Environment | The Ian Potter Foundation

Our Vision

A fair, healthy, sustainable and vibrant Australia. Our Mission

Honour the legacy of founder and benefactor, Sir Ian Potter, and his commitment that the Foundation make a difference to Australia.

Maintain a tradition of encouraging excellence and enabling innovation to facilitate positive social change and develop Australia’s creativity and capacity as a nation.

Support outstanding charitable organisations, invest in Australia’s innovative and creative people.

The Ian Potter Foundation A History of Grantmaking Environment

Sir Ian Potter

© The Ian Potter Foundation

Level 3, 111 Collins Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

Phone 03 9650 3188

Email admin@ianpotter.org.au ianpotter.org.au

ISBN 978-0-6451942-7-2

First published 2024

Design: Sweet Creative

Published by The Ian Potter Foundation

ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

Current Members

As global communities, businesses, and governments increasingly recognise the existential threat of compounding climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises, the role of philanthropy in catalysing environmental stewardship becomes ever more critical. This short history of the Foundation's environmental grantmaking demonstrates the remarkable foresight of Sir Ian Potter, the Foundation's Governors, and its staff. They have led the way for environmental grantmaking by supporting evidence-based, stakeholder-engaged, and innovative environmental conservation and research. These stories provide much needed inspiration for all who navigate the difficult path ahead.

Previous Members

Mr John B Gough AO, OBE 2007–2011

Professor Thomas Healy AO 2007–2019

Allan Myers AC, KC 2007–2021

Professor Fiona Stanley AC 2020–2021

Professor Emma Johnston AO

Professor Emma Johnston AO (Chair)

Mr Leon Davis AO

Professor Richard Larkins AC

Professor Karen Day AM

Professor Brian Schmidt AC

Mr

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD

Mr Charles Goode, AC

This book is one of a series that aims to record The Ian Potter Foundation’s grantmaking since its establishment in 1964. As a successful financier with a desire to use his good fortune to assist fellow Australians, Sir Ian Potter was one of the first benefactors to establish a charitable foundation in Australia in his lifetime. Critical to its establishment was legislation that allowed donations to philanthropic trusts to be tax-deductible. This milestone was achieved primarily due to Sir Ian’s negotiations with the Federal Government at the time. Indeed, Sir Ian agreed to make an initial contribution to the Foundation of £1 million (equivalent to $29 million today) comprising Australian United Investment Co Ltd shares on a non-taxdeductible basis.

While the Foundation’s corpus has since grown from £1 million to around $800 million in 2023, the value of that initial donation by Sir Ian Potter is far greater. Thanks to his foresight, today, we have a vibrant and growing philanthropic sector in Australia, including several foundations with multi-billion-dollar corpuses, all working in their own way to benefit Australians.

When considering grants, the Board of Governors has consistently followed the Foundation’s funding principles of focusing on excellence, prevention, leverage, collaboration and partnerships, innovation, long-term thinking and cultivating leadership in the Australian social sector. When reviewing the Foundation’s Environment grants the power of leverage, the value of collaboration and partnerships and, above all, long-term thinking are evident.

Over almost 60 years, 675 grants valued at $87 million to 160 organisations have been awarded across the Environment & Conservation and Science program areas. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, funding went largely to researchers for equipment and other resources to aid in the study of species management and environmental conditions. Many of these grants were categorised as

Science but supported projects that clearly had a focus on ecological and environmental research.

The Foundation’s first environment grant was £100 to the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1967 to support the Victorian National Parks Association. However, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that environmental issues began to gain real traction. When the Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Patricia Feilman AM, brought the idea of the Potter Farmland Plan to the Board of Governors in 1982, environmental issues were just beginning to gain momentum as matters of broad public concern. Supported through 14 grants spanning 25 years and totalling over $1 million, the Potter Farmland Plan had an enduring impact on the farming sector and the environmental movement. The Potter Farmland Plan project’s legacy lives on through the work of Landcare, and it has informed the Foundation’s future environmental grantmaking practices, marking as it did the beginning of the Foundation’s deliberate ongoing support for environmental conservation.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Foundation continued its commitment to landscape-scale conservation projects, awarding more than $4 million to the Australian Landscape Trust – founded by Patricia Feilman – for the protection of critical habitats.

Since 2010, the Foundation has continued to support large on-ground conservation efforts and research to develop evidence for best practices in species and resource management. We have also been an early supporter of organisations such as the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Climateworks and Watertrust Australia, which engage with the scientific community, industry, policymakers, and the broader community, taking on the challenge of devising sustainable ways to manage our natural resources, and decarbonise our industries, energy sources and technology. At the same time, we have invested in helping establish new organisations such as the Biodiversity Council, and the capacity building of the Invasive Species Council, the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and the Environmental Defenders Office to provide support to the broader sector.

We acknowledge the leadership being shown by these organisations, as they work towards a more sustainable Australia.

THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION

Founder

Sir Ian Potter

1964–1994

Board of Governors

Chairman

Mr Charles B Goode, AC 1987–current

Governors

Lady Potter, AC, CMRI (Life Governor) Appointed 1993

Mr Anthony Burgess 2013–current

Professor Sir Edward Byrne, AC, Kt April 2021–current

The Hon Alex Chernov, AC, KC 2016–current

The Hon Susan Crennan, AC, KC 2015–current

Mr Leon Davis, AO 2007–current

Professor Karen Day, AM September 2021–current

Mr Craig Drummond July 2021–current

Professor Emma Johnston, AO September 2021–current

Professor Richard Larkins, AC 2013–current

Mr Allan Myers, AC, KC 2004–current

Professor Brian Schmidt, AC 2015–current

Past

Governors

Sir Roger Darvall, CBE 1964–1998

Professor Sir Sydney Sunderland, CMG

1964–1993

Mr Roy McArthur, CBE 1964–1984

Sir Ian Wark, CMG, CBE 1964–1986

Professor Raymond Martin, AO (Alternate Governor) 1972–1977

Dr Thomas H Hurley, AO, OBE 1976–2014

Mr Frank Nelson 1979–2012

Mr Hugh Morgan, AC 1985–1993

Professor Graeme B Ryan, AC 1987–2018

Professor Thomas Healy, AO 1990–2019

Professor Geoffrey Blainey, AC 1991–2014

Mr John B Gough, AO, OBE 1994–2011

Mr Neil (Nobby) Clark, AO 1994–2007

The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson, AC, KBE 1998–2020

Dr P John Rose, AO 2000–2015

The Hon Sir James Gobbo, AC, CVO, QC 2001–2019

Professor Fiona Stanley, AC 2016–2022

GROWING PHILANTHROPY

Amanda Martin OAM CEO, Australian Environmental Grantmakers

Network

Environmental philanthropy in Australia is working to solve some of our most urgent environmental challenges, from climate change to biodiversity decline. While these challenges are formidable, so too are the foundations I work alongside; none more so than The Ian Potter Foundation.

