Bruce Webber

Where did southern Australia’s record-breaking heatwave come from? Australia’s northwest is well known for its heat. But this furnace-like area can deliver heatwaves to the southeast, thousands of kilometres away.

“the last heatwave between January 5 to 10 was made over 5 times more likely due to global heating”
#ClimateEmergency #HeatWaves

theconversation.com/where-did-so...

An avoidable cat-astrophe in Western Australia. Every month ~800 pet cats and ~4M birds, mammals & reptiles die because current policy prevents pet cats from being contained. This paper reveals broad support for change: 78% of local govts want containment laws. Let's get this done.
#bioinvasions 🌐🌏

A content cat lies in a hammock in an enclosed catio to protect it and wildlife from the dangers of roaming. This photo accompanies a new publication in the journal Pacific Conservation Biology on the benefits of cat containment.

A new paper in @pacificconsbio.bsky.social reveals that preventing pet cats from roaming remains a significant but important challenge. Our findings reveal that change is long overdue for Western Australians to rethink what it means to be a responsible pet cat owner.

OA: doi.org/10.1071/PC25...

Yes, feral cats and foxes really have driven many Australian mammals to extinction Decades of evidence link foxes and feral cats with extinctions of Australian mammals. Claims these introduced predators aren’t responsible don’t stack up.

Feral cats and foxes really have driven many Australian mammals to extinction. Claims these introduced predators aren't responsible don't stack up. Protecting our unique species will be even harder if feral cats and foxes are given a free pass to keep killing. 🌐🌎
theconversation.com/yes-feral-ca...

It's also incredible that BioScience published the original paper! Some might call it conservation vandalism - this is more than just an academic argument, it's also about the survival of many of Australia’s remaining mammal species.

Timing of extirpation of a native mammal population from a location relative to the time of arrival of feral cats at that location. Data are taken directly from Supplement 1 in Wallach and Lundgren (2025), using the last record of the native species, and the earliest arrival date from the range of arrival dates of cats to that location. Based on this information, extirpation of a native mammal occurs before cats arrive in only two cases, and these are where Wallach and Lundgren (2025) arbitrarily give the last record dates of 1788 and 1789 (i.e., time of European colonization, in 1788) for undated subfossil material. Of the 178 cases given in the Supplement, eight are omitted from this graph because: they were repeats of another row (n=4), there is no date for the last record of the species (n=1), the species is still present at the location (n=2), or the species never occurred at the location (n=1).

Introduced foxes and cats have had a devastating impact on Australia's mammals. This threat to biodiversity has been widely recognised, documented and acted upon by scientists, policy makers and land managers. Here we refute recent assertions to the contrary.

Read more (OA): doi.org/10.1093/bios...

Leadership Matters Now more than ever, the world needs good leaders. So why are there so many bad ones? My ten rules of leadership.

"Too frequently, leaders are chosen not because they exhibit the right qualities for successful leadership but because they are willing to say and do whatever it takes to get to the top." - Paul Hardisty. What are your inspiring leadership lessons?

paulhardistyauthor.substack.com/p/leadership...

Extinction rarely departs with drama, it slips out the back door while we’re still debating the guest list. These records are made official on the Red List. "Conservation failures are often recognised only once they can no longer be reversed."
via @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/short-articl...

Phil on stage in front of her title slide 'Laws that take us somewhere... good?'

Good law is at least little subjective

"Ferocious love" of the places & things we care about

@drphilmccormack.bsky.social frames her work in environmental law and climate justice through her love of nature, which we share @ecolsocaus.bsky.social #ESA2025 🌏

The motto of #ESA2025 this year is "Biodiversity on the brink – BOLD ACTIONS for a resilient future"

On Thu I'm presenting on a super bold, landscape-scale biodiversity project that will keep 10-25 species from being added to Threatened species list.

Thu 1030!
Big room!
Comfy chairs!
Great photos!

