Michael McCarthy

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Science shows alpine grazing doesn’t reduce bushfire risk and damages the environment. But the issue will no doubt continue to be debated. AAP Image/Bob Richardson

The alpine grazing debate was never about science

Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne; Georgia Garrard, RMIT University, and Libby Rumpff, The University of Melbourne

Alpine grazing will be permanently banned from Victoria’s Alpine National Park under legislation debated this week.
Large bushfires occur in the mallee shrublands and woodlands of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Lauren Brown

Percentage targets for planned burning are blunt tools that don’t work

Luke Kelly, The University of Melbourne; Katherine Giljohann, The University of Melbourne, and Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

Controlling bushfire risk by burning a set percentage of land every year sounds sensible - but a more sophisticated approach is needed to truly safeguard both humans and wildlife in rural areas.
Forests logged in the past two decades burned more severely the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. AAP Image/Andrew Brownbill

Victoria’s logged landscapes are at increased risk of bushfire

Chris Taylor, The University of Melbourne; David Lindenmayer, Australian National University, and Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

Victoria’s forest management policies need to be urgently reviewed in response to the discovery that logging can contribute to the severity of bushfires in wet forests, like the devastating fires on Black…
The grey-faced sengi, found only in remote East African forests, is related to elephants. Francesco Rovero

‘Irreplaceable’ homes of endangered animals mapped – but did they get it right?

Shireen Chan, The Conversation

Kakadu National Park, Western Australia’s Shark Bay and Queensland’s wet tropics are among the world’s most important protected areas for conserving species, according to a study published today in the…
We have to get smarter about the way we manage Australia’s national parks. Nic Prins

Our national parks must be more than playgrounds or paddocks

Euan Ritchie, Deakin University; Bill Laurance, James Cook University; Corey J. A. Bradshaw, University of Adelaide; David M Watson, Charles Sturt University; Emma Johnston, UNSW ; Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland; Ian Lunt, Charles Sturt University, and Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

It’s make or break time for Australia’s national parks. National parks on land and in the ocean are dying a death of a thousand cuts, in the form of bullets, hooks, hotels, logging concessions and grazing…
Cows do more harm than good in national parks. Howard Russell

Fact check: does grazing reduce bush fires in national parks?

Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

According to the ABC, Senator John Williams has called for cattle grazing in national parks to reduce the risk of fire: The problem in our national parks is that when we have these savage fires with these…
We don’t have enough money to save all species, but would invertebrates get a look in if the public chose what lived and died? Howard Rawson

The public should help decide which species to save and which to let go

Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne and Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland

At current levels of funding, it is not possible to save all threatened species in Australia from extinction. Trade-offs are required. For example, managers could concentrate efforts on the most threatened…
Bushfires are a greater risk in areas of human habitation than in alpine regions. AAP

Alpine grazing: let’s research fires where they pose most threat

Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

Last summer, the Victorian government allowed cattle to graze in the Alpine National Park. They claimed it was part of a scientific trial to assess grazing as a tool to reduce fire risk. Now it seems there…

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