In reading this booklet, it has been my great pleasure to be reminded of the Foundation’s almost 60-year history of profoundly important philanthropy. When the Foundation began funding the environment in the 1960s, most Australians were yet to recognise nature’s intrinsic value and its fundamental role in supporting our health and wellbeing. Over the intervening years, giving to the environment has grown in legitimacy and urgency alongside a growing awareness of widespread environmental decline and the escalating impacts of climate change.

It is within this context that our paths crossed in 2008, when the Foundation partnered with others to establish the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN). Since then, the Foundation has remained a long-term member and donor, helping the AEGN to become Australia’s peak membership organisation for environmental and climate philanthropy, with a collective corpus of more than $2.5 billion. In doing so, the Foundation has played a crucial role in growing effective environmental giving in Australia. Indeed, without its support, the AEGN and our sector would not be as strong as they are today.

The AEGN’s story is just one of many featured in the following pages that chart the Foundation’s evolution as a sophisticated and impactful environmental funder. In reading these stories, I am reminded of something I have long admired about the Foundation: its strategic foresight in providing critical core funding to “backbone” organisations at pivotal moments in the nation’s history. Its support for the Potter Farmland Plan back in the 1980s through to its support for the Invasive Species Council, Environmental Defenders Office and most recently the Biodiversity Council has resulted in enduring positive outcomes for our environment.

Moreover, these stories showcase the Foundation’s capacity to skilfully deploy philanthropy’s unique strengths: its long-term perspective, its ability to collaborate with and empower others, its leveraging capability, and its willingness to take risks and invest in innovative solutions. Australia’s new national water and catchment policy centre is a prime example. In one of the most exciting and forward-thinking initiatives I have seen in environmental philanthropy, The Ian Potter Foundation and The Myer Foundation shared a vision for an independent, authoritative and trusted centre that can work with all stakeholders to find common ground on water and catchment policy reforms – a vision they realised in 2021 with the launch of Watertrust Australia. Indeed, innovative philanthropy has never been so important to put limited resources to best use. In this decade, we still have a chance to halt the wave of plant and animal extinctions, reverse the decline in the health of soil, rivers and oceans, and minimise the effects of climate change. But we need to act now. Philanthropy, with its financial resources – but also its courage, patience and agility – can create a base of support that raises ambition and mobilises action within governments, businesses and communities. In this way, philanthropy has a vital role to play, and The Ian Potter Foundation remains a profoundly important player.

At the AEGN and across the environmental sector, we are deeply grateful to be working with the Foundation and its exceptional team: Chairman Charles Goode, AC; the Board of Governors, CEO Paul Conroy (and recent past CEO Craig Connelly) and Senior Program Manager Louise Arkles. I look forward to drawing on our collective strength to take our impact to the next level in the critical years ahead.

Amanda Martin OAM.

SEEDING SUCCESS

One of The Ian Potter Foundation’s core funding principles is to aim for leverage. We know that projects we support will have greater impact when also funded by others, such as government, business and other trusts and foundations. We therefore aim to be one of several supporters of a program.

While this principle is applied by the Board of Governors when assessing any prospective grant, in some cases, achieving leverage is fundamental to getting a project up. Early seed funding from one philanthropic organisation highlights the potential importance of a project and can encourage other foundations or even government to add their support. Confidence begets confidence, creating a ripple effect that can build the critical mass needed to launch large and game-changing initiatives.

One of the Foundation’s earliest Environment grants intended to leverage additional support was a 2007 grant of $5 million towards the ambitious, phasetwo development of the Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne (Victoria). This significant grant – which remains the Foundation’s equallargest Environment grant to date – encouraged further government investment and private funding, enabling the project to be completed to an award-winning standard.

Similarly, in 2011 The Ian Potter Foundation committed $750,000 to help leverage $15.5 million from the New South Wales government in support of the establishment of PlantBank at the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan, New South Wales. Completed in 2013, PlantBank is the largest native seed bank in Australia and one of the biggest in the world. Scientists at PlantBank play a vital role in the global effort to conserve 25% of the world’s plant species, while preserving Australia’s biodiversity and securing the future of our unique flora.

Ian Potter National Conservatory. Image: CHROFI architects.

More recently, the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra leveraged the Foundation’s 2016 grant of $1.5 million to garner additional government and philanthropic funding for a new conservatory. Recognising the importance of the Foundation’s early commitment to this project, the new building has been named the Ian Potter National Conservatory.

The Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) stands as one of the Foundation’s outstanding accomplishments in leveraging support. Established in 2005 as a collaborative research project between four universities, SIMS studies the impact of climate change and other environmental issues on Sydney Harbour. Sydney Harbour is Australia’s largest estuary and one of the most diverse harbours in the world, making it an ideal place to study the pressures of urbanisation on coastal ecosystems, and how they can be better managed.

In 2007, SIMS approached the Foundation to fund a new research facility at the site, confident the institute could become a world leader in marine biology. Although the partner universities were also investing their own money into the project, the Foundation knew its donation alone would not be enough. The Foundation offered SIMS a challenge grant, agreeing to match any government contribution up to $600,000. The Foundation, with particular support from its then Governors Mr John Gough and Professor Tom Healy, worked closely with SIMS to lobby government for these funds.

By 2009, SIMS had successfully attracted matching support from the New South Wales Government. Together with the Foundation’s grant, this gave the project new momentum, resulting in a further $19.5 million in Australian Government funding.

As Professor Tom Healy remembers,‘Board members and the CEO spent a good deal of time at the application stage working with the New South Wales Government to match any Foundation grant… SIMS has been able to develop from a small temperate water facility into an internationally significant facility.’

This early success leveraging funding was the beginning of a strong ongoing relationship. The Foundation has since awarded further grants totalling $2.4 million to help SIMS expand its research capacity, participate in the World Harbour Project and integrate management of the Botany Bay Project.

Inside PlantBank at Mount Annan, NSW.

The Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Chowder Bay, Sydney. Image: Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

Leverage can also start small, as shown by a longterm partnership that began with modest grants in the early 1970s. In 1974, the Foundation helped fund Dr Frank Talbot, Director of the Australian Museum, to travel to the USA to raise funds for the Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS) off the coast of Far North Queensland. From this grant of just $500, Dr Talbot was able to raise $105,000 –a remarkable leverage.

