Palm Beach Headland of Sydney’s Northern Beaches recently made history by becoming the first Urban Night Sky Place (UNSP) in the Southern Hemisphere, as awarded by the Arizona-based Dark Sky International. This recognition marks the 10th urban area worldwide to receive this prestigious title. The proposal to recognise the 62-hectare headlands as a city-based stargazing location was initiated in 2018 to the Northern Beaches Council by the local and Dark Sky traveller, Marnie Ogg. To achieve this recognition, potential locations must pass strict qualifications. Palm Beach Headland demonstrated that the area is on par with the stargazing standards and that…
Author: Vicky McMahon
The New South Wales Animal Justice Party has lodged an inquiry to ban the practice of mulesing sheep. The matter will be heard by the NSW Upper House throughout September, with calls for the ban to implemented as soon as Jan 1, 2021. Mulesing is a procedure of removing a piece of skin from the breach of a very young lamb so a scar of stretched skin grows back. The practice prevents the risk of sheep getting flystrike which is a deadly disease caused by the Lucilia cuprina blowfly. This specific type of blowfly lay maggots on wet wool and…
The National koala population saw a concerning decrease last summer as bushfires ravaged bushlands all over the country. The koala population in New South Wales was one of the worst-hit koala areas in the country, with at least 5,000 dying as a result of the fires. The New South Wales Government has established a plan to help double the koala population in the state by 2050. The key strategy they have assigned to the plan is expanding the size of their national parks. It is estimated that the koala population has shrunk to about 15,000. With such a low number,…
Just weeks after starting to flow again, the Barwon-Darling River looks to be in trouble as dry conditions cause the river to drop. Sections of the river are falling at an alarming rate, with patches in the north-west in Wilcannia completely dry again. Experts are concerned about the continuing lack of rain the area has seen, especially with summer now just around the corner. Wilcannia local Owen Whyman says that the river has dropped extremely quickly and that it is devastating to see patches completely dry again. There are also concerns about the stagnant water becoming rancid as the warmer…
With COVID-19 numbers on the rise in many of Australia’s capital cities, regional parts of New South Wales are predicted to be the saving grace in restarting the Australian economy. A new report has shown that the number of job vacancies in some regional areas is at an all-time high. In June there was a 22 percent increase in new job listings in comparison to the previous month of May, reports the Regional Australia Institute. The figure is double those reported in capital cities, at a mere 11 percent increase since May. It is reported that over 11,000 new jobs…