A new vision for nature

Why is WildCountry needed?

WildCountry’s approach is based on the way the continent works as a whole and the connections between wildlife, habitat, climate change and people.

In a world undergoing great change and environmental challenges, our natural world desperately needs a new approach – one that listens to and learns from nature. We need a change of perspective, from individual species and local areas, to the fascinating ways in which the continent works as a whole.

This kind of “big picture” perspective provides a fundamentally different understanding of how nature works, based on connections – between species, habitat, climate and people – and how these change over time. Viewing nature in this way is vital if we are to build a positive future for Australia’s environment and people.

To find out more, read WildCountry - A New Vision for Nature (pdf, 1MB)

What is WildCountry?

The WildCountry Science Council and Wilderness Society staff. Click for larger image.

Using this new understanding of large-scale connections across the continent, WildCountry is developing a science-based, continent-wide approach to conservation planning to protect and restore our natural world.

WildCountry involves both protecting the best of what is left of Australia’s natural environment, and restoring important areas. But the critical difference with WildCountry is its focus on maintaining and/or restoring ecological connections in the landscape.

Based on cutting-edge science and led by the community, the WildCountry vision is already unfolding across the country – offering new hope for the long-term health of the environment, wildlife and people of Australia.

Landscape-scale Conservation Initiatives:

Quolls are the largest marsupial carnivores on mainland Australia. These cat-sized mammals once roamed throughout Tasmania and the mainland. In Eastern Australia, Tiger Quolls are accomplished climbers and fierce predators.

These landscape-scale conservation initiatives involve both protecting the best of what is left of Australia’s natural environment, and restoring important areas.

As outlined in the map above, there are currently five landscape-scale conservation initiatives underway around the Country:

• Gondwana Link (South-west Western Australia)
• Northern Australia (from the Kimberley to Cape York Peninsula)
• Far North Queensland (which is a component of the broader Northern Australia project -focused on the Gulf of Carpentaria & Cape York Peninsula)
• Mallee to the coast (Tri-state Project, which captures South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales)
• The Western Corridor (South Australia)

Read an interview with our previous WildCountry National Coordinator – Virginia Young (PDF, 380KB)

WildCountry Funded Grants and Application Criteria

The Dara Foundation and the Wilderness Society established a WildCountry Small Grants Program in 2005 to support community groups involved in landscape scale projects in southern Australia focused on understanding, protecting and restoring important ecological processes and connections at the national, regional, and local scale.

The program has been expanded across all of Australia, and aims to support cooperative work towards implementation of conservation strategies and plans that incorporate and promote the scientific principles being developed by the WildCountry Science Council. Learn more >>

Please support WildCountry work around the country, make an online donation or become a WildCountry Patron. Your support makes a real difference – thank you.