We were the first bank in the world to own and operate a private conservation reserve. Today, we’re announcing an expansion of land to be protected, doubling the size of our conservation efforts.
Fiona, our head of strategy at Bank Australia, reflects on this exciting announcement.
Our new parcel of land, named ‘Salvana’, takes the amount of land we have under conservation to 2117 hectares. That's the equivalent of nearly 850 MCGs!
When we originally purchased our conservation reserve in 2008, we knew that was only the beginning of our efforts to address the climate crisis. It’s just one of the ways we’re trying to address the climate and ecological crises.
We’ve learnt so much over the past decade. Now was the right time for us to double this effort in response to the worsening outlook for Australia’s ecosystems resulting from development, deforestation and climate change.
These are all issues that we know our customers are passionate about. Our motivation to purchase this reserve was our customers’ passion for the conservation reserve and climate action. We will always choose people and the planet, first.
We will manage the 1200 hectare reserve with our partners, Trust for Nature and Greening Australia, alongside Traditional Custodians and the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.
We understand that Traditional Knowledge is critical for effective and sustainable management of the landscape and that all parties have a role to play in learning and understanding how to put these approaches into practice for the benefit of the environment and culture.
That’s why we’re prioritising the expertise and heritage of First Nations in addressing the climate crisis, both in terms of restoring land carbon sinks and building more resilience to prepare for warming landscapes.
Salvana will only add to the exciting projects we have underway with our partners, such as building resilience through a climate-adjusted seeding project and supporting populations of plant species and rich food sources, including the Desert Stringybark and Bulokes. Our hope is for the reserve to support populations of threatened animal species, like the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo and Malleefowl.
The land was previously managed and rehabilitated by Conservation Volunteers Australia and New Zealand since 2013. They spent years building a comprehensive understanding of Salvana’s species, habitats and pests through substantial research and field monitoring. We thank them for allowing us to take over the reigns of their conservation efforts.
Salvana is located in the West Wimmera region of Victoria, in close proximity to the existing sites at Minimay, Ozenkadnook and Booroopki.
Read more about the Bank Australia Conservation Reserve.
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