action and further community outcry.”

Ellen Maybery, a lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia which acted for the Wilderness Society in the proceedings, said the win “forces the government to act”.

“For decades, successive governments have failed to follow their own laws and deliver these vital recovery plans. The court has now compelled the environment minister to do his job and make the required plans,” she said.

Guardian Australia has sought comment from Watt.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Plant ‘tredges’ to boost England’s tree cover, gardeners urged

Royal Horticultural Society’s call backs government aim to increase woodland cover from 10% to at least 16.5% by 2050Gardeners should plant native “tredges” – foliage between the size of a tree and a hedge – to boost England’s tree cover, the Royal Horticultural Society has said.Taking inspiration from ancient woodlands could boost wildlife across England’s 25m gardens, according to experts, and help increase native tree cover. The UK’s woodland cover is approximately 10% and the government aims to increase this to at least 16.5% of all land in England by 2050.Beech (Fagus sylvatica)Holly (Ilex aquifolium)Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)Common yew (Taxus baccata)Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) Continue reading...

Gardeners should plant native “tredges” – foliage between the size of a tree and a hedge – to boost England’s tree cover, the Royal Horticultural Society has said.Taking inspiration from ancient woodlands could boost wildlife across England’s 25m gardens, according to experts, and help increase native tree cover. The UK’s woodland cover is approximately 10% and the government aims to increase this to at least 16.5% of all land in England by 2050.A garden demonstrating this approach will be unveiled at the Chelsea flower show in May. The Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden by Ashleigh Aylett will represent a damaged ancient woodland, transitioning from a dark, monoculture conifer forest to a regenerated, thriving ancient woodland.Her design will include “indicator” plants that can be used to identify ancient woodlands such as wild service tree and red campion.The Woodland Trust has found only 7% of the UK’s native woodland is in good condition, with drastic knock-on effects for the wildlife that make these trees their home.Though her garden will be an ambitious demonstration of recreating an ancient woodland, there are lessons that can be taken from it for all those with a green space at home, such as planting small native trees and “tredges”.Mark Gush, the RHS’s head of environmental horticulture, said: “Often found in ancient woodlands, a top choice for gardeners seeking a small tree is Crataegus laevigata. It is a great example of a ‘tredge’, which can be both a standalone tree or a hedge.“It strikes the perfect balance between beauty and functionality. With attractive foliage, flowers and haws, it is also resilient to wet and dry climate extremes, tolerant of clay soils, and there is research evidence to show that this genus is effective at capturing pollutants from busy roads in summer. Its thorny protective canopy supports biodiversity and helps alleviate flooding risks from summer thunder-showers through effective water uptake.”The Woodland Trust is trying to make tree-planting more accessible for those who have small spaces and are worried about giant trees dwarfing their gardens. Native trees do not need to be large. Planting a small native species could provide spring blossom and plentiful autumn berries, without taking up much space. Diverse trees also provide benefits to the garden because different species have different root architecture, which improves the health and structure of the soil.Aylett’s garden will also demonstrate “forest planting”, showing layered canopies, ranging from ground covers to herbaceous perennials, shrubs and trees of various sizes, which has the benefit of maximising species diversity in limited spaces, and providing protective benefits against climate extremes (hot and cold) offered by this approach.Transitional gardening, where multiple different habitats give way to each other and have diverse borders in between, is a good way to emulate ancient woodland habitat at home, Gush said.He added: “Woodland edges support some of the highest levels of biodiversity because they represent an ‘ecotone’ – a transition zone between different environments. Ecotones between two habitats are often richer in species than either. This is a concept that can be applied incredibly successfully to domestic gardens where ecotones abound – lawns to borders, borders to shrubs and trees, pond edges and more. Think softer gradual transition as opposed to hard cutoff.”The RHS is encouraging gardeners to choose trees grown under the UKISG (UK and Ireland sourced and grown) scheme, which ensures they are raised from seed and helps prevent new pests and diseases from entering the country, one of the most significant threats to native trees. For smaller gardens, instead of fences or walls, they ask that people consider planting a native hedge. This allows people to include native species without needing a huge garden, while also providing valuable food and habitat for the wildlife that relies on them.After the show, the Woodland Trust garden will be relocated to Hawthorn primary school in Newcastle upon Tyne. The school is situated in an area with low tree cover, so will increase access to trees in a neighbourhood where canopy cover is limited.‘Tredges’ that have environmental benefits in the UK, as chosen by the RHS Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Holly (Ilex aquifolium) Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) Common yew (Taxus baccata) Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

