Executive summary
There’s no time to waste.
The AEGN’s Nature Funding Framework presents priorities and opportunities for its members to protect, restore and manage nature and realise the full potential of their giving.
This potential is substantial. With a collective corpus of more than $3.6 billion, the AEGN membership can play — and is playing — a catalytic role in supporting the natural world and the life it sustains. In harnessing this potential, the framework seeks to grow effective philanthropy for the environment and for Australia to become a global leader in the protection, restoration and management of nature on land and in our waterways and oceans.
There’s no time to waste. Nature is in crisis, with the 2021 State of the Environment report confirming that the condition of Australia’s environment is poor and deteriorating because of increasing pressures from climate change, habitat loss and invasive species, among other threats. Meanwhile, public funding for environmental protection in Australia has drastically reduced and only five per cent of philanthropic funding goes towards environmental issues. And while some progress has been made, much needs to be done to properly mobilise and resource Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to care for their lands and seas as they have done for millennia.
Philanthropy has an urgent and vital role to play in scaling up the solutions and interventions to respond to the crises of nature, climate and, inextricably linked, people.
A framework for funding nature
We know that transformational change – game-changing shifts – will be essential to put theory into practice. We need system-wide changes in how we produce and consume, the technology we use, and our economic and financial systems. Underpinning these changes must be a move from goals and targets to values and rights, in policy-making and in day-to-day life.
The purpose of the Nature Funding Framework is to grow both the quantity and quality of philanthropy in Australia for a nature-positive future. Our hope is for Australia to become a global leader in the protection, restoration and management of nature on land and in our inland waters, oceans and coasts. As part of a global movement, we will contribute to new regenerative food and fibre systems, conservation technologies, land and water protection and restoration, and ocean management, resulting in more nature by 2030 than there was ten years earlier.
The Nature Funding Framework sits beside the Climate Change Funding Framework, which was developed in 2020. These resources promote priorities and opportunities to the AEGN membership, and connect members with organisations, programs — and with each other.
Setting the context
We need to reimagine our place in the ecosystem; rather than being separate from or above nature, humans sit within natural ecosystems, and we thrive when they thrive: economically, socially, and culturally. We can learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to further our understanding of these interconnections via the notion of ‘Country’.
Here, we outline the scale and severity of the crisis facing nature — and by extension humanity — within four distinct environments: land, inland waters, oceans and coasts. These environments are interconnected, but each faces unique challenges.
First Nations peoples’ care for Country can give us a deeper understanding of the interconnections and the management needs of these environments and can inform philanthropy’s role in arresting nature’s decline.
7 levers for change
Nature needs us to act, now. Our lives, and our environmental life-support system, depend on it. In this section we outline seven change levers that philanthropy can deploy to protect, restore and manage nature, along with priorities and specific opportunities for land and inland waters, and oceans and coasts.
We need a range of approaches to shift the dial in different ways for different outcomes. They all matter, and we need to pursue multiple actions simultaneously. We know what needs to be done. What we need now is urgent action by individuals, organisations and governments.
Read about the key levers below, along with priorities and specific opportunities for philanthropy for land and inland waters, and oceans and coasts.
- Applied conservation — Protect, restore and manage the environment.
- Legal — Strengthen, test and apply laws and policies.
- Science, research and monitoring — Collect and use data to guide strategy.
- Communication and education — Reframe and amplify the story.
- Participation and agency — Energise and involve communities.
- Capacity building and co-ordination — Build a strong and unified movement.
- Economy — Shift to a regenerative nature-positive system.
Considerations for funders
To successfully restore nature, the environmental sector needs to have the resources, strategies and talent to make change happen as quickly and effectively as possible.
Building the capacity of eNGOs is fundamental, as is supporting coordination, but there are other important factors for funders to consider too. In this section we share nine insights from interviewees, in no particular order.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Australia’s environment is in a dire state, and the threats it faces are inherently linked and are exacerbating one another. Our challenge is urgent, and the actions that got us here will not get us where we need to go next.
Through background research, interviews with subject matter experts and further reviews, we have compiled what we understand to be the priorities for philanthropy to transform the state of nature and realise the full potential of our members’ giving.
The experts we interviewed agreed that to arrest the nature crisis and to become nature positive by 2030, we must be ambitious, systematic and strategic. Big problems demand big solutions and a well-resourced, collaborative approach. To get there, we have outlined seven key levers for change, all of which are important and interconnected. We have also detailed specific funding priorities for land and inland waters, and oceans and coasts.
Among the priorities we have identified, ten big gaps and opportunities stand out. These require further research or investment to determine the next steps to enable transformative change.
We hope this resource helps AEGN members to accelerate action and scale solutions by working together and with eNGOs, academics, government, business and local communities. Only when we act collectively will we achieve a future where the climate is safeguarded, and both people and nature thrive.
