As with many public debates, the debate on climate change has a number of participants whose activities are influential, secretive and unethical. In the climate change debate, some fossil fuel corporations have funded apparently unrelated bodies which claim to have some scientific expertise or which claim to represent citizens' interests. The purpose of this activity is to provide sources of commentary which can be cited in media coverage. This paper examines three ways in which public debate and news coverage on climate change are shaped by the activities of climate change deniers in cooperation with fossil fuel companies.

Scientists presenting inconvenient facts or ideas that run counter to commercial interests may place themselves at risk of legal action. Frivolous or even vexatious lawsuits are a recognized tool for silencing criticism of corporate or individual commercial interests, particularly where the critics are private individuals or non-commercial entities. Termed SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, are meritless defamation or damages actions designed to intimidate and punish scientists and others for speaking in opposition to commercial interests. Such cases are well known and appear frequently in some jurisdictions but are not regularly discussed in scientific circles. Evidence from the US suggests that even the threat of such litigation can stifle public comment and change scientific monitoring and reporting practices. Cases identified as SLAPPs mostly fail in court, but take the intended heavy toll on the defendant, draining energy, time, and money. In this chapter we examine SLAPPs in regard to scientists' involvement in public commentary and provision of scientific information to government and the wider public. Are evidence-based science and the right to speak out in the public interest under threat from SLAPPs? We highlight several known cases and discuss the implications for Australian scientists.

We have been struck by the paucity of coverage of bats in the media, even though they constitute a quarter of the Australian mammal fauna. The Microchiroptera are almost invisible to the public, but the Megachiroptera come to public attention mostly when camping in or near towns or in orchards. There is a public blindness to the reality of bats, their natural history, their ecology and conservation. Like most treatment of bats through the ages, Dracula , the 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker featuring as its primary character the vampire Count Dracula, has left a legacy of a perception of bats as dark, evil, bloodsucking monsters. We gathered ancient and modern references to bats, from books, newspapers, radio and TV, the internet and other sources, to explore attitudes to bats. We examined a number of recent books and feel inspired at the change from the stereotypic images that have haunted so many books, especially children's books. There remains a pressing need for accurate information about bats to be entertainingly available to the public. The Australian Museum's 1999/2000 ‘Bats’ exhibition filled this need, with a most appropriate headline: “Threatened and misunderstood”. Our conclusion is that the public has a blindness to bats, and therefore to the issues surrounding their conservation and management. We did find that people do care about individual bats, and that education helps counter the negative perceptions. We turn to education and research as the primary formula for seeking to understand and manage bats. Rather than turn away from the rich heritage of prejudice about bats, it is our view that such bizarre interpretations of this magnificent order of animals can be the springboard to their salvation. There is also the critical matter of their keystone role in our native ecosystems. Bats are a fabulous subject for educational programs and a rich source of scientific investigation, from fossils and reflections on evolution to studies on their ecology in commercial contexts, and as support for the frontline fight to conserve our forests and our caves, and to live in a sustainable society for the next 1000 years.

In my view, the wildlife in the State Forests of NSW in 2004 has the best and most secure management regime of any production forests in the world. The support for this view is based on the following account. Over the past 30 years I have been directly involved with the management of forest wildlife in NSW, North America and more recently on a global basis. Beginning with a background in wildlife management acquired through undergraduate studies and volunteer work in the field, I have been lucky enough to experience the changes in reality and paradigm with regard to the values of - and actions required for - successful management of forest wildlife. My experiences include membership of the Scientific Committee of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 in New South Wales and managing wildlife in the remaining 2 million hectares of native forest and 50 000 hectares of plantation for State Forest in NSW. Over that time I participated in the Spotted Owl Strix occidentalis issues of the 1980s and 1990s in the Pacific Northwest, the rainforest debate in Queensland and NSW in the early 1980s, and establishing early work on the distribution and abundance of vertebrates in southern NSW in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Most recently, I have participated in the writing and development of the National Forest Policy (early 1990s), the consequent Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRAs), and the negotiations for the resultant Regional Forest Agreements (RFA). Finally, I have participated in the implementation of these RFAs in NSW, and tried to develop an economic force to deliver on global biodiversity management. In this brief and data free paper, I try to summarise those experiences in terms of the results for forest wildlife management and the delivery of biodiversity on a permanent and useful basis for future generations.