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Crayfish, weevils and fungi released in UK to tackle invasive species such as Japanese knotweed

Scientists working for government breed biological control agents in lab to take on species choking native wildlifeCrayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain.Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalayan balsam, and other species that choke out native plants and wildlife. Continue reading...

Crayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain.Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalayan balsam, and other species that choke out native plants and wildlife.They are doing this, in part, to meet tough targets set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in its recently announced environmental improvement plan. Ministers have directed the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) to reduce the establishment of invasive species by 50% by 2030.Olaf Booy, deputy chief non-native species officer at Apha, said: “The science around biological control is always developing. It really works for those species that were introduced quite a long time ago, that we haven’t been able to prevent getting here or detect early and rapidly respond.”Scientists have been working out which species would be able to tackle the invasive pests by killing them and reducing their ability to spread, without harming other organisms. Booy said the perk of biological control agents was they reduced the need for human labour.Japanese knotweed in Taff’s Well, near Cardiff. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena PicturesThis includes targeting floating pennywort, which spreads and chokes the life from rivers, by releasing the South American weevil Listronotus elongatus. Where weevils have overwintered for several years, floating pennywort biomass appears reduced across a number of release sites.Defra has also employed specialist scientists at the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (Cabi) to conduct biological control (biocontrol) research into the use of naturally occurring, living organisms to tackle Japanese knotweed. Cabi has targeted this species using the release of the psyllid Aphalara itadori, which feeds on the plant.Similarly, Cabi has been trialling the release of the rust fungus Puccinia komarovii var. glanduliferae to tackle Himalayan balsam. Defra said the results of the release were encouraging and would continue at compatible sites.“Once the biocontrol agent is working properly, then it should actually start to spread naturally across the range, where the non-native species is, and it will start to bring that population of the non-native species down,” Booy said. “Hopefully, once it starts to establish in the wild, then it sort of starts taking over itself, and the human effort bit starts to reduce significantly.”As well as releasing biological control agents into the wild, government scientists have been breeding threatened species to protect their populations from invasion. Britain’s native white-clawed crayfish has disappeared from most of the country since the invasive American signal crayfish was introduced in the 1970s. These non-native creatures outcompete the native crayfish and carry a deadly plague, making eradication or containment virtually impossible.Himalayan balsam invades the banks of the river Avon. Photograph: Mark Boulton/AlamyInvasive species experts have created protected “ark sites”: safe habitats where white-clawed crayfish can survive free from threats. A new hatchery has been set up in Yorkshire to release them into the wild in secure locations, and in Devon the Wildwood Trust is expanding its hatchery, building a bespoke ark site pond, and rescuing crayfish from rivers under threat. More than 1,500 breeding-age crayfish so far have been translocated to eight safe sites in Gloucestershire.The creatures Booy is most concerned about establishing in the wild include raccoons and raccoon dogs, which are kept as pets but are very good at escaping into the wild.The medium-sized predators could be harmful to the amphibians and small birds they feed on, he said. At the moment, keepers of raccoons and raccoon dogs do not have to register with the government, though breeding and selling them is banned.Social media trends depicting raccoons as cuddly and desirable pets could be a concern, he said: “You do see things like raccoons and raccoon dogs popping up on social media and stuff. Particularly raccoons, they’re kind of cute and cuddly, and you could imagine that a TikTok trend might encourage people to think about getting a species like that. Obviously years ago we had the interest in terrapins from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”He added: “If you have a raccoon, you really need to know how to keep it securely to avoid it escaping. You don’t really want any predators of that sort of size establishing and spreading in the country, because it will have knock-on impacts for biodiversity. But they are also potentially vectors of disease as well.”The biosecurity minister and Labour peer Sue Hayman said: “With a changing climate we are constantly assessing for new risks and threats, including from invasive plants and animals, as well as managing the impacts of species already in this country. Invasive non-native species cost Britain’s economy nearly £2bn a year, and our environmental improvement plan sets out plans to reduce their establishment to protect native wildlife and farmers’ livelihoods.”

