Welcome to this week's issue!

EIANZ has released the summary communiqué following the recent 2025 Impact Assessment Symposium.

The symposium brought together practitioners, regulators and researchers to address a critical challenge facing the profession: the tension between streamlining impact assessment (IA) processes and delivering meaningful environmental and social outcomes.

The symposium revealed that constant pressure to do more with less – time, funding and personnel – has led to an efficiency-focused approach that risks undermining the very outcomes IA is designed to achieve.
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The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has invited EIANZ members to be involved in stakeholder engagement in the Renewables Environmental Research Initiative (RERI), which has allocated over $40 million to more than 40 projects.

RERI aims to support Australia's transition to renewable energy whilst protecting biodiversity through research on threatened species, regulatory guidance and data tools. Stakeholders who complete the expression of interest may be contacted about engagement activities such as workshops, consultations and webinars to improve the quality of draft deliverables, or receive updates when project outcomes are published.
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This week, EIANZ sent out an invitation to contribute to The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) consultation on implementing Australia's Strategy for Nature 2024-2030. 

EIANZ is preparing a submission and we're inviting members with relevant expertise to contribute dot-point thoughts on specific sections. This is an opportunity to shape national biodiversity policy through EIANZ's collective voice.

We're seeking contributors for the following sections:

• Targets:
  • Protect and conserve 30% of Australia's landmass and 30% of Australia's marine areas by 2030
  • Priority degraded areas are under effective restoration by 2030
  • No new extinctions
  • Minimise the impact of climate change on biodiversity
  • Eradicate or control invasive species in priority landscapes and further minimise their introduction by 2030
  • Increase Australia's circularity rate and reduce pollution and its impacts on biodiversity by 2030
• Enablers of Change:
  • Ensure equitable representation and participation in decisions relating to nature, particularly for First Nations peoples
  • Mainstream nature into government and business decision-making, including in financing, policies, regulations and planning processes
  • Ensure environmental data and information are widely accessible and support decision-making

To express your interest: Please email office@eianz.org with the subject line ‘Strategy for Nature Submission’ by 9am Monday (6 October), indicating which section(s) align with your expertise and availability. We will be confirming authors of the section on Monday morning, with dot points to be received by the morning of Friday 10 October.

Members interested in providing their individual opinion can do so via the department’s Have Your Say survey, here.
Read the full discussion paper →

Do you have good stories to tell about the work you're doing for nature?

The Nature Media Centre is a new, non-partisan resource that supports journalists and other fact-based storytellers covering Australia’s environmental challenges.  They are inviting experts from diverse fields across Australia to join its spokesperson database to connect with newsmakers.

The centre connects journalists with trusted voices and case studies to support environmental coverage. They also offer free spokesperson training to strengthen communication and media skills for those who want support before speaking to the media. EIANZ encourages interested members to consider joining via the Nature Media Centre spokesperson database.
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Air temperatures in Antarctica's stratosphere have soared up to 35°C above normal due to an unusual sudden stratospheric warming event, with three separate heat pulses pushing temperatures from around –55°C to approximately –20°C since early September. Whilst these events typically bring warmer and drier conditions to southeastern Australia (as occurred during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires), current forecasts predict warmer temperatures alongside a wetter spring in the east due to the influence of warm ocean temperatures.

These warming events, which occur when atmospheric waves carry heat into the stratosphere 12 to 40 kilometres above ground, are more common than previously thought in the Southern Hemisphere, happening roughly once every 22 years rather than the once-in-60-years previously estimated.

Warming in the stratosphere does not mean similar surface temperature jumps and, while significant, analysts indicate that the 2025 event is weaker than in 2002 and 2019.
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A parliamentary inquiry has found NSW's EPA exposed communities along the Belubula River in central west NSW to ‘unacceptable’ harm by failing to act quickly on toxic PFAS contamination. The inquiry found the regulator held fish testing results for eight months before warning anglers not to eat their catch, despite community testing showing carp contained PFOS levels up to 40 times the federal food safety trigger for contamination investigation.

Warning signs were only installed at 15 river sites last month, more than a year after the contaminants were discovered. PFOS has now been detected up to 40 kilometres downstream, with concentrations just under the recommended drinking water guideline of 8ng/L, raising concerns among winemakers and landholders about the spread of contamination.
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A clean-up is underway in Far North Queensland after approximately 10,000 litres of kerosene and bitumen spilled into Smith's Creek in Cairns following a safety valve failure at a Boral asphalt plant over the weekend. The spill has spread to Trinity Inlet near Cairns Port, raising concerns about impacts on the nearby Great Barrier Reef, with environmental advocates warning it could harm mangroves, reef fish, crabs and other species that form the foundation of the ecosystem.

The Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) is leading the response and considering compliance action against Boral, whilst requiring all affected vessels to be cleaned before leaving Trinity Inlet to prevent further spread towards the reef.
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Whale entanglements in shark nets off Queensland have increased by 50 per cent this year, with 12 whales caught so far compared to an average of six, due to a thriving humpback population of ~50,000 and their migration route bringing them closer to shore.

