Australia & Oceania

“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."

"The deadly storms that devastated Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in late November were "supercharged" by higher sea temperatures and made worse by rapid deforestation, scientists said in a study published on Thursday."

"Southeast Asia is being pummeled by unusually severe floods this year, as late-arriving storms and relentless rains wreak havoc that has caught many places off guard."

"The death toll from cyclone-induced floods and landslides in Indonesia passed 600 on Monday as rescuers battled to clear roads and improved weather conditions revealed the scale of a disaster that has killed nearly 800 people in Southeast Asia."