Eligible tax-deductible donations received this financial year will be doubled, up to a value of $2 million.
Inspired by the progress of Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s ground-breaking conservation projects across the country, The JAAM Foundation and The Martin Copley Will Trust have joined forces to match dollar-for-dollar eligible donations up to a total of $2 million.
This generous offer comes just days after the United Nations Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released its review on the state of nature across the planet, citing a global extinction crisis. You can listen to an important discussion of these latest UN figures on ABC Radio, with AWC Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary Senior Field Ecologist, Felicity L’Hotellier, by clicking below:
With 1,800 Australian species currently at risk of being added to Australia’s appalling extinction record, it’s more important than ever for AWC to accelerate its efforts to deliver effective conservation across the country.
Tax-deductible donations made to the $2 million challenge will be matched as follows:
Donations will directly support AWC’s land management and science programs across 4.8 million hectares through:
1. Establishing a network of massive feral cat-free areas
Feral cats have penetrated every corner of the continent and are the single greatest threat to Australia’s wildlife.
AWC’s feral cat-free areas protect some of the largest remaining wild populations of Australia’s most endangered animals, such as the Bilby and Numbat. We are also undertaking ground-breaking scientific research designed to improve the effectiveness of cat control measures ‘beyond the fence’.
© Wayne Lawler/AWC
2. Implementing the largest non-government fire management program in Australia
We deliver the largest non-government fire management program in Australia – one of the most flammable continents on earth. Changes in the intensity, scale and frequency of fires since European settlement mean fire is one of the greatest challenges in delivering effective conservation.
AWC is successfully implementing controlled burning across a large number of properties. This year, in the Kimberley alone, effective fire management was delivered across more than six million hectares – including commercial, pastoral, Indigenous, and AWC land – increasing the chances of survival for thousands of birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles.
© Joey Clarke/AWC
3. Feral herbivore control
Grazing by feral herbivores (e.g. cattle, buffalo, donkeys) is a major factor in the dramatic decline of Australia’s wildlife, and AWC is taking direct action to reduce this threat, and in 2018 removed 7,500 feral herbivores.
AWC has established the three largest feral herbivore-free areas on mainland Australia, totaling more than 400,000 hectares.
© S Gray/AWC
The offer to match eligible donations by the JAAM Foundation and the Martin Copley Will Trust will ensure that AWC’s innovative conservation model can continue combating the main issues threatening our native species.
One of the keys to our success is people in the field, delivering fire management, feral animal control and world-class science in iconic regions such as the Kimberley, the Top End and central Australia.
Science-based metrics – which track the population of key species and our success in reducing key threats – show that we are bucking the trend, delivering great ecological outcomes for wildlife like the Bilby, Northern Quoll and Purple-crowned Fairy-wren.
Our approach is efficient: over the last decade around 87 per cent of AWC’s operational expenditure has been invested in conservation, with only 13 per cent spent on fundraising and administration.
© Wayne Lawler/AWC
Your support, therefore, makes a direct, positive impact at the front-line of conservation and, as the end of financial year approaches, you can double the return on your investment.
Update July 2019: Please note this Matching Challenge has now ended
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