Having developed a strong relationship with LIRS, in 2005 the Foundation supported its refurbishment with a grant of $1.5 million. The Foundation then worked closely with the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation to secure additional funding to establish the Ian Potter Centre for Tropical Marine Research.

The LIRS has become one of the world’s best tropical marine research facilities. The research venue of choice for marine researchers from all over the world, it routinely produces groundbreaking research on the impacts of climate change on coral reefs.

The Foundation’s relationship with the LIRS has continued, with funding for the Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowships at Lizard Island from 2006 to 2023 totalling $350,000. The Foundation has also supported targeted research to control outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish on the reef ($500,000 in 2014), as well as the construction of a cyclone shelter on Lizard Island ($200,000 in 2017).

Whether a grant is the early backing that stimulates wider support or a latter boost that helps achieve excellence, the Foundation believes in the power of leverage. Experience shows that when several funders bring their weight to bear, the results can be internationally significant: from the creation of one of the world’s largest native seed banks to the development of world-class marine research facilities.

Playing a unique role in Australia's water policy landscape

In 2017, The Myer Foundation and The Ian Potter Foundation funded a major study aimed at improving the understanding of freshwater challenges in Australia. The study also considered how philanthropy could play a role in improving how policy decisions are made. Global research had shown the value of independent, non-government third parties in helping to bridge divides between water users and mobilising stakeholders to work together to promote sustainable water and catchment policy. The commissioned study identified a role for philanthropy in supporting an independent organisation that could act as an honest broker, working with stakeholders to improve water and catchment policy outcomes. It found that taking a deliberative democracy approach to water issues could rebuild trust and result in better policy.

These findings led The Ian Potter Foundation and The Myer Foundation to each commit $5 million over ten years towards a new national entity that could improve Australia’s land and water management. In early 2020, Colonial Foundation committed a further $5 million over ten years to support the innovative proposal.

This strategic joint funding commitment was used to attract other philanthropic funders, with a total fundraising target of $35 million. Throughout 2020 various philanthropic organisations joined the initiative as major funders, including the Besen Family Foundation, the Miller Foundation and the Wright Burt Foundation. Nine other funders subsequently joined the coalition.

A further $5 million secured from the Kingston Bequest via The Ian Potter Foundation meant there was enough financial support to create a new entity able to operate at scale for at least ten years. Launched in 2021, Watertrust Australia is already beginning to fulfil its mission as a trusted, independent, community-led, and evidencebased organisation. Watertrust Australia aims to catalyse change, framing future water and catchment policy in the interests of all Australians for generations to come.

Damsel fish on the reef around Lizard Island. Image: Lizard Island Research Station.

Conserving cultural heritage

Australian rock art is a tangible connection to Australia’s first people and is part of an ongoing culture, and is widely accepted as one of the world’s most enduring cultural traditions.

Rock art reflects a spiritual and cultural heritage and has great significance to its creators and their descendants. It also has great significance in Australia’s history. But like many cultural artifacts, it is subject to damage not only through exposure to the elements but, in some cases, inappropriate development.

The Foundation first awarded a grant ($2000) to help protect rock art in 1983 to Australian National University’s Prehistory and Anthropology Department for research into rock art conservation. From 2007, a series of three grants totalling $1.5 million were awarded to the Kimberley Foundation Australia (now Rock Art Australia) to support the Kimberley Human and Environmental History Project.

In 2011, the Foundation contributed a further $1.5 million to establish the Chair in Kimberley Rock Art at the Centre for Rock Art Studies at the University of Western Australia. This research position works collaboratively with

traditional owners to help document, date and study the rock art in the Kimberley, possibly some of the world’s oldest, with evidence suggesting the earliest occupation in the region dates back 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.

This support, plus a further $600,000 grant in 2018 to fund an early career fellowship, has helped Rock Art Australia to leverage additional funds to invest in the conservation of these sites of great cultural significance in Australia and internationally.

In 2019, the Foundation awarded the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust, in partnership with Warddeken Land Management Ltd, a $1.77 million multi-year grant to employ Indigenous Rangers to systematically record and conserve cultural heritage, particularly rock art, in West Arnhem Land. Recording and protecting what is arguably the largest collection of undocumented, and threatened, rock art galleries in the world, this project is entirely Indigenousowned and led.

Kwini Senior Traditional Owner, Augustine Unghangho, Rock Art Australia’s Dating Project 2023. Image: Mark Jones.

GROWING THE EVIDENCE BASE

Although environmental awareness was in its infancy in the 1960s, the Foundation has funded environmental research since its establishment.

Through Science grants and, later, the Environment & Conservation program, the Foundation has supported the scientific research that provides the evidence base for action to preserve Australia’s ecosystems and biodiversity.

From the Foundation’s earliest days, its grants have supported the scientific exploration of environmental and ecological concerns. In 1967, the Foundation awarded a grant to the Fisheries and Wildlife Research Trust for holistic research into the effects of pollution on the ecosystem. Subsequent grants awarded through the Foundation’s Science program addressed topics as diverse as seasonal anaemia in the Rottnest Island quokka (1971), the role of artificially supplied surface water in conserving native

fauna (1984), the ecology of Australian tropical rainforests (1989) and a biodiversity survey of reef fishes (1993).

However, the Foundation’s largest Science grants have gone towards funding the infrastructure that underpins environmental and ecological research and education. For example, a 2004 grant of $1.5 million supported the establishment of the Ian Potter Tropical Marine Research Centre on Lizard Island.

Supporting the next generation of researchers is another critical aspect of building the evidence base for environmental protection. In 2006, the Foundation began funding the Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowship program at the Lizard Island Research Station. Each year, with support from other funders, including the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation, this program funds at least one doctoral fellowship at the research station. The fellowships are highly competitive, attracting applications from PhD candidates around the world. From 2006 to 2023, this program has supported 18 fellows from seven universities supported by $350,000 in grants.

Similarly, the Ian Potter Fellowship for Biodiversity Research was established at Museums Victoria in 2007 to

Lizard Island Doctoral Fellow Dr de Freitas Prazeres with assistant Anna Peach on Lizard Island in 2018.

enable a talented early-career post-doctoral researcher to undertake innovative biodiversity research. Over nine years, the Foundation committed a total of $600,000 towards three two-year fellowships.