Art, for us, has the potential power to activate the soul, the conscience and the imagination of society. We are public artists working with nature in the urban and suburban contexts. The topic of the paper is an environment rehabilitation project in Fairfield, in western Sydney, called Restoring the Waters. The project is to restore Clear Paddock Creek, currently a concrete storm water canal in Sydney's western suburbs, to a natural creek. To engage the community through our role as artists, the concept of the ‘Memory Line’ was created. It is a 3 kilometre long ephemeral environmental artwork. With the high school students, we organised site visits and worked with them to create environmental artworks to be exhibited on site. With primary students we focused on habitat loss and we began by helping them to imagine the creek that had gone. The spirit of the project was distilled to one theme - In the Stream - one large-scale work of the native fauna that had returned to inhabit its rightful place along the creek line. It was a 50-metre long installation of over 400 wetland creatures made by hundreds of local school children. The art project creatively elaborated on the relationship, rather than the schism, between the cultures of ‘nature’ and ‘suburbia’.

The status of scientists in public opinion is discussed in relation to several areas of controversy. In England the social status of scientists is affected by long standing prejudices in society and the education system, and to some extent these views have had influence in Australia. It is suggested that the issues which give rise to public concern about science vary between countries, but that interactions of science with business and the perceived lack of openness in release of findings have undermined public confidence. Changes in the publishing industry have profound consequences for the practice and accessibility of science. These changes have received little comment or analysis, but potentially have both positive and negative consequences. The application of new managerial approaches with short term vision to scientific research risks long term damage and may limit the ability of scientists to respond to public needs and concerns.

This study describes a survey of roadkill in a suburban area of Sydney, Australia. The study was conducted by a community activist motivated by the rejection of a roadkill mitigation proposal by state Roads and Traffic Authority on the basis of insufficient evidence of need. Roadkills were recorded in suburban bushland on two roads in the north-east of Sydney. The study was conducted over a 36-week period. Eighty four native animals were observed dead on or adjacent to the roads. The predominant species killed were swamp wallabies Wallabia bicolor , brushtail possums Trichosurus vulpecula and long nosed bandicoots Perameles nasuta . The great majority of killed swamp wallabies were male. There was a noticeable absence of small fauna. The dissemination of this study and others led to a public forum on road kill being held. From this public forum, a “RoadKill Committee” was formed comprising local stakeholders. Strategies for mitigating roadkill were implemented and a public awareness campaign was also developed. These activities are presently being evaluated. Roadkill surveys such as this helps provide information about the nature and extent of roadkill. They can also galvanise local community opinion and help develop and monitor local roadkill mitigation strategies.

This paper examines the widespread phenomenon of grumpiness among Australia's ecologists and members of related disciplines. It argues that their disillusionment is a result of consistent first-hand experience of irretrievable, but preventable, losses of species and ecosystems. It also contends that the lessons of their professional experience continue to go unheeded by the broader community, and that this increases their feeling of disillusionment. The paper examines the Australian Bureau of Statistics' report Measures of Australia's Progress in the context of the threats facing Australian fauna and the existing state of public knowledge concerning these threats. It then analyses the results of the Who Cares About the Environment? report, conducted by the Office of Environment and Heritage, New South Wales (2012). It concludes that these reports illustrate a disturbing lack of knowledge and awareness of our fauna among the Australian public, as well as the threats facing biodiversity.

When scientists come under attack, it is predictable that the attackers will use methods to minimise public outrage over the attack, including covering up the action, devaluing the target, reinterpreting what is happening, using official processes to give an appearance of justice, and intimidating people involved. To be effective in countering attacks, it is valuable to challenge each of these methods, namely by exposing actions, validating targets, interpreting actions as unfair, mobilising support and not relying on official channels, and standing up to intimidation. On a wider scale, science is constantly under siege from vested interests, especially governments and corporations wanting to use scientists and their findings to serve their agendas at the expense of the public interest. To challenge this system of institutionalised bias, the same sorts of methods can be used.

