Transforming Systems For Nature

Better information for forests

Protecting forests starts with credible information.  WWF-Australia helped create the Vegetation Monitoring & Assessment Program (VMAP), developed with the Australian National University, giving landholders, businesses and investors a practical way to identify deforestation risk and verify deforestation-free commitments.

By turning complex vegetation and land-clearing data into practical insights, VMAP helps producers, companies and investors understand where forest loss is occurring and take action to reduce it. Already supporting assessments across more than 6.5 million hectares of Australian landscape, an area almost the size of Tasmania, the platform is helping turn complex data into evidence that supports better decisions for forests.

As industry adoption grows, VMAP is helping move deforestation-free commitments from intention to implementation, creating greater transparency across Australian supply chains and stronger protection for forests.

New investment for nature

When east coast koalas were listed as endangered in 2022, it reinforced the urgent need to restore and reconnect the habitat they depend on to survive. But achieving restoration at the scale needed requires long-term funding and new sources of investment.

The Koala Friendly Carbon Initiative is helping address this challenge by enabling landholders to restore vital koala habitat in return for high-integrity carbon credits. Since 2021, more than 450,000 native food and habitat trees have been planted across New South Wales. Working with private land managers, First Nations partners and local communities, the initiative is helping reconnect fragmented landscapes and restore habitat for koalas. Most encouragingly, koalas have already been recorded using restored habitat less than three years after planting, showing how quickly wildlife can respond when habitat is restored.

A major milestone was the establishment of the Koala Friendly Carbon Initiative Pty Ltd in partnership with Climate Friendly, transforming a successful pilot into a long-term model for funding nature recovery. KPMG Australia's purchase of the initiative's first carbon credits demonstrated growing demand for investments that deliver measurable benefits for both climate and nature.

What began as a bold idea is now helping show how private investment can fund habitat restoration at scale, creating new opportunities for landholders while giving endangered koalas a stronger chance to recover.

Creating momentum for greener steel 

Some of the biggest gains for nature come from transforming the industries that drive environmental impacts. Iron and steel production is responsible for around 8% of global emissions, making it one of the world’s most important industries to decarbonise.

In partnership with Deloitte, WWF-Australia helped build support for green iron, a cleaner way of producing the key ingredient used to make steel. Through research, policy engagement and collaboration with industry and international partners, WWF-Australia demonstrated how green iron can reduce emissions while creating new economic opportunities for Australia.

Working alongside WWF colleagues in Japan and Korea, we are working to build demand in key export markets and lay the foundations for a lower-emissions steel industry. By showing how climate action can align with economic opportunity, green iron is creating momentum for a greener economy that benefits both people and nature.