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Environmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country have welcomed the scrapping of a controversial project that would have seen an outpost of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum built on a Unesco biosphere reserve that is a vital habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds.The scheme’s backers, who include the Guggenheim Foundation, the Basque government and local and regional authorities, had claimed the new museum’s twin sites – one in the Basque town of Guernica and one in the nearby Urdaibai reserve – would help revitalise the area, attract investment and create jobs.But opponents said the scheme was being pushed through without proper consultation and would wreck Urdaibai, a 22,068-hectare site that was declared a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1984.In a statement earlier this week, the foundation announced that the project had been abandoned “in light of the territorial, urban planning and environmental constraints and limitations”.It added: “New alternatives will be explored in order to face the challenge of elaborating a proposal that responds to the museum’s objective of growing in order to remain a leading cultural institution internationally and a driving force in the Basque Country’s cultural, economic and social scene.”The Bilbao Museum, which opened in 1997 despite considerable opposition, is credited with helping to reverse the city’s post-industrial decline and put it on the tourist map. But local people and ecologists argued that Urdaibai’s cliffs and estuarine salt marshes were hardly comparable with the polluted, urban site on which the Guggenheim was built.Campaign groups and environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, WWF, Ecologists in Action, Friends of the Earth and SEO/BirdLife, had all called for the project to be scrapped. News of the foundation’s decision was received enthusiastically.Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform said in a statement: “The authorities told us unanimously that they were going to build this museum ‘no matter what’.“They didn’t care about the opinion of society; they didn’t care about the debate generated among citizens. Now, however, we are here celebrating the decision that these same leaders and institutions have had to make, unable to ignore a reality revealed by science, the law, and society.”SEO/BirdLife said “citizen mobilisation” had been key to saving “this threatened natural heritage”, while Greenpeace Spain said: “Social mobilisation works and, together with countless local groups, we have managed to stop the extension of the Guggenheim Museum that threatened to destroy this unique natural space. Urdaibai is already a monument and it will continue to be one.”

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Trump DEI crackdown expands to national park gift shops

The Trump administration’s efforts to purge diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government is hitting gift shops at national parks. In a memo last month, acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron called for a review of the items available for purchase in park gift shops. The memo says that items should be...

The Trump administration’s efforts to purge diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government is hitting gift shops at national parks. In a memo last month, acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron called for a review of the items available for purchase in park gift shops. The memo says that items should be reviewed for compliance with an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to cease activities related to DEI, accessibility or “environmental justice.” Like the order before it, the memo does not appear to define DEI.  Asked whether this means that any product related to people who are minorities would be impacted, a spokesperson for the Interior Department replied, “As you saw the memo, then you know that is not what it says.” Instead, said the spokesperson, Burgum’s order “directs federal agencies to ensure that government-affiliated retail spaces remain neutral and do not promote specific viewpoints.” “To comply with this order, the National Park Service is conducting a review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors,” added the spokesperson, who did not sign their name in the response. “The goal is to keep National Parks focused on their core mission: preserving natural and cultural resources for the benefit of all Americans.” The review’s deadline is next Friday. The memo does not appear to lay out specific criteria for the review. The memo was made public this week by the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy organization. “Banning history books from park stores and cracking down on park T-shirts and keychains is not what national park visitors want from their Park Service,” said Alan Spears, the group’s senior director for cultural resources, in a written statement.  “The National Parks Conservation Association opposes this latest move from the administration because we, like the majority of Americans, support telling the full American story at our parks. That means acknowledging hard truths about slavery, climate change, and other topics that challenge us as a nation,” he added. The memo comes as part of a broader Trump administration push to reshape the portrayal of history at national parks and beyond. Earlier this year, the administration directed National Park Service units to review all public-facing content for messaging that disparages Americans or that “emphasizes matters unrelated to the beauty, abundance, or grandeur” of natural features. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Government reveals taxpayer-funded deal to keep Australia’s largest aluminium smelter open. How long we will pay?

