Unprecedented $20 Million Australian Conservation Challenge
Local Philanthropist Pledges $10 Million – Challenges Others to Match Gift to Help Protect Australia’s Natural Heritage
Melbourne—28 November 2006— Australian conservation today received one of its biggest ever private donations, with the pledge of $10 million by philanthropist and businessman, Mr David Thomas.
The donation was announced by the Australian arm of The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organisation working to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.
Mr. Thomas, founder of the Thomas Foundation, has challenged fellow Australians to join him in this effort by matching his $10 million contribution and raising a record $20 million to save the country’s most at-risk lands, waters and wildlife.
Responding to the donation and challenge, Mr Russell Leiman, The Nature Conservancy’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director said: “This is the largest gift to conservation that The Nature Conservancy has ever received outside of the United States.
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Gondwana Link landscape
© TNC
Banks Murray River, Ned's Corner Station
© Mark Schapper
Escarp and vista in Wongalara
© Ecopix
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“It’s phenomenal to see individuals set this example. David Thomas has not only given a gift to future generations of a country as biologically rich and unique as Australia—he has truly done something that enhances the world.”
To encourage new private philanthropy in support of conserving Australia’s unique places, Thomas structured his gift in the form of a challenge grant. Under the Thomas Challenge, Thomas will match dollar-for-dollar gifts from individual Australians of at least $10,000 up to $1 million. The Challenge will make $2 million in funds available immediately to be matched annually for the next five years.
The Nature Conservancy is one of the world’s leading charities, with programs in 32 countries. To date, using a collaborative, science-based approach to conservation, the organisation has protected more than 47 million hectares of land and 8,046 kilometres of river around the world.
Established in Australia since 1999, The Nature Conservancy works with private businesses and individuals, as well as in partnership with some of Australia’s leading conservation organisations.
The organisation will now work through the Thomas Challenge to direct and support high-impact projects that address threats to Australia’s most important habitats, including rainforest, grasslands, desert shrublands and freshwater and marine systems.
“Australians have a choice. We can heal our ailing lands and waters, or we can watch the treasures of this unique continent disappear before our eyes.
“This is a decision we must make for ourselves, for our children and for the world. I made my choice, and now I’m asking my fellow Australians to make theirs,” Thomas said.
Dr Michael Looker, The Nature Conservancy’s Australia Program Director, said the gift from David Thomas was a magnificent effort – and very timely.
“David Thomas recognises the tremendous urgency we face in protecting Australia’s lands and waters," said Looker. "The Nature Conservancy is honored to be a part of the Thomas Challenge. This incredible, personal commitment should inspire all of us to step forward and play a role in saving our natural heritage.”
Mr Looker said that Australia leads the world in conservation science and planning, and The Nature Conservancy works closely with Australian scientists to access and use this knowledge in its work around the world.
Australia is one of the planet’s most diverse natural environments, with more than 80 percent of its vascular plants, mammals and reptiles found nowhere else on Earth. But the country also leads the world in species extinctions—and faces escalating threats from unsustainable water use, natural bush clearing, invasive species and global climate change.
The Thomas Foundation and The Nature Conservancy have already identified three priority projects that are eligible to receive funding through the Challenge:
Gondwana Link is a visionary effort to restore and reconnect a thousand-kilometre swath of native bushland from Kalgoorlie to the karri forests of southern Western Australia. The Australian Bush Heritage Fund and Greening Australia have joined forces with local groups to undertake the largest native protection and revegetation endeavour in Australia’s history.
Wongalara is a tremendous conservation opportunity in Australia’s “Top End.” The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is seeking to acquire this 1,900 square-kilometre landscape of rugged escarpments, wild rivers and rare wildlife habitat for threatened species like the colorful Gouldian finch.
The Murray River is arguably Australia’s greatest waterway and an integral part of the region’s culture, natural heritage and economy. The Trust for Nature, already the owner of a 30,000-hectare protected area, is now working to create a field station for ecological and cultural research that will fuel the community effort to restore the river and combat salinity, erosion and habitat destruction.
“The Challenge funds will support a very strategic brand of conservation,” said Thomas. “From land acquisition and management to species recovery, large-scale revegetation and complex river restoration, every project will bear the hallmarks of collaboration, scientific-backing, community involvement and global impact.”
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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organisation that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 47 million hectares of land worldwide. Visit us on the Web at nature.org.
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