Perth-based private landholder Australian Wildlife Conservancy has won the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Award at the annual awards held by the Banksia Environmental Foundation.
Perth-based private landholder Australian Wildlife Conservancy has won the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Award at the annual awards held by the Banksia Environmental Foundation.
Founded by English expatriate Martin Copley, Australian Wildlife Conservancy is an non-profit organisation that has established a network of fourteen wildlife sanctuaries around Australia, covering 917,000 hectares.
Also among the awards last night was Tiwest which picked up the Banksia award for sustainable mining based on its operations at at Cooljarloo where the company has deployed significant resources and undergone extensive research to achieve excellent and continually improving environmental performance at the mine.
The 2006 Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Award is awarded to any Australian individual, organisation or group, for a project, programme or other activity that has contributed to the protection and understanding of Australia's significant natural, historic or Indigenous places or environments.
Below are copies of the relevant releases from Banksia:
The Prime Minister's Enviromentalist of the Year Award Winner:
Establishing a National Network of Places for Australia's Endangered Wildlife
Australian Wildlife Conservancy - WA
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent, non-profit organisation that has established a network of fourteen wildlife sanctuaries around Australia, covering a remarkable 917,000 hectares. AWC sanctuaries protect a diversity of habitats including rainforest, tropical savanna, desert woodlands and mangrove-lined lagoons. These sanctuaries provide refuge for many of Australia's most endangered species including Bilbies, Gouldian Finches, Northern Bettongs, Cassowaries, the Princess Parrot and the Bridled Nailtail Wallaby.
Overall, AWC sanctuaries protect more than 250 ecosystems or vegetation types and over 250 threatened species.
By raising significant donations from the private sector, and translating that philanthropic goodwill into on-ground conservation, AWC is helping define a new model for conservation in Australia - a model that promises new hope for our threatened wildlife.
"The Australian Wildlife Conservancy has established a network of fourteen wildlife sanctuaries around Australia, covering almost one million hectares.
An Incredibly impressive entry of a very large scale that will have significant impact on the protection of wildlife in Australia
Banksia Minerals Award Winner
Sustainable Mining at Tiwest Cooljarloo
Tiwest - WA
Tiwest has deployed significant resources and undergone extensive research to achieve excellent and continually improving environmental performance at Cooljarloo Mine in West Australia. The sustainable management of clay slimes, the achievement of high quality rehabilitation on constructed landforms, and the management of water abstraction to protect ground-water dependent vegetation are all noteworthy.
Tiwest has forged strong partnerships with key stakeholders to secure enduring regional benefits including an 11 year partnership with the Billinue Aboriginal Corporation who provide local provenance seed for mine-site rehabilitation.
Tiwest has also supported the CALM Western Shield fox baiting programme for the past six years enabling the release of locally extinct Woylies, Tammar Wallabies and Quenda into nearby Nambung National Park.
The Nightstalk Marsupial spotlighting programme with the Perth Zoo has engaged the local community and workforce in fauna conservation. Partnerships with local schools have provided environmental education to children and eliminated historical regional legacies such as un-rehabilitated Shire borrow pits. For more information on Cooljarloo http://www.tiwest.com.au/