Cross-cutting principles for planetary health education

Since the 2015 launch of the Rockefeller Foundation Lancet Commission on planetary health,1 an enormous groundswell of interest in planetary health education has emerged across many disciplines, institutions, and geographical regions. Advancing these global efforts in planetary health education will equip the next generation of scholars to address crucial questions in this emerging field and support the development of a community of practice. To provide a foundation for the growing interest and efforts in this field, the Planetary Health Alliance has facilitated the first attempt to create a set of principles for planetary health education that intersect education at all levels, across all scales, and in all regions of the world—ie, a set of cross-cutting principles

[In Press] Estimating flying-fox mortality associated with abandonments of pups and extreme heat events during the austral summer of 2019-20

Abstract. Mass mortalities in flying-foxes occur in summers that reach extremely hot temperatures. In this study, we examine the spatiotemporal distributions of mortality from pup abandonments and extreme heat events in Australian flying-fox camps during the 2019–20 summer. We recorded data on flying-fox mortality in known affected camps and applied a standard method to estimate the number of deaths. Pup mortalities from abandonments were recorded in 10 camps in New South Wales. A minimum estimate of 2612 flying-foxes died in pup abandonments, the majority of which occurred in one camp in Bomaderry. Die-offs from extreme heat events were recorded in 40 camps associated with eight separate heat events in south-eastern Australia. A minimum estimate of 72 175 flying-foxes died during these heat events, which all occurred within the range of the threatened grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). Further, 409 and 2251 live flying-foxes were taken into care from pup abandonments and heat events respectively. The minimum mortality estimated represents the highest recorded mortality of Australian flying-foxes within a single summer. This highlights a need to restore vegetation in flying-fox foraging areas and camps, address anthropogenic climate change and gather more empirical data to inform heat stress interventions to minimise flying-fox mortalities