ABC Capricornia Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A new program in central Queensland is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men rebuild their lives after leaving prison in an attempt to curb high recidivism rates. For a fishing show not often flush with fish, friends Arnold Parsons and Shae Lui say it is just part of the adventure. Adanis announcement that its giving the green light to the Carmichael coal mine in Queenslands Galilee Basin begs more questions than it answers. The chairman of Indian mining giant Adani gives the final investment approval for its 1. Carmichael mine in central Queenslands Galilee Basin. Life is a British nature documentary series created and produced by the BBC in association with The Open University. It was first broadcast as part of the BBCs. The Survivor Rulebook is a contract that is to be signed by all contestants before competing in. Ben Jerrys latest ice cream news, information, happenings, and general euphoria. A Queensland researcher probes the social lives of cattle to see if it impacts on their overall welfare. Shakespeare is brought to life for audiences who have never before seen theatre as a Brisbane based company tours regional Queensland. The decision to cut hundreds of Aurizon jobs in central and north Queensland is about survival, the rail freight operator says, but the union argues it is a. And the rate is rising, with nets accounting for 8. The environment agency is working to change all that. Fishing nets are the leading cause of dugong deaths in Abu Dhabis coastal waters, scientists have said. Since 2. 00. 0, the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi EAD has investigated 1. Of these, 1. 11, or 7. If data from the past five years is reviewed, fishing nets contributed to 8. The creatures feed on sea grass and are protected under federal law, meaning targeting them directly or unintentionally can lead to heavy fines. While EAD scientists have no doubt the data is reliable when it comes to highlighting the main threat to Abu Dhabis population of the endangered animals, the numbers could in reality be higher. Globally, usually 5. Dr Himansu Das, unit head for marine threatened species and habitats at EADs terrestrial and marine biodiversity sector. While it is not possible to record all deaths, it is clear that the rate of dugongs dying in fishing nets has increased, he said. That means, in the past five years, the fishing effort has increased, or the use of illegal fishing nets. Fishermen return to collect nets based on calculations about currents. The estimates are often wrong and the nets are lost, posing a risk to marine wildlife. As they have poor eyesight, dugongs are very vulnerable, said Dr Das. EAD has conducted informal interviews with fishermen as part of its study and found that the majority were aware of the laws prohibiting the use of illegal nets and the protected status of dugongs. Yet many continue to rely on this lucrative method of fishing, the agency said. Last year, EAD carried out workshops in the Western Region and is planning on continuing its efforts to ensure existing fishing regulations are implemented, as well as necessary marine clean ups, Dr Das said. The agency is also planning to increase aerial surveys outside marine protected areas where the dugong population is very healthy, said Dr Das. Most of this mortality happens outside protected areas, said Dr Das, who explained that 2. The UAE is one of 2. United Nations backed global programme to conserve dugongs in the 4. Dr Donna Kwan, the initiatives programme officer, said that human related activities, particularly use of fishing gear, were the main cause of dugong deaths around the world. The UAE is the only country other than Australia that has historical datasets relating to mortality, she said. The UAE has all the right tools in place. The question is why, despite these measures, dugong mortality continuesThe National approached the Abu Dhabi Fishermen Cooperative Society but was unable to obtain comments. More information Click Here. Reef plan changes but Abbot Point future still unknown 0. March 2. 01. 5, Toowoomba Chronicle Australia THE State Government is making changes to a long term Great Barrier Reef plan but it is still yet to announce whether the Abbot Point expansion project should go ahead. Yesterday the Labor Government issued a statement saying it had asked the Federal Governments support on changing the reefs 2. Long Term Sustainability Plan before it is handed over to the World Heritage Committee. Some of these changes include banning the dumping of dredge spoil in the World Heritage area, establishing a taskforce to reduce nitrogen run off by 8. A spokesman for Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the government had accepted these changes and that the plan would be amended before it was handed to the World Heritage Committee soon. But the spokesman confirmed they were still waiting to hear about the Labor Governments intensions regarding the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion. The deadline for the decision on whether or not the expansion will go ahead has been extended until April 3. Watch Bokeh Online there. More information Click Here Underwater plants, critical to maintaining a healthy environment, face multiple threats 0. March 2. 01. 5, Florida Weekly USA Seagrass probably isnt what you think it is. It is not the smelly, slimy stuff that clings to your leg as you emerge from a swim in the gulf or washes up on the sand and gets even smellier as it decomposes. Thats seaweed marine macro algae, plantlike organisms, which are not true plants because they didnt evolve from land plants. Seagrass is a plant that lives underwater, has roots, flowers, seeds and pollen, and provides vegetation and habitat. It enhances an environment that otherwise would be unproductive sand and can live where nutrients are scarce. Where there is an excess of nutrients from pollution like runoff from fertilizers and farms or from sewage and septic tanks seaweed takes over for seagrass. Seagrasses are extremely important indicators of the health of an ecosystem. They help maintain water clarity by trapping fine sediments and particles. They provide shelter for fish and crustaceans. And they serve as food along with the organisms that grow on them for marine animals and water birds. And theyre being threatened in Southwest Florida, which is why James Douglass, an assistant professor in Florida Gulf Coast Universitys Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences, is spending a great deal of time and energy investigating them. Mr. Douglass is studying seagrasses in the Caloosahatchee and Matlacha estuaries aided by technician Christina Kennedy, graduate students Shannan Mc. Askill and Thomas Behlmer, and undergraduate interns Spencer Hilbert, Alexandra Rodriguez, Stephanie DOrazio, Manuel Coffill, Andrew Eiseman, Lisa Rickards and Rachel Margalus. We care about seagrasses because they help clean the water and they take nutrients out of the water, and as long as there are not too many nutrients, the seagrasses can deal with them, Mr. Douglass says. Just like a filter takes dust out of the air in your house, seagrasses take dirt and dust out of the water. They also perform the vital task of removing carbon dioxide from the water, storing it in their roots and leaves. So its sort of the reverse of what we usually do, Mr. Douglass says, which is take petroleum out of the ground and burn it and put carbon dioxide in the air. So, in other words, seagrasses help combat global warmingYes, he says. Of course, when an existing seagrass bed dies, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and worsens climate change. So we need to protect the seagrass beds we still have as well as to restore the seagrass beds that were lost to human impacts in the past. There are believed to be about 5. Floridas marine waters, and theyre declining for a variety of reasons worsening water quality direct physical disturbance, such as scars from motorboats or dredging climate change and changes in the food chain. Salinity the salt content of the water is a really big issue around here because its affected so much by releases of water from Lake Okeechobee, Mr. Douglass says. Its going up and down from the wet season to the dry season. When we release water, it gets fresh, and when we hold back water, it gets much saltier than its supposed to be. This is what I call the. It used to flow from up around Orlando and the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee and then gradually through the Everglades into Florida Bay. This was a gradual flow and not such a drastic change from the wet and dry season because the wetlands would sponge up the flow and release it gradually, but now that we have all these canals and dams, weve sent a lot of water from Lake Okeechobee out through the Caloosahatchee Estuary, and thats really messed up the ecology. Mr. Douglass research has analyzed salinity conditions and the amount of seagrass at various places along the estuary. On a late October morning under a cloudless, azure sky, Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Hilbert took a 1. They threw into the four feetdeep water a quadrat pieces of PVC pipe with string in a grid of 2. Then they put on snorkels and counted the seagrasses in about 2. I like the ecological aspects of seagrass, Ms.