Bridled Nailtail Wallaby. Photo: Grassland Films. Bush Heritage Australia are purchasing the 1,207-hectare Avocet Nature Refuge! We're raising $1.4 million to help us manage this reserve and others just like it around the country. Donate NOW and your gift will be doubled! Avocet Nature Refuge is one of only two sites where Bridled Nailtail Wallabies still live wild in Queensland. Once thought extinct, the species was rediscovered in central Queensland decades after vanishing from sight. Today, only some 1,500 of these beautiful wallabies remain in the wild. Buying Avocet Nature Refuge also gives us a real chance to learn more and strengthen Koala populations in the region.

Koala in a tree. Photo: Grassland Films. Bush Heritage Australia are purchasing the 1,207-hectare Avocet Nature Refuge! We're raising $1.4 million to help us manage this reserve and others just like it around the country. Donate NOW and your gift will be doubled! Avocet Nature Refuge is one of only two sites where Bridled Nailtail Wallabies still live wild in Queensland. Once thought extinct, the species was rediscovered in central Queensland decades after vanishing from sight. Today, only some 1,500 of these beautiful wallabies remain in the wild. Buying Avocet Nature Refuge also gives us a real chance to learn more and strengthen Koala populations in the region.

Bush Heritage Australia are purchasing Avocet Nature Refuge in Queensland! This is one of only two sites where Bridled Nailtail Wallabies still live wild. We're raising $1.4M to help us manage this remnant Brigalow reserve. Can you help us with a donation?

secure.bushheritage.org.au/donations

The aurora australis dances over the peaks of the Freycinet National Park peninsula and Schouten Island.

The aurora australis dances over the peaks of the Freycinet National Park peninsula and Schouten Island.
...
...
#auroraaustralis #aurora #freycinetnationalpark #freycinet

In Episode 5 of the This Changes Everything Podcast, Brad Bowden talks with Bruce Webber and Keith Bradbury about the wonders of trees in Western Australia and what we can be doing to ensure we are responsible custodians to manage the conservation threats they face.

Brad Bowden and I caught up on Ep 5 of the RTRFM podcast This Changes Everything. We discuss tree diversity in WA, the benefits they provide, and the myriad threats they face. We also cover what we can be doing to be good custodians of trees for future generations. 🌐🌏

rtrfm.com.au/podcasts/thi...

Conservationists continue to do amazing work to save our imperilled native species, including the numbat. Why should millions of native animals and thousands of pet cats have to die and suffer over juggling policy priorities? Let’s make it possible to permanently contain pet cats in WA in 2025.

The state government could prioritise a simple short amendment to the Cat Act to make cat containment possible in a matter of weeks. Or the Legislative Council could vote to support the Shire of Pingelly’s Save the Numbats local law (Nov 19).

The City of Bayswater tried to make a similar cat containment law in mid-Sep but the Legislative Council disallowed it. Since then, c. six million birds, reptiles and mammals have been killed by roaming pet cats and c. 1,200 pet cats have died in roaming-related accidents across Greater Perth alone.

The Shire of Pingelly is where you can find some of the last remaining wild numbat populations. They recently tried to bring in a law to permanently contain pet cats to save their numbats. Whether or not they can keep this law will be decided in the state Legislative Council on November 19.

A numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) pauses its morning foraging for ants on a log in the sun.

Today is world numbat day. The numbat is our state animal emblem in WA, yet it is threatened with extinction by predation from introduced cats and foxes. It is now restricted to only a few small unfenced areas in WA, after being once found across southern Australia.

In an Exclusive Interview, Dr. Jane Goodall Leaves Behind Her Last Words “In the place where I am now, I look back over my life. What message do I want to leave?”

"...we have to do everything in our power to make the world a better place for the children alive today, and for those that will follow. You have it in your power to make a difference. Don’t give up." - Jane Goodall on Famous Last Words for @netflix.com

www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...

Jane Goodall in a tall rainforest looking up into the canopy with binoculars in her hands.

"The greatest danger to our future is apathy. ... What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." - Vale Jane Goodall (1934-2025).

Social media post sparks rediscovery of endemic Sri Lanka rainforest plant COLOMBO — In 2012, Sri Lanka’s National Red List delivered a grim verdict on endemic Pini- Beraliya, the towering dipterocarp Doona ovalifolia (syn. Shorea ovalifolia) tree by categorizing it as “exti...

