TOWARDS TWO BILLION TREES
Within each tree are stories that span entire generations. Together we can save and grow Two Billion Trees by 2030. It’s part of our plan to Regenerate Australia.
Add your voice today to save our trees and our future.
Our native forests are home to some of the most unique wildlife and plants on Earth. Today our precious trees are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Every year an estimated 500,000 hectares of native forests and woodlands are bulldozed across Australia. Worse still, without our urgent, collective action, an estimated 750 million native animals in Australia will die as a consequence of excessive tree-clearing by 2030.
We all need trees. Our well-being, communities, wildlife and planet depends on the survival our forests. Together, we can make a difference.
Even before the challenges of COVID-19, Australia was hit hard by bushfires during summer 2019-20 - the most catastrophic bushfire season ever experienced in the country’s history. So much was lost, and the impacts will be felt for years to come.
Up to 19 million hectares were burnt, with 12.6 million hectares primarily forest and bushland. 33 lives were lost and around 3,094 homes destroyed.
As Australia’s leading conservation champion, we believe a loss of biodiversity of this magnitude is unacceptable.
That’s why WWF-Australia has launched an ambitious 10-point plan for the next 10 years, Towards Two Billion Trees, designed to:
- STOP excessive tree-clearing,
- PROTECT our existing trees and forests, and
- RESTORE native habitat that has been lost.
Read the WWF Towards Two Billion Trees report
However, we can’t achieve this alone - we need your help. Together with your support, and working with landholders, farmers, Traditional Owners, communities, businesses and government, we can make the changes needed to move Australia from a deforestation hot spot to a reforestation leader by 2030. Australia’s forests are our shared heritage and our legacy, and we all have a part to play in saving and restoring them for future generations of people and nature.
Why it matters
Trees make the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink and the rain for our crops. They store carbon in their trunks and roots, and in the soil. They provide habitat for our unique wildlife. They bind the soil and provide shade, cooling our communities. They improve our health and well-being, and our neighbourhoods.
But our Australian native forests and woodlands are being cleared and destroyed at unprecedented and alarming rates. A new report from the World Wide Fund for Nature names eastern Australia among 24 global deforestation fronts – the only developed nation on the list.
Help us take action where it counts
Defending the Unburnt Six with environmental defenders office
An example of how WWF-Australia is stopping excessive tree-clearing, protecting existing trees and forests and restoring native habitat is through our latest collaboration. WWF-Australia have partnered with EDO to activate laws that will defend our wildlife, people and places. Together, we are advocating for stronger environmental laws and helping the community use existing laws to implement greater protection for threatened species and their last remaining refuges. Rather than focussing on litigation, this landmark initiative will push for greater legal protection by advocating for stronger laws, policies and processes that properly take into account the impact of the 2019-20 bushfires.
We All Need Trees
Trees are champions when it comes to multitasking. They produce oxygen, are good for our brains and give us shade, shelter, nutritious foods and life-saving medicines. Trees are our secret weapon against climate change, while also providing homes for iconic wildlife like koalas and cockatoos. Our well-being. Our communities. Our wildlife. Our planet. We all need trees.
Towards Two Billion Trees
WWF-Australia’s national 10-point plan to save and grow Two Billion Trees by 2030.
- End deforestation and forest degradation by phasing out major destruction of mature forests and woodlands.
- Conserve 30% of Australia’s land within the National Reserve System.
- End native timber harvesting and transition the forest logging industry to plantations or Forest Stewardship Council-certified forestry.
- Convince the federal government to lead states and territories in the transition
- Reforest 10 million hectares of native forests and woodlands.
- Store up to one billion tonnes of carbon in new forests and woodlands.
- Invest in research and development to grow carbon farming opportunities, plus modelling to demonstrate rain farming benefits.
- Cease deforestation for beef production.
- Stabilise and reverse population declines of threatened species dependent on forests and woodlands.
- Ensure the welfare of native wildlife is addressed.