In 2014, the Foundation awarded Museum Victoria a $500,000 50th Anniversary Commemorative grant to establish the Ian Potter Australian Wildlife BioBank. The animal equivalent of a national seed bank, this biobank is a state-of-the-art liquid nitrogen cryo-facility that houses the museum’s collection of wildlife tissue samples at -185 degrees celsius. This low temperature ensures that tissue samples that are central to genetic and reproductive biology research are preserved and will enable the museum to partner on a range of research programs, including those involved in the conservation of threatened species. The BioBank also transforms the museum’s collections providing long-term protection of diverse and rare biological samples supporting critical wildlife research.

Increasingly, citizen scientists are also playing a role in building the evidence base by collecting data on particular species and ecosystems. To this end, the Foundation awarded a series of grants to Reef Life Survey Foundation, a non-profit citizen science program in which trained SCUBA divers undertake standardised underwater surveys of reef biodiversity on rocky and coral reefs. This model, developed by researchers at the University of Tasmania, has now been picked up by the Smithsonian Institute and replicated around the world.

Museums Victoria Dr Karen Rowe and Speckled Boobook. Image: W Longmore.

Museum Victoria's BioBank facility houses faunal tissue collections supporting critical wildlife research, conservation and public engagement.

The Ian Potter Australian Wildlife BioBank at Museum Victoria.

An initial grant of $20,000 supported Reef Life Survey Foundation's expedition to track human impacts on marine life in Western Australia’s Pilbara and southern Kimberley region. This was followed by another grant of $278,000 in 2015, aimed at enabling the organisation to build its capacity to train more citizen scientists. The Foundation was awarded Philanthropy Australia’s 2017 AEGN Environmental Philanthropy Award for recognising this excellent grassroots initiative.

Having developed an extraordinarily successful model for recording data on reefs, Reef Life Survey was only impeded by a lack of resources.The Foundation’s 2015 grant was instrumental in allowing Reef Life Survey to enhance the project’s replicability and ongoing success.

– Philanthropy Australia

More recently, in 2019, the Foundation awarded a further $400,000 to Reef Life Survey to describe decadal changes to populations of over 1000 fish, coral, sea urchin, mollusc and crustacean species by re-surveying 500 sites around Australia’s coast and islands. The data from this survey provided the foundation for the Australian Government’s marine reporting in the 2021 State of the Environment Report

With a series of multi-year grants of between $300,000 and $500,000, the Foundation is supporting efforts to research, catalogue and preserve Australian plant species. Researchers from James Cook University are collecting samples from climate-threatened tropical mountaintop plants and building a conservation reserve as insurance for at-risk populations. At the same time, in New South Wales the Royal Botanic Garden is fast-tracking rainforest seed conservation with its Looking Inside project. By looking at what happens inside rainforest seeds as they freeze and thaw, the project will investigate why these seeds are difficult to conserve with standard seed banking techniques.

A third related project is being undertaken by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria. Genomes of Australian Plants (GAP) is a national collaboration bringing together

leading Australian scientists in the field of plant biodiversity to improve our understanding of Australia’s unique plant species. The GAP project is also building Australia’s plant genomics capability by engaging computational biologists to train the plant diversity community in the use of new tools for biosystematics and conservation.

To measure the success of Australia’s conservation and restoration efforts, we need effective methods for tracking biodiversity outcomes over time. However, there is currently no standard framework that governments, environmental organisations and communities can use to assess biodiversity outcomes across different ecosystems.

Researchers at the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are addressing this gap with a national pilot program. Supported by the Foundation’s grant of $1.22 million in 2022, the project will equip Australia to improve ecosystem management and restoration by developing a framework to effectively track biodiversity outcomes. To do this, the research team is partnering with public, private and Indigenous land management organisations to research four large-scale ecosystems in both terrestrial and freshwater environments across Australia. Using the Global Ecosystem Typology and diagnostic models developed at UNSW and later adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the researchers will define the functional relationships and processes in each ecosystem, linking these directly to indicators that can measure long-term change.

The Foundation firmly believes in conserving natural resources across Australia’s land, freshwater, coastal and marine environments. Whether investing in individual fellowships and scientific studies or at the macro level of infrastructure, strategy and measurement frameworks, the Foundation is focused on building the evidence base that informs real-world conservation efforts.

Reef Life Survey diver finishing a survey at Lord Howe Island as part of the Lap of Australia. Image: Rick Stuart-Smith.

The rose myrtle (Archirhodomyrtus beckleri) produces seeds that are tolerant of drying but do not appear t be tolerant of freezing. Rose myrtle is one of the target species for the 'Looking Inside' project. Image: G Errinton.

Documenting Australia’s Extraordinary Biodiversity: A Decadal Plan for Taxonomy and Biosystematics

Identifying, describing, naming and classifying species –as well as studying the evolutionary relationships among them – is the domain of biosystematics and taxonomy. These disciplines are fundamental not only to our understanding of biology, but also to biosecurity, agriculture, conservation and drug discovery. They are particularly important in Australia: a continent of extraordinary but largely undescribed biodiversity. Of the continent’s 600,000 predicted species, only around 30% have been identified and named.

Supported by $275,000 in grants from the Foundation, in 2017 the Australian Academy of Science embarked on the development of a decadal plan for taxonomy and biosystematics. Launched in 2018, this 10-year plan identifies strengths, weaknesses, priorities and opportunities in the biosystematics sector; what additional capacity is needed to limit further species decline and extinction; and how to contribute to research on controlling invasive species. The first stage of the plan will accelerate the discovery, documentation and naming of Australian and New Zealand species. This work is being led by Taxonomy Australia, which has a mission to discover and document all Australian species.

‘Taxonomists and biosystematists build the system, the species and their relationships, on which much of biology, conservation, ecology — and nature documentaries — depend. We cannot properly grasp or understand the natural world without this taxonomic system.

This decadal plan provides an important vision, and outlines what taxonomists and biosystematists working in Australia and New Zealand could achieve if properly supported. It focuses on a region of global megadiversity and comes at an important time.’

From the Foreword by Sir David Attenborough in Discovering Biodiversity: A decadal plan for taxonomy and biosystematics in Australia and New Zealand 2018–2027

Ulysses butterflies (Papilia ulysses) in CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra. Image © CSIRO.

PROPAGATING COLLABORATION

The Ian Potter Foundation has always seen the value in supporting initiatives that involve genuine collaboration across sectors. Collaboration can enable more sustained and robust outcomes on a larger scale. When problems are complex, real headway may only be made if stakeholders work together. This is particularly true when it comes to addressing environmental challenges, which often require scientists and researchers to collaborate with industry, policymakers, communities and on-ground stakeholders.

