After One of the Country’s Worst Wildfires WWF Australia is Preparing for a Year of Renewal

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2020 was a sad summer to remember for conservationists in Australia – it was one of the worst wildfire seasons in history that destroyed millions of acres of the country.

But there is already reason to be hopeful as WWF, the world’s largest independent conservation organization, seeks to harness the remarkable response they received to help save wildlife after the fires and rebuild a resilient ecosystem on the smallest continent. of the world.

“Across the country, steps are being taken to rebuild, regrow and regenerate in a better way,” writes WWF-Australia Executive Director Dermot O’Gorman at World Wildlife Fund Australia. (WWF) 2020 annual report.

During the crises, they received $ 40 million in donations to their Nature Recovery Fund, allowing them to launch 40 separate recovery and restoration missions beginning in January 2020 and which included supporting independent veterinary efforts to care for the injured wildlife with the best equipment, organizing large food dispersals to feed wildlife whose homes were destroyed and mobilizing dogs and drones to search for koalas that survived the fire.

Now, with the fires behind them, WWF is looking towards their two billion 10-point tree plan to regenerate as much forest as was lost, and to help put their plan into motion, they worked with partners to plant 10,000 trees of koala habitat in New South. Wales (NSW), as well as having koalas in eastern Australia designated as an “endangered population” under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Additionally, WWF secured commitments from the New South Wales government to retain the protection of primary forests and national parks, which was added Narriearra Station National Park in June.

Plans become a ray of light

the Regenerate Australia Plan is the largest wildlife and nature regeneration program in the nation’s history and involves raising a whopping $ 300 million to fund tree planting efforts and two competitions with prizes of $ 3 million each to help to encourage innovative solutions to “promote the recovery of nature.”

WWF-Australia’s No Plastics in Nature campaign has achieved excellent results in 2020, including South Australia’s approval of single-use polystyrene food service items as well as plastic cutlery and straws. The New South Wales government has banned single-use plastic bags, and the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland governments will introduce legislation that, if passed, would ban similar single-use plastics in 2021.

The state of Western Australia will also be prohibited polystyrene food containers and single-use plastic beaters, forks, knives, etc., by 2023.

Like many other nations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recession has been harsh in Australia, and WWF is among those who believe that when jobs return, the emphasis should be on investing in renewable energy.

So in 2020, WWF Australia launched its Renewable Recovery campaign based on research from the Australian renewable energy market. They highlighted six key opportunities on how Australia can move towards zero net greenhouse gas emissions in a time frame to keep global temperatures well below 2 ° C warming, according to the Paris Agreement.

According to his estimates, a stimulus check of $ 2 billion would be enough to “accelerate our proposed electric bus revolution in major cities, develop Australia’s leadership in
global battery manufacturing, [and] putting our nation at the forefront of the emerging global market for renewable hydrogen, ”all of which serve to create an estimated 100,000 jobs.

In fact, Australia has remarkable renewable resources. Like a flat and sunny country with the 6th longest coast in the world, is ideal for the production of wind, solar and tidal energy.

In fact, at the end of October, South Australia generated 100% of the energy demand just from solar panels on the roof.

It is a sign of the generosity of conservationists and people who care about wildlife that even in the face of wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, operating income increased 159% from fiscal year 2019 to 2020, driven Mostly for personal donations; a silent majority that raises its voice in support of its land, a gesture that will propel WWF towards a renewed and hopeful 2021.

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