Australia & Oceania

"Syngenta says it will stop selling paraquat in Australia after new regulations on chemical linked to Parkinson’s disease"

"The Trump administration is moving closer to opening up U.S. waters for deep-sea mining—a contentious and largely untested industry focused on extracting mineral-rich deposits from the ocean floor containing cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese." "If the sale moves forward, mining activities could begin in federal waters near American Samoa. The proposed site is directly adjacent to a national wildlife refuge."

"The U.S. government plans to auction off massive sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining in an unprecedented move that is expected to draw criticism from many countries."

"They may look like a fluffy flying carpet, but greater gliders are not as great at gliding as previously thought, Australian researchers have discovered."

“Inside the island colony being tapped to help save Australia's koalas from deadly chlamydia.”

"A proposed waste-to-energy facility in Fiji has been labelled as "waste colonialism" by opponents of the plant. The $900 million venture, backed by Australian billionaire Ian Malouf, would burn hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste each year at a site built near a popular tourist destination."

"Indonesian President ‌Prabowo Subianto ordered prosecutors on Friday to file criminal charges against companies that refuse to cooperate with a task force he launched to crack down on illegal activities in the country's forests."

"Thousands of dead fish are washing ashore and people are falling ill too, as officials investigate possible sources of contamination."

"Researchers led by the Australian scientist Tim Flannery have made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery: that two charismatic marsupial species that had been thought extinct for 6,000 years are alive in rainforest in remote West Papua."

"A declaration recognizing whales as legal rights-holders is influencing legislation in New Zealand and sparking an international push to translate Indigenous customs into binding protections."