Collaboration sometimes begins with stakeholders sharing knowledge to develop a more complete understanding of a pressing problem. The Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC) in regional Victoria developed a network of land management agencies, research institutions and naturalist groups all involved in the research or management of threatened species in the Otways. The Otways Ecological Research Network aims to build a strong framework for conservation action and to encourage public and private land managers to engage and invest in strategic, long-term conservation.

To advance and disseminate knowledge of the region’s threatened species, the CEC brought together 11 databases from network members to create a comprehensive shared spatial database for all practitioners. The database houses around 11,000 records of threatened species, including plants, birds, fish and mammals. All mammal records are now online, hosted on Visualising Victoria’s Biodiversity (VVB), a portal created by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation at Federation University.

Potoroo in Otways. Image: Conservation Ecology Centre.

The Foundation has supported the CEC’s work since 2016, providing $600,000 in grants. Since that time, membership of the network has grown to 234, including representatives from seven universities, four government agencies and ten non-government organisations. Membership continues to grow and there are several collaborative research programs producing excellent applied ecological research. The network’s researchers have been awarded research grants from bodies including the Victorian Government and the Australian Research Council.

The Foundation also supports collaborative efforts to develop new approaches to environmental issues. The Derwent Estuary Program (DEP) is a regional, not-for-profit partnership between the Tasmanian Government, local governments, industry, scientists and the community. The DEP's mission is to undertake and share science about the River Derwent, enabling informed decisions to ensure a healthy and diverse ecosystem. The DEP coordinates a range of projects aimed at restoring and promoting the Derwent Estuary.

The Foundation funded a trial that aimed to inform improved water quality monitoring and reporting practices, ultimately leading to better protection of the River Derwent. The three-year demonstration trial saw the DEP procure, install and maintain six water analyser units. The in-situ, real-time analyser technology was developed by the University of Tasmania in partnership with industry to revolutionise water quality monitoring in Tasmania.

‘The Windara Reef project is a unique collaborative partnership between State Government departments, the University of Adelaide and The Nature Conservancy increasing the potential for long-term and wide-scale viability of future reef builds and the resulting benefits for the environment and communities.’

— Mr Charles Goode AC, Chair, The Ian Potter Foundation

When stakeholders come together to develop new approaches to environmental concerns, the impacts can be long-term and wide-scale – as exemplified by the Windara Reef project. Native South Australian oyster reefs, once one of Australia’s most extensive coastal habitats, had been fished to functional extinction. Professor Sean Connell’s team at the University of Adelaide worked with the South Australian Government, The Nature Conservancy and local industry and communities to restore 20 hectares of native oyster reef off the Yorke Peninsula by constructing 60 artificial reef structures.

The Foundation’s decision to support the project with a grant of $300,000 was influenced by the project’s collaborative nature and its focus on translating research into action. The team’s applied research on the design and methodology of the reef offers a blueprint for future restoration projects that are cost-effective and optimise oyster recruitment and survival. The project’s success has also led the research team to embark on a new multi-species restoration program in partnership with aquaculture industries and the South Australian Department for Environment and Water.

Derwent Estuary Program catchment scientist Bernadette Proemse, Eco Detection personnel Andrew Somers and Phillip Fox installing an in-situ analyser at River Ouse, Tasmania. Image: Ursula Taylor.

coast of Ardrossan, South Australia. Image: Maritime Constructions.

Griffith University’s Building Catchment Resilience project is another example of a local solution with the potential for broad application. To reduce the impacts of extreme weather events in South East Queensland, Griffith University researchers developed a decision support tool. The tool helps stakeholders deliberate on a range of catchment management options, prioritise resource allocation and coordinate on-ground works. By inputting their local data, users can generate spatial maps and model different on-ground works and land management actions, visualising the potential benefits and trade-offs of a range of actions.

The tool is designed to be used collaboratively. Diverse stakeholders – agricultural and irrigation industries, land managers, government agencies and environmental groups – can work together to explore a range of planning and management options in the context of the whole catchment.

The Foundation was an early supporter of this project, providing $1 million in 2018 towards development of the tool in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology. Although the tool was developed with a focus on the Laidley catchment, it can be applied to catchments across Australia – and the world.

Once promising new approaches have been developed, funding can support the shift to widespread

adoption. For over a decade and with limited resources, a team at Charles Sturt University had been working with the NSW Department of Primary Industries to develop diversion screens that could save native fish while enhancing agricultural productivity.

Having established design guidelines for the diversion screens, the team was at the point of bringing together multiple partners for a major initiative aimed at encouraging farmers to adopt the technology. This required funding, which led to the Foundation’s grant of $300,000 in 2018.

The project targeted ‘early adopters’ with industry showcases that demonstrated how farmers could benefit by integrating fish screens into their existing water systems. Recognising the enormous potential of the technology, in April 2021 the Australian Government announced that its Northern Basin Toolkit would include $26 million in funding for irrigation screening.

Another successful approach that has attracted the Foundation’s support is connectivity conservation: a community-led approach to conservation that focuses on connecting intact and restored landscapes. Instead of diverse groups prioritising isolated patches of habitat, connectivity conservation aims to protect, restore and expand sections of land, and crucially, to reconnect ecosystems through large functional corridors that enable

The Lockyer Creek catchment after the April 2011 floods showing how the stream channel had been changed by the flood recovery effort. The straightening of the channel and removal of vegetation made the next flood even worse. Image: Professor Stuart Bunn, Director Australian Rivers Institute.

wildlife and plants to move. In the face of climate change, restoring connectivity is more important than ever. Wellconnected landscapes and natural systems are more resilient, adapting more readily to a changing climate and rebounding more rapidly after disasters such as bushfire, drought or flood.

Together, Gondwana Link and the Great Eastern Ranges are revitalising the national conservation effort by applying connectivity conservation on a national scale. In 2020, the Foundation contributed $1 million to their efforts. Gondwana Link and Great Eastern Ranges work on connecting stakeholders by partnering with government agencies, local councils, industry, researchers, natural resource management groups, Landcare groups, private landowners and large environmental non-government organisations such as Bush Heritage Australia and Greening Australia.

To address the challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, Australia also needs good-quality native seed for restoration efforts. Greening Australia is coordinating a major national initiative that brings together the demand and supply sides of the native seed industry in a science-led program that aims to improve native seed production.

