Hamelin Pool Coast, WA, Australia – Copyright: Ben Parkhurst, All rights reserved
Successful and ambitious rewilding at scale necessitates that we collaborate and support each other at a global level. In this article, we outline why the work of Bush Heritage – alongside many other rewilding organisations in Australia – is relevant to us all, even those on the opposite sides of the world. In supporting landscape-scale nature recovery, Australian rewilders are healing global systems, cycles and processes that affect us all.
What Happens on the Opposite Side of the World Influences our Collective Future.
As Bush Heritage Australia, together with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Karrkad Kanjdi Trust and co-hosted by Re:wild and Wild Ark, gather for New York Climate Week, they carry Australia’s unique ecosystems to the center of global climate action – showing that protecting them is inseparable from protecting our collective future.
At first glance, Australia seems out of this world. It is a continent that has captured our imagination through wildlife so unique that even the most creative minds are left awe-struck by the ancient platypus, bouncing marsupials, and fire-adapted landscapes.
This continent anchors the health of some of our most fragile ecosystems, and what happens here can provide valuable lessons for the rest of the world: safeguarding Australia’s biodiversity strengthens resilience in facing the climate and nature crises that affect us all.
Today, more than ever, Australia’s natural heritage is linked to the wellbeing of our entire planet. As a hotspot for rare and remarkable biodiversity, Australia holds both some of our Earth’s greatest treasures, as well as some incredible fragile ecosystems.
Our Alliance Partners are highlighting both the global relevance of rewilding this continent’s land and waters and the need to close the geographical gap through greater collaboration.
Short-beaked Echidna, Boolcoomatta, SA, Australia – Copyright: Bush Heritage Australia
Australia – a global biodiversity powerhouse – is calling us to pay attention
The web of life on Planet Earth consists of an intricate network of processes operating at a local, landscape, regional, continental, and global level. Marine currents interact with the climate, which in turn largely drives land-based systems. Migrations, seasonal shifts, and the carbon cycle remind us that all living systems are connected, and that the abundance, stability, and resilience of our planet depend on these connections.
“To reverse the systemic crisis we face, we must think and work collectively to drive change at a global scale. What happens on one side of the world matters to us all, because the living systems that sustain us – climate, biodiversity, water cycles, soils, pollinators – are deeply interconnected.
Nature recovery – or loss – on one continent has impact that ripples outward eventually to us all.” Karl Wagner, Director of Campaigns, Global Rewilding Alliance
Wild Australian Kangaroo Buck. Credits: Pobblebonk from Getty Images
Australia is home to such important ecosystems with species found nowhere else on Earth. From vast deserts to lush forests, coral reefs to ancient echidnas, it is a biodiversity powerhouse that is under threat and needing global support.
Despite its irreplaceable role, Australia is frequently overlooked for global conservation funding and is often left to manage the real and escalating challenges on its own. Supporting the incredible organisations that are working with determination to make sure these precious wildlife and ecosystems are being protected could go a long way.
Bush Heritage’s Model of Impact
“We have an incredible diversity of species and ecosystems found nowhere else in the world, including two globally recognised biodiversity hotspots – places almost unimaginably rich in biodiversity but experiencing exceptional habitat loss.
The challenges are immense, but so too is our dedication to our vision of healthy country, protected forever. We’re tackling climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, and natural disasters such as more frequent and intense bushfires, including the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires in Australia, which devastated wildlife and shocked the world, to bring many of our precious species back from the brink of extinction.” Rachel Lowry, CEO, Bush Heritage Australia
Bush Heritage Australia is demonstrating what’s possible by integrating science, community, and Indigenous knowledge, including the reintroduction of cultural fire practices, to help avert uncontrollable megafires. Guided by research, climate modelling, and analysis, they’re establishing priority landscapes to work in areas where conservation and rewilding can make the biggest impact. This approach ensures that their work not only safeguards ecosystems locally but also contributes to the health of the planet as a whole.
Far from being ‘remote’, Australia sits at the centre of our shared ecological future: protecting its biodiversity is key to global commitments and international cooperation.
By protecting and restoring these landscapes, Bush Heritage, alongside many other partners in Australia, is advancing the global 30×30 biodiversity goals at scale.
Bird Banding, NSW, Australia – Copyrights: Tad Souden – Bush Heritage Australia
Through its reserve network and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships, Bush Heritage is already protecting over 29.4 million acres of land, which equates to 1.4% of Australia’s landmass and 6% of Australia’s protected areas.
As Bush Heritage restores degraded ecosystems by bringing back native plants, protecting threatened species, and reviving ‘Right-way’ fire regimes, the impact at the local level is tangible, but also, less tangibly, demonstrates the scale of positive change that is possible through concerted, strategic and long-term action. Healthy ecosystems with all their wild diversity store carbon, regulate water, and buffer against extreme weather. The genetic diversity they hold – from endemic species to proliferate beings – feeds our planetary stability and resilience.
Honey Possum on Pink Bottlebrush. Copyrights: Michelle Hall – Bush Heritage Australia
Tiny But Mighty: The Honey Possum
Never underestimate the impact that one small species can have on an entire ecosystem. The Honey Possum pollinates many plant species by transferring pollen collected on their head and body between flowers. If this species, found nowhere else, disappears, they disappear for all of us.
