The units have been developed by Wilderlands and provide a simple way to start protecting Australia’s biodiversity at a time when the Federal Government has just confirmed their commitment to protect 30% of nature by 2030 in line with the targets of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity.
For Australia to meet these goals presents the daunting challenge of protecting over 70m hectares (700 billion sqm) of additional land over the next 8 years.
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Wilderlands Co-Founder Paul Dettmann is a sixth generation farmer with over 20 years of experience delivering conservation projects and believes tangible solutions like Wilderlands are critical to not only connect people to the problem but also enable them to take action today.
“We are giving people the ability to protect vulnerable Australian land for biodiversity and engaging leading conservation organisations to help you preserve it forever; that’s what we’re making possible when people purchase these units.”
Paul Dettmann
Wilderlands has secured a key partnership with Dettmann’s highly regarded conservation organisation Cassinia Environmental who recently received global recognition through a mini-documentary commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales for RE:TV focusing on the Coorong Lakes project being delivered in partnership with the Ngarrindjeri People which will be one of the first projects available to support through Wilderlands.
“We’re taking the complexity of conservation covenants, management and permanent biodiversity protection and unitising the impact to make it simple, easy and affordable for anyone to start proactively preserving nature today.”
Paul Dettmann
As part of the partnership Wilderlands will unitise the impact across an initial 5 million square metres of Cassinia’s biodiversity protection projects which will ensure supporters have a range of ecosystems to choose from including tall forests, wetlands, woodlands, and grasslands.
The units are priced according to the in-perpetuity conservation commitments and costs of 20 years of management across each project. They will be available to purchase initially as bundle packages starting from $30 for 10sqm, with individual units ranging from $2 – $7 each.
Each unit has been geotagged enabling individuals to zoom in and see exactly where they’re supporting as well as receive regular updates from ecologists on the ground and watch as nature flourishes thanks to their support.
Wilderlands CEO Ash Knop said the response from the environmental community had been overwhelmingly positive after over 100 industry leaders attended their recent launch event.
“We’ve been thrilled with the feedback from so many renowned leaders across the space and it’s clear that there’s going to be many opportunities for us to work together as we really see Wilderlands as a platform that will support projects from other landholders and conservation organisations over time.”
Ash Knop
The startup has released a whitepaper titled The Wilderlands Way that details the science-based methodology sitting behind the business. The document importantly points out that these Biological Diversity Units are not designed as an offset for biodiversity or habitat loss elsewhere, but rather as a mechanism to support new biodiversity gain and contribute towards the 30% by 2030 target.
In recent weeks the Federal Government have released their five-yearly State of The Environment report which was described by environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek as a “shocking document” that told “a story of crisis and decline in Australia’s environment” with at least 19 ecosystems now showing signs of collapse or near collapse.
“Right now we’re looking to connect with people and partners passionate about protecting the planet and it’s clear there are more individuals and organisations who fit this profile every day.”
Ash Knop
Since launching this week Wilderlands have secured commitments to protect over 12,000sqm of vulnerable ecosystems and generated over $30,000 in revenue from a range of large organisations, as well as philanthropists Alison & John Cameron of The Cameron Foundation, and several environmental advisory groups.
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Contact: Heath Evans, Chief Marketing Officer
Phone: 0438 856 066
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