The federal government has done a deal - underwritten by the taxpayer - to keep Australia’s largest aluminum smelter open. What’s the exit strategy if it doesn’t go to plan?

It seemed inevitable – politically at least – that the federal government would step in to save Tomago Aluminium in New South Wales, Australia’s largest aluminium smelter. Rio Tinto, the owners of Tomago, has enjoyed attractively priced electricity for a long time, most recently with AGL. But this contract ends in 2028. Unable to find a replacement at a price it could accept, Rio Tinto warned that Tomago was facing closure. Tomago produces more than one-third of Australia’s aluminium and accounts for 12% of NSW’s energy consumption. On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a Commonwealth-led deal for electricity supply beyond 2028. This deal will provide the smelter with billions of dollars in subsidised power from the Commonwealth-owned Snowy Hydro through a portfolio of renewables, backed by storage and gas. This follows months of negotiation to avoid the smelter closing and sacking its roughly 1,000 workers. The government has provided funding to support other struggling manufacturers such as the Whyalla steelworks and the Mount Isa copper smelter, and wants to see aluminium production continue in Australia. About 30–40% of the cost of making aluminium is the energy, so it’s a huge input. Electricity from the market would have been considerably more expensive, so the government is subsidising the commercial price. The deal may have been a necessary and immediate solution to a political problem with local economic and social impacts. However, it raises several important questions about the risks involved and the longevity of the plant. Risks and benefits First, to what risk is the federal government exposed? Commodity markets such as aluminium are prone to difficult cycles, and there’s a chance Tomago might not survive at all, in which case the government is off the hook. Not only are we looking to subsidise Tomago’s electricity, but we are looking for Snowy Hydro to invest in renewable energy projects and build more renewable energy in NSW. The history of building renewable energy and its support transmission infrastructure suggests that both cost and time constraints become problematic. The NSW government may have a role in supporting this side of the deal. The Commonwealth’s case for making this deal is presumably underpinned by its Future made in Australia policy. This says we should be supporting industries where there’s a national interest in a low-emissions world. So if, for example, we can see a future where subsidising Tomago’s electricity for five or ten years would mean it can produce low-emission aluminium the world wants to buy, that would be a success. But what happens if, after five or ten years, the world hasn’t sufficiently changed to provide enough renewable energy to make our electricity cost less? What if the rest of the world wants green, low-emissions aluminium, but that’s not what Australia produces? If the risks the government is underwriting crystallise in a bad way, does the government have an exit strategy? We’ve been here before In 1984, under the leadership of John Cain, the Labor government signed a joint venture agreement with Alcoa to build an aluminium smelter at Portland, including a deal to subsidise electricity until 2016. Forty years later, we’re still pay for it. With Tomago, we don’t want Australian taxpayers exposed to something over which we have no control – the global price of aluminium. If the price of aluminium collapses, or Snowy Hydro is permanently uncompetitive or China dominates the world market, the hypothesis that Tomago can be competitive in the long term collapses. Interestingly, this deal is very different to the one the Commonwealth and Queensland governments have done to support Rio Tinto’ Boyne smelter in Gladstone. In October, Rio Tinto announced plans to possibly bring forward the closure of Gladstone Power Station to 2029, six years ahead of the current schedule, and supply the smelter with predominantly renewable electricity. The move was welcomed by environmental groups, as Gladstone is Queensland’s oldest and largest coal-fired station. But some commentators have said closing the plant in four years’ time is unrealistic, and a staged phase-out would be better. The announcement this week, welcomed by the business and its workers, is probably unsurprising. But we haven’t seen the detail. The government may very well have a case for this deal, but the future of the plant and its power supply remain unknowable. The risks with taxpayer funds may have been worth taking, but they should be clearly explained and justified. Tony Wood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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