Russell Crowe is joining the fight to help prevent Australian officials from opening up a portion of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve to a strip mining aluminum company. After the death of Irwin in 2006, politicians donated over 320,000 acres of wilderness to conservationists as a tribute. However, the new Aussie government is now considering issuing a permit to allow mining in the area — something Crowe is rallying support to prevent.

“That site actually operates as a water filter and there are some species of plants and animals that don’t really appear in other places, and the river the water runs into, the Wenlock River, has the largest bio-diversity range of any freshwater river in the country – it has things like saw-toothed sharks and estuarine crocodiles,” Contactmusic quoted Crowe as saying.

He added: “He’s (Irwin) not here to stand up for himself and I just feel, as his friend, that we can’t do that… I made an offer to the environmental minister to have a talk about it but he hasn’t bothered to respond.”

As part of the promotions for his new film State of Play, Crowe has been on late-night TV talking up the fight to save Irwin’s reserve. On The Late Show with David Letterman on April 17, Crowe said, “If any of you were ever touched by Steve’s attitude towards conservation… and making conservation an important subject for us to discuss… go to that website and sign up on that petition because that man deserves to be honored and respected, whether he’s alive or  not. He was a fantastic person.”

Want to help? Check out the official “Save Steve’s Place” petition to sign your name and tell Australian officials that strip mining should not take place in the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve!

“Mrs Irwin said Bindi and Bob were ‘expert tree planters’ and they were all excited to help the program.’We are seeing things in South Australia like drought and water levels dropping and the need for preservation and trees are directly linked with that,’ she said. ‘You don’t need a lot of time or money to do this kind of initiative.’

A new DVD commemorating the life of Steve Irwin titled Crikey, What An Adventure! will be released next month. The documentary features personal stories from Steve’s family and never-before-seen interviews and backstories on the famous Crocodile Hunter. More details here. 

Although mining company Cape Alumina’s CEO Paul Messenger has claimed it has “no plans to develop in sensitive wet land areas,” Terri Irwin has made it clear there are species that may be affected by any such presence. Cape Alumina’s mining lease application would overlap to about 15 percent of the 333,450-acre reserve, renamed as “Croc Hunter” in 2006.

Terri Irwin has cited the area contains rare bird as well as “vulnerable” plant species.

The mining company seeks the reserve’s bauxite, used in aluminum production. In order to settle the dispute The Queensland state government is slated to conduct an environmental assessment prior to any mining

via Discovery News

Rachel Kalina is an assistant editor and treehugger in New York City.

Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, the organization set up by Steve Irwin and his family, is currently in the midst of building the “world’s largest wildlife hospital” next door to the Australia Zoo in Queensland. Even better, the massive structure will be built using strawbale — making it one of the biggest such creations using the material in the world. From Treehugger,

“When completed later this year is will be about 1,300 square metres is area. The external walls will be of strawbale, protected by three coats of lime render. Internal walls of rammed earth. Recycled flooring, natural paints and finishes, water recycling, motion sensor lighting, and solar power help round out the eco story.”

Obviously, its green credentials aside, this hospital aims to do a whole lot of good for animals in need. Vets will receive more than seven times the amount of space they’re used to working in and be able to handle many more emergency calls.

Want to help? Please donate to the Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, by click here. You can also find out more on the project by visiting here.

via Treehugger

Yesterday in Sydney, Australia, Bindi Irwin — daughter of the late Steve Irwin — became the fashion world’s youngest designer by unveiling her Bindi Wear International clothing line. As we’ve mentioned before, the more than 100 different items in the collection will all have some measure of green — with 100% of the profits going towards various conservation efforts. Not only will the clothes carry environmental messages like “Tigers should be loved, not rugs” and “Extinct Stinks!” but where possible, they will also contain recycled materials.

Bindi is also looking ahead — with plans to run for Prime Minister of Australia or President of the United States already on the table. “In America they are looking for the next president and I’ve listened to everybody and, nothing against them, but they are talking about jobs, houses, developments, money, money and more money and there is nothing about conservation,” she said. “I haven’t heard anything about that. We really do need to start doing something – we can’t eat money in the long run.”

Bindi also got heavy on the subject of whaling — something her father was adamantly against. Last year, the Sea Shepherd Society honored his memory by dedicating an anti-whaling boat in his name. Said Bindi, “It’s awful what’s happened – it’s become war. It’s bullets now.”

Oh, by the way, she’s only 9-years-old and her environmental policies are already years ahead of the Bush Administration. Which, frankly, is not surprising.

For a slide show of her fashion debut, jump here.

via Herald Sun

“Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said the television star shared the group’s passion for saving whales. ‘Steve wanted to come to Antarctica with us to defend the whales, and now he will be joining us in spirit with his name emblazoned’ on the ship, Watson said in a statement.”

Man, I still miss this guy. It’s wonderful to see his name and work continue to be honored. His wife, Terri Irwin christened the ship yesterday and had some words for the whaling industry. “‘If you stop the whaling . . . you have the opportunity to be embraced by the world and held up as heroes for stopping something that should have ended along with slavery and cannibalism a long time ago,’ she said. She and her late husband had been long-term supporters of Sea Shepherd and labeled the ship’s captain, Paul Watson, a hero.”

Go Steve! Save the whales!