Highly respected in the conservation sector, Greening Australia works to bridge the gap between research and land management practice. The organisation has a long history of collaboration with researchers, landowners, government agencies and the community. For this initiative, Greening Australia is working collaboratively across the university research sector, non-government organisations (such as the Australian Network for Plant Conservation), and farming and land management groups to ensure knowledge sharing.

Funding to scale up native seed production is being provided by the Australian Government, along with private capital and philanthropic organisations. The Foundation has joined this group of funders, providing $2.5 million to support this significant and highly innovative project. Increasingly, researchers, industry, government and communities are working together to protect and restore fragile ecosystems and address habitat and biodiversity loss. When diverse stakeholders bring their respective strengths, experience and knowledge to bear, they can tackle larger problems and achieve more impressive results. The Foundation will continue to support projects that draw on the power of collaboration to define the issues, develop new solutions and drive widespread adoption of successful approaches.

Research and development of diversion screens to conserve native fish in agricultural irrigation systems. Image: Charles Sturt University.

Nowanup rangers planting seeds as part of the Gondwana Link ecocultural project. Image: Amanda Keesing.

Greening Australia is leading a national initiative to address the availability of good quality native seed for land restoration.

RESTORING THE BALANCE

In the 1980s, The Ian Potter Foundation became involved in its first major sustainability project, initiating the Potter Farmland Plan. The decision of the Governors of the Foundation to support this project reflected the community’s increasing concern about the degradation of Australia's land.

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

In the 1960s and 1970s, Australia’s agricultural industry faced an uncertain future. Worsening desalination, erosion and land degradation were affecting not only the environment but productivity as well. There was growing community concern and an awareness that something had to be done.

New farming practices were needed – practices that would work with the land, not against it. In 1976,Victoria’s Hamer Government established the Garden State Committee, with one of its aims being to educate farmers about long-term and sustainable conservation strategies for farming. In 1980, for example, a new assistance scheme sought to reverse land degradation and erosion by incentivising farmers to plant trees. But although initial take-up was good, few such schemes had any lasting traction beyond local areas.

It was well-understood that sustainable farming practices could combat degradation. But while the environmental benefits had been scientifically proven, the practical benefits for farmers were less clear. Farmers needed quicker results, with less risk to their own operations. Simply put, farmers – the people who had the most influence over the implementation of any scheme –needed motivation and support.

The Levinson tree stump highlights the change in the land due to the Potter Farmland Plan. Comparing the photograph taken in 1987 (right) with the image taken in 2006 (above) shows that the outcomes of land restoration are dramatic. Images: Potter Farmland Plan Archive collection held by the Potter Rural Community Research Network, RMIT University, Hamilton,VIC.

THE POTTER FARMLAND PLAN

Patricia Feilman, executive secretary of The Ian Potter Foundation during this time, saw an opportunity for the Foundation to play a part in the solution. The aim of the Potter Farmland Plan was to show that scientifically proven sustainable farming practices could combat the main causes of land degradation while improving production rates for working farmlands.

Beginning in 1984, the Foundation allocated $250,000 a year for three years to the Trust for Nature (Victoria) to establish a showcase of 15 demonstration farms using sustainable farming practices in the Hamilton region of south-west Victoria. In total, the Foundation contributed $980,000 to the Potter Farmland Plan. At the time, it was the single most significant financial commitment since the Foundation's inception in 1964. Development of the Potter Farmland Plan also saw the formalisation of the Foundation’s Environment program. In the 1980s, $2,182,017 was awarded across 165 Environment grants, well above the totals of $208,898 (83 grants) in the 1970s and $77,717 (22 grants) in the 1960s.

As the Potter Farmland Plan worked with the Victorian Government, universities and farmers through the mid-1980s, momentum built. The pioneering farmers of the Potter Farmland Plan experimented with a range of techniques, embracing the notion that ecological and economic objectives could be pursued concurrently. Supported financially and scientifically by the Foundation, the select group of farmers put their livelihoods on the line and invested heavily with both time and money. They planted trees, shrubs and salt-tolerant grasses; and built fencing to protect waterways and quarantine areas according to the conditions.

As the Australian Financial Review wrote in 1985, ‘Freed from the sluggishness of government bureaucracy, the Foundation quickly came up with a strategy’, which was supported by the aim ‘to show [other farmers] the possibilities’. Slowly but surely, the 15 demonstration farms began to show real results, and other farmers started to take an active interest in what was happening.

A PROFOUND SHIFT IN THINKING

The Potter Farmland Plan has since been the subject of numerous studies, including a major evaluation by RMIT University that revealed the ongoing environmental benefits of the program and, just as importantly, its role in sparking a shift in attitude that has helped secure the future of farming in Australia. The first change was the slow regeneration of the land. The second was even longer lasting and more productive: a change in the thinking around sustainable farming.

The Potter Farmland Plan project’s legacy lives on through the work of spin-off organisations Landcare and Landcare International, which continue the lessons and momentum of the Potter Farmland Plan.

‘The Potter investment was crucial,’ says Dr Andrew Campbell, who was the project manager. ‘It literally transformed the demonstration farms in a very short period of time. But it didn’t just make a difference on those farms: we had thousands of visitors through, and they could see for themselves what was happening on this land. That became a catalyst for the introduction of the national Landcare program and in turn, led to a $340 million Federal Government investment over a decade. Landcare has now been adopted in 22 countries around the world.’

‘The Potter Farmland Plan was and is one of those candles in the darkness that illuminates ways forward to help society deal with these big, complex challenges. I think the Governors of the Foundation can be extremely confident that they helped spark something way, way bigger than just change on 15 demonstration farms in Western Victoria.’

‘The Potter Farmland Plan came along just at the right time when there was a little awakening at what farmers should have been thinking about. It raised awareness of the issues amongst farmers, setting a direction for farming in a more ecologically sound direction.

When the Potter Farmland Plan started, a lot of people were dead against landcare. You won’t get an argument from people now. It gave landcare the “oomph” it needed.’

— Peter Waldron Former Potter Farmland Plan farmer, 2009

Levinson tree stump in 1987.

AN ONGOING COMMITMENT

The Foundation has continued its commitment to regenerating farming land. The Australian Landscape Trust (ALT) was established in 1996 by Patricia Feilman AM as a direct result of the success of the Potter Farmland Plan. ALT’s initial purpose was to secure environmentally significant land and develop collaborative partnerships between land managers, ecologists and the wider community to support and improve the management of regional landscapes and ecologically significant environments.

Building on the legacy of the Potter Farmland Plan, The Ian Potter Foundation awarded over $4 million to the ALT to support its mission to improve the protection and management of Australia’s unique ecosystems.

