philanthropyOz Blog

New AEGN Environmental Philanthropy Survey Open

Last year the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN) engaged the services of EMC Media, a market research company to survey members and friends on what motivates and challenges environmental sector philanthropists.  AEGN hope the results of the survey will better inform their work and provide them with further insight into how they can encourage more grantmakers to join their network and to increase environmental funding.

To ensure information is gathered from a cross section of funders, AEGN are seeking your feedback.  The link below takes you to a short 20 minute survey; AEGN and Philanthropy Australia encourage those in the philanthropic sector to take part in this important research into environmental philanthropy.

» Click here to complete the survey

The survey can be completed up until midnight on Friday 2 March 2012.

For those who complete the survey you’ll also be in the draw to win some great giveaways:

• One FREE ticket to this year’s AEGN conference (date yet to be determined; ticket is entry only not flights / accommodation)
• A $50 voucher to bookstore ‘Hill of Content’ (stores in both Sydney and Melbourne)
• A one year subscription to Sanctuary magazine - Sanctuary profiles the work of Australia’s leading environmental architects and designers, providing inspiration and practical solutions for a sustainable home, without compromising on design

Grantmaker Spotlight: Trust for Nature – applying an Indigenous lens to conservation

This post written by Justin Glass, Development Manager, Trust for Nature

Trust for Nature is an independent, not-for-profit organisation established to protect native habitat on private land. Established under the Victorian Conservation Trust Act (1972), Trust for Nature is the only Victorian organisation to protect bushland with conservation covenants that last in perpetuity.

Trust for Nature has conservation covenants on about 1100 Victorian properties covering 46,000 hectares; owns a further 47 properties covering about 35,000 hectares and has transferred a further 67 properties to the State.

Image: Map of Victorian covenants and location of Neds Corner. Download as PDF.

Trust for Nature’s Strategic Plan stresses the importance of stakeholder engagement in private land conservation particularly with local Indigenous and Traditional Owner groups. At the Trust’s largest property, the 30,000 hectare former grazing property, ‘Neds Corner Station’, located 70 km west of Mildura, Trust for Nature has done a lot of work with Indigenous people to concurrently protect cultural assets and native species. It was purchased in 2002 for large scale conservation research and practice with assistance from the Commonwealth Government, the RE Ross Trust, the Cybec Foundation, The Meles Fund, The Limb Foundation and many other generous individuals.

The Indigenous history of Neds Corner Station is as rich as its natural heritage.  It is thought that the patterns of native plants and wildlife found by the first Europeans were shaped by Indigenous use of the region dating from about 13,000 years ago.  The Murray River provided food for large communities of Indigenous people and areas like Neds Corner Station became important sites for trade and cultural ceremonies.  Archaeological discoveries in the area continue to provide us with valuable insights into how the land was managed and the cultural significance it holds for Indigenous people.

Photo: Indigenous crew erecting fences around sensitive sites

At Neds Corner Station many projects have been undertaken to protect Indigenous cultural heritage by Trust for Nature and local Indigenous people including:

• Completing over 50 kilometres of fencing to protect important Indigenous cultural sites have been built by Indigenous and non-Indigenous fencers in partnership with Mallee Catchment Management Authority Indigenous Advisory Officers;
• Securing Commonwealth funding to establish a large-scale fence, that builds on earlier work to improve cultural heritage protection and research environmental restoration and cultural heritage protection working in together. Trust for Nature is thankful for further investments by philanthropists that build on this Commonwealth grant and enable additional works to be planned.
• Trust for Nature has established a partnership with La Trobe University that provides training in the recognition and management of cultural sites to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people;
• Commenced development of a cultural heritage management plan for Neds Corner;
• Created a “Keeping Place” for Indigenous cultural items requiring removal as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Living Murray works;
• Develop a project plan to obtain funding for Indigenous officers in ecology and land management.

Photo: Blue and MEEP participant erecting rabbit-proof fence

With the recent floods and good seasons the River is again awash with fish, turtles, crustaceans including water mussels. Kangaroos, emus, tree goannas, shingleback lizards and move over earth that is filled with yams, soft root tubers, other edible roots and herbaceous perennials. This currently abundant supply of food, reminds us of how the Neds Corner Station area has provided Indigenous people with food and supplies for millennia. Neds Corner Station and its surrounding areas are believed to contain one of the highest densities of Indigenous cultural objects and burial sites in Victoria.

Trust for Nature recognises the significance of these sites and works closely with the Indigenous people of the Murray region to protect them from potential exposure caused by erosion, rabbit burrowing and other animal or human disturbance. Protection of cultural heritage is often best achieved through the promotion of native plants and the Trust, in partnership with many others has undertaken work to regenerate native vegetation and protection of Indigenous sites synergistically.

The goal of Trust for Nature at Neds Corner is to promote the bond between people and the landscape, a bond demonstrated by Indigenous use of the land for millennia. Achieving closer ties with the Indigenous community will be an important part of our journey.

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For further information on Trust for Nature or Neds Corner Station please contact Justin Glass, Development Manager, Trust for Nature  - (03) 8631 5888,  www.trustfornature.org.au

Observations from the CHOGM People’s Forum

Bruce Argyle attended the CHOGM People’s Forum on behalf of Philanthropy Australia last week.

As part of the various meetings and fora held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Heads of government Meetings in Perth, the CHOGM Peoples Forum (CPF) brought together 250 civil society representatives from across the Commonwealth to share ideas and to respond to issues under the theme ‘Driving Change for a Dynamic Commonwealth’.

