World Environment Day is one of the most important days each year for positive environmental action. Celebrated worldwide on June 5, and run by the United Nations Environment Programme, the theme for 2021 is: Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.
At FAME, each of these important factors constantly influence the projects we undertake and the successes we see in protecting our natural environment for generations to come.
For World Environment Day 2021, we look at a few projects that speak to our commitment to this year’s themes and see how FAME’s projects represent each of the three concepts.
REIMAGINE
How can we change the way we see the planet’s ecosystems, both in their current form and in what they could be in the future?
A great example of this is FAME’s long-term partnership with Aussie Ark, where we are working to change the trajectory - reimagine the future - of the iconic Tasmanian Devil.
Having believed in the vision from the outset, we have been supporting the devil project since its inception.
With FAME’s help, the Aussie Ark team successfully breed this apex predator in captivity. This has created an insurance population on the mainland, protected from the facial tumour disease impacting the species in their Tasmanian stronghold.
In the past few weeks, this work has borne unprecedented fruit, with Tasmanian Devils breeding on the mainland - in wild-like outdoor reserves - for the first time in some 3,000 years.
A species that at one point seemed destined to disappear has had its future reimagined, and with it comes renewed hope of its longevity in the Australian landscape.
RECREATE
With the devastation we are witnessing across the world’s ecosystems, how can we recreate the vital connections that used to be present – both those between different niches, and between humans and the environment?
FAME recently announced a new phase to our work in South Australia’s northern ranges, and through this we plan to recreate important predator-prey relationships, but also to form a bond between the public and the amazing natural world.
With the work in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park already one of the most successful predator reintroductions globally, our commitment to reintroducing the Western Quoll/Idnya will be expanded into the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges.
And this time, another native predator will be joining them: the Red-Tailed Phascogale/Kenngoor.
These two species will fill a niche left vacant in the region since their local extinction decades ago, and will recreate an important element in the web of ecosystem functions present there.
RESTORE
How can we restore Earth’s diminished systems, to build on the work of recreating past connections?
Today marks the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and FAME is proud to support a number of projects that focus on this critical task.
On Kangaroo Island, hit hard by last summer’s devastating bushfires, we are working with KI Land for Wildlife to restore decimated habitat - home to the Kangaroo Island Dunnart and many other endangered animals and plants. Together, we are revegetating burnt habitat.
On Lord Howe Island, we are helping to restore ecosystems ruined by decades of damage caused by invasive species. Through implementing strict biosecurity, supporting the use of conservation dogs to ensure rodents don’t return, and continuing the LHI Weed Eradication Programme, the unique island habitats are on the path to restoration.
In Far North Queensland, we worked with Reforest Now to revegetate large areas of cleared land. The benefits of this were highlighted recently with the return to the region of the endangered Southern Cassowary, and this dense revegetation will play an important role moving forward in natural carbon capture and storage and to support a wide range of species.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE, TOGETHER
The Foundation’s work is made possible through the generous support of our community, and we have confidence that, working together, we can reimagine, recreate and restore our Earth.
Learn more about our exciting conservation projects here.