We can only find the Honey Possum in South-west Western Australia – the only place on Earth where continuous year-round supply of nectar and pollen has been available for long enough for the Honey Possum, which exclusively feeds on nectar-producing plants, to evolve.
In the Fitz-Stirling region of southwest Western Australia, we find one of the oldest landscapes on Earth. Without disturbance from glaciers or volcanoes for over 200 million years, the region has evolved an exceptionally high floristic diversity, with an estimated more than 7,000 vascular plant species, of which almost 80% are endemic, found nowhere else.
Bush Heritage is protecting and reconnecting that biodiversity hotspot by building functioning corridors that allow native species, including the Honey Possum, to move between fragmented areas of native bush. Protecting the Honey Possum here is not just about saving a single animal; it is about maintaining the integrity of an ecosystem that sustains thousands of other plants and animals, and contributes to global biodiversity.
Aerial of revegetation site, WA, Gondwana. Copyrights: Greenman Productions.
Gondwana Link: Reconnecting Country Together
Bush Heritage’s work in the south-west of Western Australia fits into a broader, first-of-its-kind vision called Gondwana Link – collaborative efforts to reconnect a 1000-kilometre corridor from the tall wet forests on the south coast to the semi-arid woodlands on the edge of an inland desert. It’s restoring nature at a scale that would be readily visible from space, and supporting iconic species, like Black Cockatoos, Pygmy Possums, Malleefowl, Wallabies, and many more. Each step along the way seems like a local act of nature recovery – and it is – but stitch these rewilding efforts together, zoom out, and you see the tide begin to turn.
Climate Week New York
Australia’s Living Legacy at The NY Climate Week
This September, during New York Climate Week, Re:wild and WildArk will host Australia’s Living Legacy — bringing the wondrous magic of Australia’s wild places, and the enormous opportunity to protect these landscapes, to the global stage. The event will be co-hosted by Bush Heritage Australia, together with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust.
A call for international philanthropists and partners to invest in a future where these ecosystems can be protected for future generations to see them thrive.
Supporting Bush Heritage strengthens the future of Australia’s environment, biodiversity, and cultural identity. It is investing in planetary resilience. Because when we protect Australia’s biodiversity, we are protecting the health of the Earth we all share.
If you plan on being at New York Climate Week – do reach out to Claudia Wade, Head of Philanthropy at Bush Heritage ().
Tiger Quoll. Credits: CraigRJD from Getty Images Signature
Be family: Support Rewilders in Australia
Facing the highest extinction rates globally requires some grit; rewilders across the continent are working to bring positive action in forests, grasslands, rivers and wetlands.
What can we do to help?
Learn
Discovering the wonderful wildlife and learning about the intricate ecosystems of Australia and other remote places is a great way to support and help raise awareness.
Follow the Global Rewilding Alliance on LinkedIn and Instagram for regular news and content on rewilding all around the world, and dive into Bush Heritage Australia’s story by following them on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook, or sign up to their monthly newsletter for updates straight to your inbox.
Fund them
To scale this movement and enable the economic powerhouses that healthy ecosystems can be, rewilding needs solid investment. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more, or learn more about donating directly to Bush Heritage Australia. For US tax-deductible gifts, donate to their US-based partner non-profit Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund.
Collaborate
Harnessing connection, knowledge-sharing, and united policy advocacy, our movement is amplifying the scale of our impact. If you are a practitioner and work for nature recovery, connect with rewilding organisations in Australia, such as Bush Heritage Australia.
If you’re not part of our alliance yet, get in touch with our team. We are bringing our network together around shared action points in our working groups for wetlands, climate, and rangelands… Join us!
Kookaburra perched at Culburra Beach, Australia. Credits: Stuart Robinson from Pexels
Key Takeaways
Australia’s Global Ecological Significance
1. Australia is a biodiversity powerhouse with unique species and ecosystems.
Protecting its landscapes contributes directly to global climate stability, water cycles and biodiversity.
Loss or recovery in Australia has global ripple effects on resilience.
2. Rewilding as a Scalable Climate Solution
Bush Heritage and partners of the Global Rewilding Alliance are restoring degraded ecosystems at scale
Efforts include reintroducing Indigenous fire practices, reviving native plants and reconnecting fragmented habitats.
Healthy ecosystems store carbon, regulate water, and buffer against extreme weather events.
3. Interconnected Crises Require Collective Action
Climate, biodiversity and ecological systems are deeply linked across continents.
Local conservation successes influence global resilience.
International collaboration, knowledge-sharing and policy alignment are essential for impact.
4. Bush Heritage’s Proven Model of Impact
Over 29.4 million acres protected (1.4% of Australia’s landmass).
Strategic conservation guided by science, indigenous knowledge and climate modelling.
Projects like Gondwana Link showcase restoration at scale visible from space.
5. Call to Global Partners and Supporters
Despite its importance, Australia receives limited global conservation funding.
Philanthropy, investment, and partnerships are critical to scale impact.
Supporting Bush Heritage advances global 30×30 biodiversity goals and planetary resilience.