Project
Forest Conservation, Management, and Restoration of the forests of Eastern Australia

Background

Australia’s native forests are home to some of the most unique wildlife and plants on Earth. During the summer of 2019-20, Australia was hit hard by the most catastrophic bushfire season in its history. Up to 46 million acres were burnt and an estimated 3 billion animals were impacted. Moreover, every year, an estimated 12 million acres (approximately the size of the U.S states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined) of native forests and woodlands are cleared across Australia, leading to Australia being listed as one of the world’s deforestation hotspots and the only developed nation on WWF’s 2021 deforestation fronts list. Over 700 native plant and animal species are threatened by forest habitat destruction. This includes the iconic koala, which was recently up-listed from Vulnerable to Endangered and is facing extinction by 2050. In the wake of the fires, WWF-Australia launched Regenerate Australia, to rehabilitate and restore wildlife and habitats and build resilience against climate disasters. WWF aims to end deforestation, transition from unsustainable logging, promote deforestation-free agriculture, return state land to indigenous management, and restore degraded koala habitats.

Scope of Work

With support from HP, WWF is working to save, protect and restore more than 53,000 acres (21,500 hectares) of forest in eastern Australia. This includes improving policy conditions, improving forest management, halting deforestation, and restoring degraded landscapes by transitioning from unsustainable native forestry to sustainable plantations, control excessive tree clearing on agriculture land, and restore koala habitat and support nature based solutions like green firebreaks to manage bushfire risk.