Scientists say the position of the East Australian Current, which whales use as a natural navigation cue, has shifted closer to the coastline near the Sunshine Coast, creating a pinch point where multiple shark nets are positioned across their migration corridor. Whilst all entangled whales this year have been released alive, experts warn that even minor incidents can cause long-term stress effects, with drowning possible in worst-case scenarios, arguing that removing the nets is the only certain way to prevent whale entanglements.
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Aotearoa New Zealand's government is investing $6 million over three years into the Raukūmara Pae Maunga restoration project, a partnership between Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and the Department of Conservation in the eastern Bay of Plenty's Raukūmara Range.

The project employs 28 local iwi staff conducting large-scale pest control to protect critically endangered species including Hochstetter's frogs and tusked wētā, as well as brown kiwi, whio and long-tailed bats from deer, goats and possums, whilst also training over 1,000 young people in environmental programmes. Last year the project delivered the North Island's largest aerial 1080 operation covering 116,000 hectares, which temporarily reduced rats to undetectable levels and achieved a 73 per cent reduction in possums.
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Just under three weeks left until EIANZ's 2025 Annual Conference! Join us in Perth for a two-day deep-dive into professional collaboration that delivers real-world environmental outcomes. The theme for this year's conference is "Environmental Excellence Through Collaboration," featuring keynote addresses by:

• Professor Josh Byrne PhD AM
• Professor Fiona Wood AO, FRCS, FRACS
• Keith Bradby, CEO of Gondwana Link

This conference arrives at a critical juncture for our profession. Secure your place today and be part of defining how environmental practitioners can better serve clients, engage communities, and protect our shared environment through the power of collaboration.
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The kārearea (New Zealand falcon) has won the 2025 Bird of the Year competition in its 20th anniversary, securing its second title after previously winning in 2012. The high-speed predator, featured on Aotearoa New Zealand's $20 note, is vulnerable with only 5,000-8,000 remaining due to habitat loss and predation.This year's competition attracted record engagement with over 75,000 voters, and organisers emphasised that 80 per cent of the top 10 birds are threatened, highlighting the conservation message behind the popular contest.
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Of interest​​​​​

Australia

Native forest logging must end in order to reach Labor’s emissions reduction target, expert says
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Central West wind farm to power nearly half a million homes
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Australia’s southern coast is in uncharted waters
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These little bettongs were wiped out in South Australia a century ago. Now they’re thriving alongside foxes and feral cats
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Reef communities tackling marine debris
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Top statistician breaks silence over Murujuga rock art study near Woodside gas plant
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'Jekyll and Hyde': How to win over Australia's most polarising bird
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New Zealand

74 countries have now ratified a landmark treaty to protect the high seas. Why hasn’t NZ?
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Country's largest study into drinking water nitrates reveals rural freshwater at risk
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Kaipara Moana Remediation and DOC agreement encourages more environmental action for waterways
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Control efforts underway as invasive lakeweed threatens Otago lakes
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Thousands more cows: Why they’re allowed and where they’ll go
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Trip limits to protect Akaroa Hector’s dolphins
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Global

Polar bears take over abandoned research station in Russian Arctic
​​​​​​​Learn more →

Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human
​​​​​​​Learn more →

Revolutionary AI Wildlife Trafficking Investigation Exposes International Criminal Network
​​​​​​​Learn more →​​​​​​​

If you'd like to respond to any of the news, contact us at office@eianz.org to find out how we can assist.

Professional development

Upcoming EIANZ events

View all upcoming EIANZ events →

Upcoming partner events

Open for submission

If you'd like to contribute to an EIANZ submission, contact us at office@eianz.org to find out how.  

New

Kaikōura Marine Management Act consultation | Department of Conservation | 28 October 2025
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Review of NSW South Coast Region WSPs | NSW EPA | 7 November 2025
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Billabong Floodplain Management Plan | NSW EPA | 16 November 2025
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Murray Valley Floodplain Management Plan | NSW EPA | 16 November 2025
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New assessment of the conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand | Department of Conservation | 31 January 2026
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Still open

Visit our website to see all open submissions →

Jobs board

Explore the newest opportunities advertised on our Jobs Board

View all jobs →

In case you missed it - headlines from last week's issue

Institute Insider #437

EIANZ announces student and early careers travel grant winners for 2025 conference

DCCEEW urges Australians to strengthen wildlife resilience ahead of potential bird flu arrival

Experts deliver mixed reactions to government's 2035 emissions reduction target

Government admits unlawful failure to create recovery plans for threatened species

NZ Transport Agency opens registrations for ecological suppliers directory

EIANZ board nominations close in under one week (now closed)

Senate inquiry hears floods may not have caused SA's harmful algal bloom

Government approves 100th renewable energy project since 2022 election

Over $3 million in grants to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage at heritage sites

Central office was closed Friday 26 September for AFL Grand Final public holiday

Read Institute Insider issue #437 here →

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