Pew Environment Group in Australia

The Pew Environment Group is a global environmental advocacy organisation that actively promotes strong conservation policies.  Pew applies a range of tools in pursuit of practical, meaningful solutions—including applied science, public education, media and communications, and policy advocacy. In mid-2007, the Pew Environment Group partnered with local and international organisations across Australia on the following two initiatives:

Coral Sea Campaign

(part of the Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy project)

A natural and historic treasure, the Coral Sea extends east from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. More than 25 spectacular coral reefs sit atop shallow ocean plateaus or underwater mountains rising thousands of meters from the sea floor. An abundance of marine life is supported in this area, including an estimated 28 species of whales and dolphins, threatened turtles, migratory seabirds.

Less than 1% of the Coral Sea within Australian waters is protected from fishing.  To address this challenge, the Pew Environment Group in Australia is working in partnership with a number of environmental groups to secure a large fully protected park. Examples of these organisations include the Australian Marine Conservation Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre.

If designated, the Coral Sea Heritage Park will be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. The Coral Sea Campaign is a part of Pew’s Global Ocean Legacy. To find out more about Global Ocean Legacy, visit the website: www.globaloceanlegacy.org/coralsea/

Wild Australia Program

 

Australia is home to some of the world’s last great wilderness areas—hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of bushland remain largely unaltered by the expansion of industrial civilization. In addition, it harbors some of the world’s most intact ocean habitats.

In many ways, Australia is a microcosm of the global biodiversity crisis. For the last 200 years, as the frontier has been logged, plowed, grazed and mined, Australia has ranked among the countries with the highest extinction rates. Independent estimates by conservationists calculate that close to 50 percent of Australia’s species are threatened with extinction due to the loss of critical habitat, competition from invasive species, altered wildfire patterns, and overfishing.

While there are several biodiversity and wilderness conservation efforts underway in Australia, more can be done. The Wild Australia Program is an ambitious effort to protect millions of hectares of the country’s most important wilderness and tens of thousands of square kilometers of its oceans that hold globally significant biodiversity.

Wild Australia staff lead in the development of projects or support existing organisations to pursue significant conservation outcomes. Wild Australia currently focuses on four areas of the continent:

• Northern Australia
• Great Western Woodlands
• Southwest Marine
• Channel Country

In each of these places, Wild Australia staff work in partnership with a variety of local, national, and international organisations. Examples of these organisations include the World Wildlife Fund, Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and the Australian Floodplain Association.

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy, informing the public and stimulating civic life.