Only known from a single plant growing in the botanic gardens in Sri Lanka, the endemic Pini-Beraliya was declared Extinct in the Wild.

But a post on social media about the tree has now led to the discovery of three wild populations and a recovery programme! 🌱🧪🙌🏻
news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soci...

This is clearly good news for WA. Yet with such a simple amendment required, why can't this change come sooner than "sometime in 2026." Why should millions of native animals and countless pet cats have to die over a matter of juggling policy priorities? Let's get this done in WA in 2025!

Bruce Webber from Bush Heritage Australia, speaking at the Building Private Land Conservation Symposium in Fremantle, Western Australia. Photo: Miles Noel Studio

Minister Matthew Swinbourn attending the Building Private Land Conservation Symposium in Fremantle, Western Australia. Photo: Miles Noel Studio

Bruce Webber from Bush Heritage Australia, speaking on a panel at the Building Private Land Conservation Symposium in Fremantle, Western Australia. Photo: Miles Noel Studio

Bruce Webber from Bush Heritage Australia, speaking on a panel at the Building Private Land Conservation Symposium in Fremantle, Western Australia. Photo: Miles Noel Studio

The Building Private Land Conservation Symposium, held in Fremantle, was an outstanding opportunity to hear updates and share Bush Heritage Australia's latest on covenanting, stewardship and co-investment opportunities to secure the future of Western Australia's unique landscapes.
🌏 #scicomm

Cream coloured background with a rainbow colour wheel and various biological drawings surrounding it

🚨Have your say on the new conceptual model and Data Package Guide for #DarwinCore

The @tdwg.org Darwin Core Maintenance Group has opened a 90-day public review and comment period for the new conceptual model and Data Package Guide.

🗓️ 17 September – 16 December 2025
🔗 www.tdwg.org/news/20...

Can the Albanese government's new climate targets lower the risk of a catastrophic fire season like 2019/20 happening in the future? (ABCMyPhoto: Martin Von Stoll)

Australia's 2035 climate targets are difficult to achieve, and even if they are, we won't be fine. A sobering assessment from @alankohler.bsky.social via ABC News.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Animals that spread seeds are critical for climate solutions When a toucan plucks fruit from a tree in the Amazon Rainforest, it’s doing more than just finding lunch. Moving to a new location and depositing seeds via its droppings could be crucial in addressing...

Addressing the connection between animal biodiversity declines and the carbon stored in our ecosystems can help to make smarter decisions about aligning responses to the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis.
🌐🌏 via @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/09/anim...

Urban wetlands provide essential habitats for wildlife but face increasing contamination from anthropogenic sources, including but not limited to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and metal(loid)s. Accumulation of these contaminants are known to impair organism biological functions. This study quantified PFAS and metal(loid) concentrations in liver tissue of motorbike frogs (Ranoidea moorei) along a contamination gradient of conservation significant urban wetlands in Perth, Western Australia, and assessed relationships of liver concentrations with whole-organism health metrics and metabolomic profiles in four tissues to evaluate biological effects.

It's not all about PFAS: metal(loid)s are associated with physiological and metabolic changes in motorbike frogs (Ranoidea moorei) from conservation significant wetlands in Perth WA. Great to see this paper out, a big effort led by @lettsgetsnakes.bsky.social.
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
🌐🌏

Thanks Craig! @bfw.bsky.social has been a champion in this space. I've really valued his media engagement to help clarify the need for change. Your work has been outstanding too, thank you!

A delegation of local government representatives engaged with cat management experts at Kings Park to improve responsible pet cat ownership in Western Australia.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey so far. Yet we must recognise that it is far from over. We owe it to our cats, community & wildlife to deliver the nation's best cat ownership policy as part of reviewing the WA Cat Act. I look forward to that initiative.

As Steve Martin MLC pointed out "we have time before Christmas, before the break at the end of the year, so I urge the Minister for Local Government to get this done." Why should millions of native animals and countless pet cats have to die over a matter of juggling priorities?