Pictures of australia
Images of Australia taken by Rhett Ayers Butler. Last updated: October 28, 2025.
Australia’s environment is both vast and fragile, shaped by isolation, fire, and a long history of human management. It is one of only seventeen “megadiverse” countries, home to more than a million species, many found nowhere else. Yet since colonisation, it has recorded one of the world’s highest extinction rates for mammals. Habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change continue to strain ecosystems already adapted to extremes.
Roughly half the continent remains covered in native vegetation, though much of it is degraded. The greatest losses have occurred in Queensland and New South Wales, where land clearing for grazing and crops continues despite federal biodiversity laws. The Great Barrier Reef—spanning 2,300 kilometres along the northeastern coast—has suffered repeated bleaching events linked to rising sea temperatures. Coral recovery is uneven, and while some reefs show resilience, others have lost much of their diversity.
Australia’s water systems are under similar stress. The Murray–Darling Basin, which produces about 40% of the country’s agricultural output, faces chronic over-extraction and declining water quality. Efforts to restore environmental flows have been politically contentious, balancing irrigation demands with the health of wetlands and floodplains. In the arid interior, groundwater depletion and mining expansion threaten desert ecosystems that evolved over tens of thousands of years.
Fire remains both a natural process and a national anxiety. The 2019–20 “Black Summer” burned over 18 million hectares, destroying habitats and prompting a reassessment of fire management. Indigenous fire practices—focused on controlled, low-intensity burns—are being reintroduced in parts of northern Australia with some success.
Australia’s environmental policy framework is comprehensive on paper but fragmented in practice. Federal and state responsibilities overlap; enforcement is often weak. Future resilience may hinge less on new legislation than on integrating climate adaptation, land use, and Indigenous stewardship into a single, coherent system.
This photo collection of Australia is part of my library of 150,000-plus images. Other images may be available beyond those displayed on this page.
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