Invertebrate concerns carry little weight when conservation resources are being distributed. The distribution of resources to conservation depends on decisions made at the political level. Every politician, and every phase of the media, depends on approval from some sector of public opinion. It is here that the invertebrates have carried a heavy handicap. To include invertebrates in policy development, more specialists from the invertebrate world must become activists, and 1. Seek a place on the committees that matter. 2. Get interested in the legal field. 3. Where possible, piggy-back invertebrates on existing major issues. 4. Get interested in what the plethora of government authorities in the field are achieving. 5. Become interested in threatening processes and ecological history. 6. Make up unique symbols to carry the conservation banner. 7. Use existing symbols and icons, such as national parks, the Great Barrier Reef or rainforests. 8. Seize all opportunities to influence public opinion. 9. Try to be in a position to add invertebrate issues to public reports, such as the State of Environment reports, and especially to any relating to land use decisions.

Cane toads Bufo marinus have been in Australia since 1935. Originally hailed as the potential savior of the ailing Queensland sugar cane industry, toads are now viewed as a nuisance, a scourge and a threat to Australian wildlife. In this paper, I will track the history of cane toads in Australia and investigate the changing perceptions that have ensued. Cane toads frequently make headlines when they venture into new areas, sparking a new wave of public animosity and outrage. Questions addressed: Are these responses justified or is Bufo marinus merely a highly recognizable target for public anger? Will the recent detection of a second species of toad in Australia, the Asian Black-spined toad B. melanostictus , be greeted with the same response or will it be accepted as a new arrival?

This paper examines the threat to science from organized pseudoscience. It is easy to show that the general public's understanding of science is very poor. Therefore, determined people can advocate ‘alternatives’ to science which appear plausible to non-scientists. With skilful marketing, large sections of the public can be convinced that these alternatives should be taught in schools and universities, and that they merit funding for further research. The examples of creation science and intelligent design are considered. In both cases, the aim of these pseudo-sciences is to fundamentally alter the nature of science. Backed by large resources and vast numbers of supporters, it is suggested that movements like this can endanger science teaching and, eventually, the conduct of science itself. It is suggested that every scientist should be aware of the claims of these pseudo-sciences, and be in a position to offer basic refutations. In addition, it is necessary that specialists in the analysis and refutation of the pseudo-scientific claims should be available to offer further support.

A ‘political ecology’ perspective was used to examine the implications of the export woodchip scheme located near Eden in south east New South Wales (NSW) for the region's public forests and their fauna. The modern paper industry's political economy emphasises the importance of a large supply of wood fibre of suitable price and quality for competitive papermaking. The evolution of the Japanese paper industry and the exploitative history of forests in south east NSW interacted to create the opportunity to establish such a supply in Australia for the Japanese papermaker Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co from 1970. The ‘Harris-Daishowa’ export woodchip scheme at Eden was based on the guaranteed supply of large volumes of pulpwood from the region's public native forests. Meeting this supply entailed restructuring available forests through clearfell logging over about 40 years. Features of the regime used to manage these forests and supply pulpwood were examined within this context, and the consequences of woodchipping for fauna protection are discussed. Fauna populations were being restructured by this regime, which ‘squeezed’ them between priorities for wood production and fire management. In particular, forest-dependent fauna, such as gliders, some possums and koalas, have been detrimentally impacted. Substantial changes to public forest management in south east NSW took almost 30 years to achieve. However, while export woodchipping continues, the ‘political ecology’ of local forest fauna will be influenced by international pulp and paper markets.

This chapter reviews recent developments in the economics of the environment with special reference to forest fauna. While economics can make a substantial contribution to broad land-use decisions, it is less useful in day-to-day management decisions. Efficient allocation of resources by private markets breaks down when confronted by public goods or goods with large externalities such as clean air, national defence and forest fauna. Cost-benefit analysis is a public decision-making mechanism designed to account for all of the economic values associated with a particular resource use. In addition to the usual commercial values, extended cost-benefit analysis tries to take account of the less tangible non-use values such as existence value and option value. Several techniques, such as contingent valuation, have been developed to measure the latter. There is a range of practical and philosophical difficulties with these measures, but they can still provide useful information. The property rights approach to the environment argues that public goods, such as forest fauna, can be privatized and can then be traded in markets. Advocates of this approach believe that effective definition and enforcement of property rights will overcome environmental problems because people’s preferences will be reflected in market prices. A range of practical and philosophical objections to this approach is canvassed. We conclude by arguing that good economic analysis can significantly improve our ability to manage forest resources in a wise and sustainable manner.