Glossary
Biodiversity credits or certificates | A tradable personal commodity that is issued to landholders for projects that enhance or protect native biodiversity (Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). |
Blue carbon | The carbon captured by coastal ecosystems and stored in biomass and sediments (Australian Government Department of Energy, Climate Change, the Environment and Water). |
Blue economy | The sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystems (The World Bank). |
Citizen science | Public participation and collaboration in scientific research with the aim to increase scientific knowledge (Australian Citizen Science Association). |
Critical minerals | Metals and non-metals that are considered vital for the economic well-being of the world’s major and emerging economies, yet whose supply may be at risk due to geological scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy or other factors (Parliament of Australia). |
Conservation covenant | A permanent legal agreement placed on a landholder’s Certificate of Title to ensure long-term conservation and protection of native remnant vegetation and habitats. The covenant runs with the land in perpetuity (National Trust WA). |
Ecosystem integrity | The ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain ecological processes and a diverse community of organisms. |
Ecological restoration | The process of repairing sites in nature whose biological communities and ecosystems have been degraded or destroyed. |
Ecosystem services | The benefits provided to humans through the transformation of resources (or environmental assets, including land, water, vegetation and atmosphere) into a flow of essential goods and services, such as clean air, water and food (Constanza et al. 1997). |
Environmental non-government organisation (eNGO) | A non-governmental organisation, usually a not-for-profit, in the field of environmentalism. |
Environment protection authority | A government agency responsible for regulating activities that could damage the environment. |
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act | An Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and culturally significant places (Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation). |
Greenwashing | The practice (usually used by corporations) of putting a positive public spin on practices that are environmentally unsound. |
High conservation value | Biological, ecological, social or cultural values of a landscape or ecosystem that are considered outstandingly significant or critically important, at the national, regional or global level. |
Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) | Areas of land and sea Country managed by First Nations groups in accordance with Traditional Owners’ objectives. IPAs deliver biodiversity conservation outcomes for the benefit of all Australians, through voluntary agreements with the Australian Government (Australian Government National Indigenous Australians Agency). |
Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) | Sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity, in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. The Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs (IUCN 2016) sets out globally agreed criteria for the identification of KBAs worldwide (International Union for Conservation of Nature). |
Key threatening process | A process that threatens or may threaten the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species or ecological community — for example, invasive species, climate change and habitat loss. |
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) | A framework adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and define a pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050 (Convention on Biological Diversity). |
Marine protected areas (MPAs) | A defined region designated and managed for the long-term conservation of marine resources, ecosystems services, or cultural heritage (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). |
National Environmental Standards | Standards that prescribe how activities at all scales, including actions, decisions, plans and policies, contribute to outcomes under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. At the time of writing (2023), the standards are undergoing reform. |
National Reserve System (NRS) | Australia’s network of protected areas, which is made up of reserves owned by governments, Indigenous lands, protected areas run by non-profit conservation organisations and ecosystems protected by farmers on their properties. (Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water). |
Natural Resource Management (NRM)/Catchment Management Authority (CMA) | Organisations established by state governments to manage and coordinate the sustainable use and protection of land, water, vegetation, and other natural resources within specific regions. |
Nature-based solutions | Actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously benefiting people and nature (International Union for Conservation of Nature). |
Nature positive | The state in which nature — species and ecosystems — is being restored and is regenerating rather than declining. |
Ramsar Convention | A treaty between nations broadly aimed at halting the worldwide loss of wetlands and conserving, through wise use and management, those that remain. The signing of the Convention took place in 1971 in the Iranian town of Ramsar. |
Site Renewables Right | An interactive online map created by the Nature Conservancy, which synthesises engineering, land-use and wildlife data. The tool helps companies and communities identify locations where renewable energy can be located without impacting wildlife and natural habitats. |
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) | A set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations to address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. The SDGs provide a comprehensive framework to guide international efforts toward creating a more just, prosperous, and ecologically balanced future for all (United Nations Development Programme). |
Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) | An initiative focused on the financial impacts of nature-related risks and opportunities. The TNFD is being developed to help financial institutions, businesses, and investors assess and disclose their dependencies and impacts on nature (TNFD). |
Threat abatement plan | Plans that establish a national framework to guide and coordinate Australia’s response to key threatening processes registered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Implementing the plan should assist the long-term survival in the wild of affected native species or ecological communities. |
Threatened species | Species that are vulnerable to extinction in the near future. There are three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. Species are assigned to categories based on geographic range, population size and population decline/increase, and extinction probability analyses. |
Endnotes
Endnotes and related links are below, with the context for these references available in the full Nature Funding Framework PDF download.
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Acknowledgements
The AEGN is grateful to everyone who has contributed to the development of the Nature Funding Framework through interviews, workshops and conferences. Other ongoing conversations and reports have also provided valuable background and context that has helped inform this resource.
Our thanks to all those from First Nations organisations, from the environmental NGO sector, academia, business and government who have shared insights to help us understand where philanthropy can have the greatest impact for nature. Contributions from members of the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, the Biodiversity Council and the Places You Love Alliance have been significant.
Special thanks to the authors of the 2021 State of the Environment report, and particularly chief authors Professor Emma Johnston, Dr Ian Cresswell and Dr Terri Janke.
We also thank the AEGN Nature Working Group for their input and support and everyone who reviewed and tested the framework. Your suggestions have been invaluable.
Thanks to all AEGN members who provide core ongoing support for our work and to donors to the Nature Program:
- Blue Sky Environmental Trust
- Graeme Wood Foundation
- Isaacson Davis Foundation
- Jaramas Foundation
- Melliodora Fund, Australian Communities Foundation
- Rendere Trust
- Spinifex Trust
- TREE Fund
Finally, thank you to photographer Annette Ruzicka whose beautiful imagery has brought the framework to life.
For image descriptions, download the Nature Funding Framework (pdf).
Levers for change
Nature needs us to act, now. Our lives, and our environmental life-support system, depend on it.
Latest news
Philanthropy has an urgent and vital role to play in scaling up the solutions and interventions to respond to the crises of nature, climate and, inextricably linked, people.
— Amanda Martin OAM, CEO, AEGN