Greening Australia has also received a number of grants for projects focused on sustainable land management and protecting and restoring biodiversity to benefit communities, landholders and the environment. Grants totalling $1 million (in 2012 and 2015) aimed to restore and conserve the threatened bioregion of Tasmania’s Northern Midlands. These grants also proved to be strategic: they helped leverage other grants, resulting in contributions of more than $6 million from government, philanthropists, businesses and local landholders to secure the future of this important conservation area.

In addition, the Foundation provided $1 million (2016) to support Greening Australia’s project to pilot cost-effective wetland and coastal systems repair techniques in a priority area of farmed land within the catchments feeding into the Great Barrier Reef.

The Foundation’s support for landcare projects has been ongoing. The health of the Gippsland Lakes – an internationally significant area under the Ramsar Convention – is dependent on the health of its tributaries, which act as lungs, filtering nutrients and sediments. In 2020, an $840,000 grant was awarded to the East Gippsland Landcare Network for its Lungs of the Lake project, which works with rural communities to increase riparian vegetation protection, condition and connectivity on the Gippsland Plains. This work will improve the water quality in tributaries and rivers that flow into the Gippsland Lakes, increasing the extent and biodiversity of native vegetation and fauna.

Another project the Foundation backed is the Sustainable Farms program, developed by Professor David Lindenmayer AO FAA and his research team at the Australian National University (ANU). The Foundation awarded ANU a $2 million major grant in 2017 for the five-year project, which aims to prove the case that managing farms for biodiversity outcomes, alongside

Funders' site visit to Greening Australia's Tasmania Island Ark project in the Tasmanian Midlands in 2017.

Reef Aid was a pilot project to restore Great Barrier Reef wetlands and coastal ecosystems by working with landowners to test repair techniques to reduce sediment and pollution run-off into the reef. Image: Greening Australia.

production, is a sound economic investment with longterm social and health co-benefits. The initial investment provided by the Foundation has been leveraged, allowing the Sustainable Farms project to grow into a successful $10 million endeavour.

A logical extension of the work undertaken through the Potter Farmland Plan, the Sustainable Farms program works directly with farmers, land managers, Landcare and natural resource management agencies to build their capacity to improve on-farm natural assets, while supporting sustainable and profitable agriculture. Farmers are given data to help them make decisions and adopt practices that are ecologically sound and focused on the long-term sustainability of their farms. In turn, insights gathered in the field inform the research team’s interdisciplinary research agenda.

A for-impact research institute, SoilCQuest 2031 has an overarching mission to double soil carbon, empowering land managers to mitigate climate change – benefiting both agriculture and the environment. SoilCQuest 2031

was established to develop a microbial inoculum from a carbon-capturing fungus discovered in our soils. This melanised endophytic fungus sequesters long-lasting soil organic carbon around plant roots. When inoculated onto the roots of crops via a seed dressing, this product draws down atmospheric carbon and is practical and scalable technology for farmers to increase their soil carbon.

In 2020, the Foundation supported SoilCQuest 2031 with a grant of $125,000 to enable it to collaborate with ANU researchers to utilise soil microbiology to both reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions and protect and improve agricultural soils. The technology represents a practical and scalable method that has the potential to enable crop farmers – nationally and globally – to improve their soil carbon levels.

SoilCQuest 2031 has formed a bio-tech startup –Loam Bio (previously Soil Carbon Co) – to develop the technology. Loam Bio has since secured $10 million from an impact investor to forge ahead with commercialising the microbial package. This is a great example of farmers and scientists partnering to develop solutions to significant environmental problems.

Decades of research lie behind the establishment of wildlife corridors, through patches of native vegetation and the retention of paddock trees on farms. Nanangroe, NSW, is a landscape monitoring site that is part of the ANU Sustainable Farms project. Image: Chris MacGregor.

Beneficial fungi developed by SoilCQuest 2031. Image: Frank Oly.

CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP

An aspiration of The Ian Potter Foundation is to cultivate leadership in the sectors it supports. The Foundation has funded some of Australia’s leading environmental organisations, sometimes from their inception. These organisations have the common objective of engaging with environmental non-government organisations, researchers, industry, policymakers, and the broader community to tackle the most pressing environmental problems. All are leading the way towards a more sustainable future.

GROWING PHILANTHROPY

Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network

In 2008, The Ian Potter Foundation became a founding partner in the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN). This arose from representatives from several Australian funders, including a Governor of The Ian Potter Foundation, attending the US Environmental Grantmakers Association in 2003. Impressed by the collaborative spirit and energy of the US environmental funders, this group of five – The Ian Potter Foundation, The Myer Foundation, Pratt Foundation, Poola Foundation and Martin Copley (private funder and founder of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy) – resolved to explore setting up a similar organisation in Australia.

The AEGN brings together environmental funders to grow philanthropic giving and support collaboration and information-sharing in this complex area. By supporting funders, AEGN’s aim is to maximise the effectiveness of philanthropic giving by directing it at the most important environmental issues. The Foundation has provided funding totalling $1.5 million at several key stages of AEGN’s development.

In 2018 AEGN celebrated 10 years of operation and has become Australia’s peak membership organisation for environmental and climate philanthropy, with over 180 members, including trusts, foundations, and individual donors.

It is increasingly clear that the long-term health of Australia’s land, water and biodiversity cannot be achieved without meaningful conversations between scientists and policymakers. Established in 2002, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists (Wentworth Group) is an independent group of Australian scientists and professionals working to protect Australia’s critical environments. The Wentworth Group’s focus is on solutionbased policy reforms: it works with industry, community and political leaders to find and implement solutions to environmental problems.

One such solution is the National Environmental Accounts program, developed with support through two grants (totalling $790,000) from the Foundation.

Environmental accounts, which measure the condition of environmental assets, are fundamental to managing Australia's natural resources sustainably. The Accounting for Nature model measures our progress in creating an ecologically sustainable Australia that generates wealth without degrading our natural capital. The Wentworth Group has sought to embed the model as an affordable, practical, and scientifically robust framework for integrating the environment into economic decisions at all scales.

The Foundation’s support for the Wentworth Group, with grants totalling $2.5 million to date, recognises the importance of engagement between Australian scientists and policymakers in tackling the most significant environmental challenges.

ClimateWorks is another organisation with an ambitious mission and strong connections to both policymakers and industry. Co-founded by The Myer Foundation and Monash University in 2009, ClimateWorks is housed within the Monash Sustainable Development Institute at Monash University. With its practical, solutionsfocused research and advice, ClimateWorks is accelerating Australia’s transition to a zero-carbon future.

