HERE'S HOW YOUR DONATION HELPED AUSTRALIA RECOVER FROM THE BUSHFIRES
From emergency wildlife response and habitat restoration, to climate advocacy and amplifying First Nations voices, here’s how your generous support made a difference.
Every dollar has an impact
It has been five years since devastating wildfires swept across much of Australia in the summer of 2019-20. The scale and impact of these bushfires were catastrophic, affecting both people and nature beyond imagination. Over 12.6 million hectares of forest and bushland were burnt, and nearly 3 billion animals were impacted, pushing many of Australia's already threatened species to the brink of extinction. In response to this emergency, WWF-Australia launched a critical emergency fund, the Australian Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund. Thanks to the contributions from generous partners and supporters worldwide, we raised over $50 million for wildlife and nature recovery.
We’ve worked hard to make sure the money you generously donated made an impact where it was needed most. Thanks to your support, WWF-Australia has been able to fund 256 projects and collaborate with over 190 partners since the 2019-20 Australian bushfires. Here are just some of the ways your support helped us to make a difference:
We funded emergency wildlife response
With billions of animals affected, Australia’s vets and wildlife hospitals were inundated with injured wildlife. They worked tirelessly to ensure animals received the medical attention and care they needed to survive.
Through funding provided by WWF-Australia, conservation groups Friends of the Koala and Phillip Island Nature Parks were able to build temporary holding facilities and bolster the number of koalas treated at one time. We also proudly supported the establishment and operation of Australia’s largest mobile wildlife hospital, which meant skilled vets could reach animals right in the heart of disaster-affected areas. To ensure no animal is more than two hours away from life-saving medical treatment, we partnered with Taronga Training Institute and Vets Beyond Borders to upskill over 700 vets and provide wildlife hospitals nationwide with additional emergency training and equipment.
We provided new homes to animals that had lost theirs
Despite their physical differences, fluffy greater gliders and sleek, glossy black cockatoos have quite a bit in common. Both animals have specialised diets, relying on native vegetation for food, and both were heavily affected by the 2019-20 bushfires. As much as 50% of glossy black cockatoo habitat on Kangaroo Island was impacted by the fires. Working with our partners Koala and the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, we supported the deployment of 48 artificial nest boxes for these special cockatoos and the collection of seeds from vital feed trees, which were then planted as part of restoration efforts. Working with partners, we also developed and installed 234 ‘next generation’ nest boxes into Tallaganda National Park, where greater gliders needed shelter. In one area, greater gliders were sighted using the boxes just 10 weeks after installation. What’s more, between 2022 and 2024, greater glider numbers almost doubled in sites with artificial nest boxes.
We worked to restore the balance through rewilding and ecosystem restoration
Our ecosystems are a complex web of plants and animals where every species plays an important role. We’ve worked to restore habitats that were lost by planting over 90,000 trees across hundreds of hectares of private land and known koala territories. This will create vital habitat for koalas and many other animals like gliders and cockatoos. Through rewilding, we’re aiming to restore the balance by reintroducing animals to places where they are locally extinct. As carnivores, eastern quolls traditionally played an important ecological role in the landscape, and we are thrilled to have released 19 eastern quolls into protected habitat within Booderee National Park in NSW. Plus, 17 of those quolls have been regularly sighted since their reintroduction to the area!
We worked to future-proof Australia against climate change and natural disasters and protect the habitat we have left
Nationwide, we’ve been working with all levels of government to strengthen Australia’s nature laws and secure a brighter future for our native species. This includes a successful joint campaign to pause logging in Tallaganda State Forest, an important stronghold for the Endangered and adorable greater glider. We created Australia’s first Threatened Species Report Card, accompanied by the interactive My Backyard tool. This report card assessed the status of threatened species in each Australian electorate, giving the public the opportunity to call on their local MP to protect threatened species through stronger nature laws and greater funding.
We’ve championed biodiversity and a cleaner and greener future for Australia and the world at multiple international Conference of the Parties (COPs) and are working to see Australia and the Pacific host the upcoming COP31 in 2026.
We know there’s power in numbers, which is why we have proudly worked with partners, leaders and communities to establish and be a part of a number of specialised groups, including the Forest Alliance of NSW, the Places You Love Alliance, the Regeneration Alliance and an advisory panel on the establishment of a Great Koala National Park. Empowering communities to help protect and restore their landscapes, we conducted a nationwide listening campaign asking people to share their vision of Australia’s future. Off the back of this, we developed a short educational film, ‘Regenerating Australia’, ran community ideation workshops and supported the development of innovative solutions, including biodegradable habitat pods to shelter wildlife in bushfire-affected areas through our program Innovate to Regenerate.
First Nations Peoples at the forefront
It’s essential that conservation work includes and is led by Aboriginal People, and so much of our work would not have been possible without the input and work of First Nations and leaders.
We proudly supported and worked with more than 75 Indigenous organisations and communities on renewable energy, wildlife recovery and cultural fire projects, as well as skills-building workshops focusing on mapping technology and wildlife monitoring techniques.
The Women Ranger Environmental Network (WREN) continues to grow, supporting women in WA, NT and Qld and is expanding south to support even more women rangers in NSW and Vic. Further, our conservation work proudly helped 10 culturally important species, including the koala, brush-tailed bettong and black-flanked rock-wallaby, along the path to recovery. Working with our Pacific neighbours, we are proud to have supported two Oceania First Voices workshops and championed the message of the First Peoples Forum on a global stage at COP27. An amazing 10 Oceania First Nations community voices were supported as global stakeholders for climate justice as we lead the bid to have COP31 in Australia.
Looking ahead - Regenerate Nature by 2030
The five-year milestone of the bushfires has given us time to reflect on how communities came together to take action for recovery and restoration. When our environment needed us, we responded – saving and restoring habitat and species across Australia. But our job isn’t done. Now we need to go one step further – to leave the planet better than it was before by regenerating nature. Moving forward, we can keep building on this incredible action together – and keep helping nature to heal. Join the movement to Regenerate Nature by 2030.