Billionaire couple donates $120 million to conservation groups
A conservation group says its "incredible ambition" to manage 5 per cent of Australia's landmass may now be possible thanks to a $120 million donation.
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is one of 10 environment foundations to receive a portion of the fund from Perth billionaire Alexandra Burt, whose grandfather was Gina Rinehart's father's business partner, and her husband Julian.
It is one of the biggest philanthropic contributions to nature in Australian history.
Jemma Manfre from Australian Wildlife Conservancy releasing a Bilby back to nature. (Supplied: Robin Sinclair / Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
AWC regional ecologist for northern Australia, Rebecca Diete, said it had taken her a while to fathom the organisation's biggest-ever grant of $25 million.
"It's obviously well beyond the scope of the budgets that I normally work with,"
she said.
"At the moment we're managing about 1.7 per cent of the Australian continent, and our strategy is to increase that to 5 per cent — that's an area the size of Germany.
Rebecca Diete at Bullo River Station near the NT / WA border. (Supplied)
"We may not have known exactly how we were going to meet that ambition, so a donation like this makes us sit back and go, 'We might actually be able to do this.'"
AWC works with landholders and buys properties across the country, where it manages projects to restore ecosystems and reintroduce native wildlife.
Funds to expand research
One of those projects is being led by the organisation's bat specialist, Oli Aylen. He said the money would allow for much-needed research into the animals.
"Bats make up over 20 per cent of all mammals, but they are a species that are generally not included in conservation management," he said.
"Now we'll be able to go around all the sanctuaries that we have across Australia and really just understand where these bats are, which of them are threatened and probably find new records of things."
AWC bat specialist Oli Aylen says the donation will allow researchers to expand important research. (Supplied: Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
Bush Heritage Australia also received $25 million, with the organisation's science and conservation boss Bruce Webber describing the money as "completely transformative".
"It will go towards the purchase of a property almost immediately," he said.
The property Dr Webber is referring to is the 20,000-hectare Wooroora cattle station near Cairns, which Bush Heritage describes as its "most ambitious single acquisition ever".
He said Australians would see the effects of the $120 million donation for years to come.
"The next 10 to 15 years are going to make a significant difference to how much biodiversity we're able to keep on into the future," he said.
A wealthy donor with a low profile
Ms Burt's grandfather Peter Wright was the business partner of Gina Rinehart's father, Lang Hancock.
Forbes estimates Ms Burt and her sister Leonie Baldock have a combined net worth of $4.2 billion.
Ms Burt has been involved in long-running legal disputes with Mrs Rinehart over the spoils of the Hancock-Wright mining empire and the donation suggests a contrast between the pair's views.
Bullo River Station is owned by the Burts and managed as a cattle station in collaboration with AWC. (Supplied: Joey Clarke / Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
The couple owns iconic Top End cattle property Bullo River Station, which is co-managed by AWC. It delivers a range of land management programs there.
Neither Mr nor Ms Burt were available for an interview, but Ms Burt said in a statement the donation "felt like the right thing to do".
"We see nothing but rapid decline in our natural environment and that needs rapid assistance," she said.
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