The program included eight themed workshops;

1. Governance and Democracy
2. Gender and Women’s Rights
3. Indigenous People
4. Education, Technology and Innovation
5. Culture, Identity and Peace
6. Economic Development, Trade and Finance
7. Climate Change, Environment and Disaster Management
8. Human Rights

The People’s Forum was opened by the Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard who spoke about the CPF being a place for promoting democracy and civil society, representing over 2 billion people from 54 countries. She encouraged those present to ensure that civil society brings commonwealth values to life on a daily basis.

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (‘Danny’), Interim Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, highlighted that, in order to remain relevant, the Commonwealth needed to return to focusing on both values and on value-adding in terms of adding value to people’s lives.  Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth highlighted these values as including tolerance, respect and understanding and cited the Commonwealth as being the original worldwide web.

Phiroshaw Camay, Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation, spoke about the Statement on Civil Society that has been developed and highlighted the importance of education as a fundamental human right.  Ingrid Srinath, Secretary CIVICUS, The Global Society for Civil Society, took the assembled group on a journey of civil society … through the heady optimism of the 1990’s to the war on terror and increasing levels of disparity around the world.  This has been mirrored by an increase in criminalisation of dissent in many countries.

There was a strong focus on civil society throughout the Forum sessions and an encouragement to ‘join the dots’ through partnerships and collaboration. Interestingly, Facebook was cited as the largest example of civil society on the planet. Commonwealth connect was launched as a new platform for building closer connections between people in the Commonwealth.

Three recommendations forwarded to the Heads of Government were:

1. To see civil society as a resource and as allies of government
2. To instruct public servants to work more closely with civil society
3. To instruct the Commonwealth Foundation to take on a facilitator role to make the above happen.

Sir Ronald Sanders spoke on behalf of the EPG (Eminent Persons Group) that was set up in 2009 to frame a report for the Heads of Government on reforms for the Commonwealth. This report includes 206 recommendations but has yet to be made public (much to the consternation of delegates present). It is said to include recommendations for a Human Rights Charter, the establishment of a Commissioner for democracy and human rights and an expert group to look at the impacts of climate change for member countries.

On Wednesday evening a panel of human rights advocates included the Hon Michael Kirby who spoke to the topic ‘Silence is not an option’.  Participants were strongly encouraged to speak up for human rights as part of civil society. In terms of Commonwealth priorities this included speaking up on:

• Early and forced marriages
• Racism
• Rights of women and girls
• Impacts of climate change

Climate change was highlighted as an area that the Commonwealth needs to adopt a much stronger position on, given the huge impact likely to be seen on small Pacific islands and low lying countries. Speakers included Daisy Cooper, Director of the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau who gave clues to how increased efforts could be achieved; Nicholas Watt of the Commonwealth Ecology Council spoke about the need to establish marine parks and sustainable fisheries (‘If we don’t have fisheries on the agenda then by 2050 we won’t have fish on the menu’).

On the final afternoon participants were delighted to have two special guests speak about the need to finish the task of totally eradicating Polio. It was noted that there are now only four countries and 1% of the world still have Polio (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria) but speakers highlighted that we cannot afford to rest before total eradication. The first guest was Ramesh Ferris, a polio survivor from India, now living in Canada. He talked of his own experience and how he was provided rehabilitative support and corrective surgery.  The second was Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Poverty Project (previously Oaktree Foundation) who talked about the need to raise funds to remove the final traces of Polio. Without this a further 10 million children will get polio over the next 40 years.  A special concert is being held for Polio in Perth during CHOGM and Julia Gillard announced that  Australia will commit to providing $50M of additional funds to address polio. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are also contributing $40M.

The Commonwealth People’s Forum provided an opportunity to see firsthand how civil society can engage around shared values to address global issues and to be a part of framing future directions. Against a backdrop of needing to ensure relevance it was great to network and be a part of a worldwide web of very diverse peoples.

» Click here to visit the official CHOGM website

Guest Post - The Connection Between Environmental & Indigenous Philanthropy

(The following guest post is by the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network.)

Did you know that Indigenous people formally own 1.7 million square kilometers of land in Australia or nearly 23% of the continent and are responsible for sea management across parts of the Australian coast including 85% of the Northern Territory coastline? Indigenous people have a connection with Australian country that has existed for thousands of years.

Cultivating this connection not only brings about conservation outcomes but cultural, economic, health and education benefits. However, reliable information about the work of indigenous groups and individuals and those supporting them can be hard to find. What is the nature of this land and sea ownership, which institutions facilitate this relationship and what is the role of philanthropy in this sector? Are there good philanthropic examples we can learn from?

The Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN) is holding its annual Conference on the 29th of June 2011 at the Melbourne Museum. This year the conference theme is Indigenous and environmental and funding.

International guest speaker, Diane Christensen of the U.S. based Christensen Fund, will speak about her journey in philanthropy and why the Fund focuses on Indigenous and environmental funding. Did you know that The Christensen Fund has had a long history with Australia? Its founder, Allen Christensen, visited regularly since the 1950s, and his company, Utah International, did much business here in the mining sector until its merger with BHP in Australia and General Electric in the USA in 1971 (the latter then the largest private merger on record). Subsequently Allen developed Southern Cross Mines, a joint venture evaporate salt project in Western Australia.

Other wonderful speakers will talk on issues including the relationship of Indigenous people to country, the institutions that are facilitating this relationship and the many benefits to Indigenous cultural, economic, health and education outcomes that come from helping this relationship to flourish. Together we will explore what funding has worked and why and what the role of philanthropy is and could be. We would love you to join us for this interesting and informative conference.

» For further details please click here to go to the AEGN website and download the Conference Invitation