Freya Cole

I fixed the front page of today’s West Australian newspaper.

We have campaigned for years to reform Australia’s broken nature laws. But the mining lobby appears to have won.

I’m not surprised, just gutted.

RIP koala, gang-gangs, greater gliders… and many, many more precious and unique species.

In Australia, Labor MP Yasmin Catley has described peaceful protests at the world’s largest coal port as “self-serving stunts” after police lost a court bid to stop the action.

Wonder if Yasmin ever considers the self-serving fossil fuel executives profiteering over our children’s future?

I’m about 90% sure this is a sugar glider and a young one too. Any nature experts, please jump in!

My brother spotted it while gardening. Very rare to see one of these beautiful creatures during the day given they’re nocturnal. I just hope it’s okay in the extreme heat we’re witnessing.

A native Australian Gang-Gang cockatoo takes a sip of water from a bird bath in the Otway ranges this time last year. The Gang Gang cockatoo has vibrant red feathers around the face and dark grey feathers over the body.

A magnificent Gang-Gang cockatoo, having a sip in the Otways this time last year. Tonight bushfires are burning a few towns away from where this pic was taken.

Gang-Gangs are endangered in parts of Australia. And every unnatural disaster worsened by global heating pushes them closer to the brink.

Bushfires force evacuations in Victoria’s west as wild weather menaces Australia’s south-east Firefighters battle two out-of-control blazes as other communities brace for winds, storms and possible flash flooding

Disaster season has well and truly begun in Australia. Firies are battling bushfires in Victoria’s west while residents in the state’s north east and other parts of the country are bracing for chaotic rain and flash flooding.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

It’s the knocked over sign for me… and of course, literally no crowds - says it all really. I personally have lost a bit of hope in the CoPs but it’ll be interesting to see if Australia and the Pacific nations are the hosts of 31, it’d help ramp up pressure on our lacking government.

15M people on Bluesky!!! 💫

The Verge beat us to our own announcement — that's the beauty of an open network with public stats!

Host nation unleashes on audience at COP29: 'Slander and blackmail' Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has described oil and gas as a 'gift from God'. Find out more.

#COP29: The scale of the negotiations has been impacted because they’ve been hosted by “petro-states” and recent commentary highlights the importance of Australia’s bid to host COP31 alongside other Pacific nations whose existence is threatened by global heating.

au.news.yahoo.com/host-nation-...

The gas export stall at COP29 is a literal hot mess.

And the crowds of people showing interest speaks volumes…

(Is sarcasm allowed on here? I’ll try to keep it cheery!)

Thank you @ketanjoshi.co! This is so helpful.

I’ve followed Ketan on the platform that shall not be named for years now and I’ve always found his work helpful and insightful.

Thank you so much @petallu.bsky.social I’m definitely happiest when I can get out into the field. Here I’m visiting a brilliant regenerative farmer who has drought proofed his property through clever farming techniques, and protects platypus habitat from livestock.

Phew! Would love to be connected if you can recommend anyone to follow? Thanks Tom.

In another life, I worked as a reporter and fill-in presenter at BBC World in London. I worked through the early days of the Covid pandemic which was a really wild, grim and unsettling time. Still, I loved this job and cherish the friendships forged in one of the world’s biggest newsrooms.

Well hi Bluesky! I’m Freya - here you’ll find me writing about climate and nature issues in Australia. This pic is from a recent platypus search in regional New South Wales. Did you know Australia is a global deforestation hotspot and has lost more mammal species than anywhere else in the world?