Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Encyclopedia
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an Australia
n independent, non-profit organisation
, working to conserve
threatened wildlife
and ecosystem
s in Australia, principally through the acquisition of extensive areas of land on which to establish conservation reserves (called 'sanctuaries'). These sanctuaries are managed for conservation and also support research programs. Funding comes from tax-deductible donations from the public as well as government grants for particular purposes, such as from the Australian Government’s National Reserve System Program.
In June 2007 AWC announced the establishment of a corporate partnership with Optus
. As of 2011 the AWC owns and manages 21 sanctuaries covering a combined area of 26000 square kilometre, more land than any other non-government environment organisation in Australia.
. In 2001 the AWC became a public charitable organization
.
In 2002 The AWC agreed to acquire four sanctuaries, Buckaringa, Dakalanta, Scotia and Yookamurra, for $A5.2m from Earth Sanctuaries Ltd (ESL), the company founded by Dr John Wamsley
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n independent, non-profit organisation
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, working to conserve
Habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
threatened wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
and ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s in Australia, principally through the acquisition of extensive areas of land on which to establish conservation reserves (called 'sanctuaries'). These sanctuaries are managed for conservation and also support research programs. Funding comes from tax-deductible donations from the public as well as government grants for particular purposes, such as from the Australian Government’s National Reserve System Program.
In June 2007 AWC announced the establishment of a corporate partnership with Optus
Optus
SingTel Optus Pty Limited is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications...
. As of 2011 the AWC owns and manages 21 sanctuaries covering a combined area of 26000 square kilometre, more land than any other non-government environment organisation in Australia.
History
The origin of the organisation lies in a 1991 land purchase (of what is now Karakamia Sanctuary) by AWC’s founder, Martin CopleyMartin Copley (conservationist)
Martin Copley is an Australian conservationist and philanthropist who established the Australian Wildlife Conservancy , an organisation which purchases and manages large areas of land, mainly former pastoral properties, as sanctuaries for the conservation of biodiversity.Copley was a British...
. In 2001 the AWC became a public charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
.
In 2002 The AWC agreed to acquire four sanctuaries, Buckaringa, Dakalanta, Scotia and Yookamurra, for $A5.2m from Earth Sanctuaries Ltd (ESL), the company founded by Dr John Wamsley
John Wamsley
Dr John Wamsley is an Australian environmentalist. He was the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year for 2003. Wamsley is known for his attempt to set up a network of wildlife sanctuaries across Australia....
.
AWC Sanctuaries
- BowraBowra SanctuaryBowra Sanctuary is a 140 km2 nature reserve near Cunnamulla in South West Queensland, Australia. It lies in the Mulga Lands bioregion on the Warrego River plains, in the catchment of the Warrego and Paroo Rivers...
, Queensland - BrooklynBrooklyn SanctuaryBrooklyn Sanctuary is a 600 km² nature reserve in north-east Queensland, Australia, less than 100 km north-west of Cairns. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. It is located on the boundary of the Wet Tropics bioregion and Einasleigh Uplands bioregion on the Mount...
, Queensland - BuckaringaBuckaringa SanctuaryBuckaringa Sanctuary is a 20 km2 nature reserve in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia. It is 30 km north of the town of Quorn. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy .-History:...
, South Australia - CurramoreCurramore SanctuaryCurramore Sanctuary is a 1.75 km² nature reserve in south-east Queensland, Australia, 75 km north-north-west of Brisbane on the western edge of the Blackall Range. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy...
, Queensland - DakalantaDakalanta SanctuaryDakalanta Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the northern region of the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, between the towns of Lock and Elliston. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy .-History:...
, South Australia - Faure IslandFaure IslandFaure Island is a 58 km2 island pastoral lease and nature reserve, east of the Francois Peron National Park on the Peron Peninsula, in Shark Bay, Western Australia. It lies in line with the Monkey Mia resort to the west, and the Wooramel River on the eastern shore of Shark Bay...
, Western Australia - KalamurinaKalamurina SanctuaryKalamurina Sanctuary is a 6,700 km2 pastoral lease in arid north-eastern South Australia. For many decades in the 20th century it operated as a cattle station. It was acquired in December 2007 by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to become a nature reserve for biodiversity conservation and...
, South Australia
- KarakamiaKarakamia SanctuaryKarakamia Sanctuary is a 2.75 km² nature reserve in south-west Western Australia, 4 km from Chidlow and 50 km north-east of Perth. It is located within the Jarrah forest of the Darling Scarp and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy ....
, Western Australia - Marion DownsMarion Downs SanctuaryMarion Downs Sanctuary, a former cattle station, is a 2890 km² nature reserve in the Kimberley region of north-west Western Australia. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy , by which it was purchased in 2008 with funds from private donors and a A$1.8 m grant from the...
, Western Australia - MorningtonMornington SanctuaryMornington Sanctuary, formerly Mornington Station, is a 3582 km² nature reserve in the Kimberley region of north-west Western Australia. It contains the Mornington Wilderness Camp and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy...
, Western Australia - Mount Gibson, Western Australia
- Mount Zero-Taravale, Queensland
- NewhavenNewhaven ReserveNewhaven Reserve lies 363 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs at the junction of three distinct bioregions: the Great Sandy Desert, MacDonnell Ranges and Burt Plain in the Northern Territory of Australia....
, Northern Territory
- ParunaParuna SanctuaryParuna Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Avon Valley, north-east of Perth in south-west Western Australia. It is in the Avon-Wheatbelt Bioregion and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy .-History:...
, Western Australia - Piccaninny PlainsPiccaninny Plains SanctuaryPiccaninny Plains Sanctuary is a 1700 km² nature reserve on the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. A former cattle station adjacent to Mungkan Kandju National Park, it is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy...
, Queensland - Pungalina-Seven EmuPungalina-Seven Emu SanctuaryPungalina-Seven Emu Sanctuary is a 3060 km2 nature reserve in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy which purchased Pungalina Station in 2009, with some assistance from the Wildlife Australia Fund. It adjoins the Gulf of Carpentaria near the...
, Northern Territory - ScotiaScotia SanctuaryScotia Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the south-western plains of New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the border with South Australia. It is located in the Murray Mallee subregion of the Murray-Darling Depression Bioregion, south of the city of Broken Hill...
, New South Wales - WongalaraWongalara SanctuaryWongalara Sanctuary is a 1,910 km² nature reserve in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a pastoral lease on the southern border of Arnhem Land, and is 120 km south-east of Kakadu National Park...
, Northern Territory - YookamurraYookamurra SanctuaryYookamurra Sanctuary is a 50 km2 nature reserve in the Murraylands region of South Australia, between the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Murray River, 24 km north-east of the town of Sedan...
, South Australia