The Ian Potter Foundation first supported ClimateWorks in 2016, contributing $3 million towards the translation of its groundbreaking research into targeted, practical projects. This work aimed to provide business, government and investors with roadmaps to catalyse the policy and investment changes needed for the transition to a zero net carbon economy.

Since then, a further $3 million has been awarded to ClimateWorks to help build its capacity and make the shift from research to action. To do this, ClimateWorks is building an action agenda, scaling-up communications for a broader audience, and improving network outreach to draw out the implications of its work for decisionmakers. ClimateWorks’ Land Use Futures project will soon show what sustainable land use looks like in Australia, identifying national priorities for action and illuminating the long-term pathways for transforming our food, agriculture and land-use systems. One component of the project – the Natural Capital Investment Initiative – is creating tools and resources that farmers and land managers can use to efficiently measure their natural capital.

While the Wentworth Group and ClimateWorks are focused on driving large-scale transformation, other projects are effecting change from the ground up. One example is Deakin University’s Local Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) project, which the Foundation supported with a $580,000 grant in 2019. The aim of this project is to develop a framework to strengthen the sustainability of regional communities. To assess options for improving both socio-economic and environmental sustainability, the researchers used a mix of qualitative (participatory) and quantitative (modelling) methods to produce comprehensive case studies of two regional Victorian communities – Forrest and the Otway Ranges, and the Goulburn-Murray irrigation district.

The resulting framework is generally applicable across rural and regional Australia and can be used to chart pathways to local sustainability. Widespread uptake of the framework could help Australia and the world to achieve the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and the global SDGs – from the bottom up.

Deakin University's Local SDGs project aims to provide a general framework for charting pathways to sustainability to build of the resilience of local communities and help them to thrive and prosper sustainably.

Wind turbines located near the coast at Albany Wind Farm in Western Australia. Image: iStock.

Another project working from the ground up is RMIT University’s development of a Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design (BSUD) protocol. Led by Professor Sarah Bekessy, researchers at the university’s Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON) are developing a process-based protocol for the creation of urban environments that generate net benefits for native biodiversity. The protocol is designed to help urban planners, designers, and developers deliver careful urban designs that provide essential habitat and food resources for wildlife, mitigate biodiversity threats and enhance connectivity. ICON works with industry partners to implement the protocol in demonstration sites. Next, the researchers will rigorously evaluate the model to measure its real-world ecological, social and economic outcomes. The Foundation supported the project with a $580,000 grant in 2019.

For the Foundation, supporting leadership on environmental issues also means cultivating a strong community voice. A 2022 grant of $430,000 is enabling the Port Phillip EcoCentre to meet the growing demand for community sector input into environmental activities. The funding will allow the Port Phillip EcoCentre to employ more staff, boosting its capacity to deliver information and advice to decision-makers, and to communicate best practices under Victoria’s new General Environmental Duty (GED) laws. The GED makes it clear that businesses and individuals have a responsibility to reduce risk to human health and the environment.

At the national level, the Foundation has provided funding to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), strengthening its capacity to offer advice, representation, leadership and influence on matters of national

environmental law. In 2020, the Foundation awarded the EDO $500,000 to merge eight existing offices into one national entity. The merger makes the EDO more capable of empowering communities, defending legal rights and advocating for stronger environmental laws.

The Foundation has also invested in the creation and development of organisations that set the agenda for action on specific issues affecting our environment and ecosystems. The Invasive Species Council (ISC) is helping to build a stronger, more collaborative environmental biosecurity system to reduce the threat that invasive species pose to our flora, fauna and ecosystems. Since 2012, the Foundation has awarded $3 million to assist the

Five of the seven co-founders of the Invasive Species Council: (L-R) Amanda Martin, Paul Baddeley, Lucy Vaughan, Tim Low and Steven Mathews. Co-founders not present: Barry Traill and Paola Parigi. Image: Invasive Species Council.

Implementing BSUD to achieve “everyday nature” experiences for urban residents. This courtyard shows how key habitat features can be included in mediumdensity housing design, while leaving space for both active transport and outdoor recreation. Image produced by RMIT Interdisciplinary Conservation Science team in collaboration with C Horwill, J Ware & M Baracco from RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design.

ISC to build its capacity and develop a cross-sector strategy for transformative change to reduce the threat from invasive species. In 2021, the ISC secured a commitment by state, territory and federal governments to make the 2020s the Decade of Biosecurity, building a stronger biosecurity system to protect all Australians.

More recently, the Foundation has supported the establishment of the Biodiversity Council. Comprised of leading experts from universities and environmental nongovernment organisations, the Council aims to transform public awareness of, and trigger action to protect, Australia's unique species, places and ecosystems.

The Biodiversity Council is the peak, independent scientific voice for nature and biodiversity in Australia, providing authoritative analysis, synthesis and communication to government, industry and the

community. As well as explaining how policy inaction threatens food security, health and wellbeing, clean air and water, and the livelihoods of future generations, the Biodiversity Council identifies and promotes tangible actions that will have a positive impact on both nature and people. As a founding supporter of this new peak body, the Foundation has contributed $1 million to its establishment.

The Foundation recognises that the most important environmental challenges – from emissions reduction to the protection of Australia’s biodiversity – cannot be achieved without leadership. By bringing together and balancing the interests of disparate groups, developing innovative solutions to old problems, and translating scientific understanding into agendas for action, leading researchers, advocates, and peak bodies are making real progress towards sustainability.

Lush rainforest with ancient trees in Tamborine National Park, Queensland. The rainforest is emblematic of the need to preserve biodiversity for the health of our ecosystems and continued wellbeing. Image: iStock.

DECADE BY DECADE

A Timeline of Grantmaking

GRANTS: 546

TOTAL: $82,702,599

$ Total $108,296 Qty 53

$ Ave. Grant $2,043

$ Total $43,497 Qty 14

$ Ave. Grant $3,107

$ Total $1,871,417 Qty 1235

$ Ave. Grant $15,215

$ Total

$4,667,000 Qty 117

$ Ave. Grant $39,889

$ Total

$14,082,637 Qty 91

$ Ave. Grant $154,754

$ Total $41,782,062 Qty 121

$ Ave. Grant $345,310

$ Total $20,147,300 Qty 27

$ Ave. Grant $746,196

Grants by Location

Notes

• Grantees indicate the geographic reach of their project based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Areas Classification. Further details on ASGS are available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website [https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geographystandard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/remoteness-structure/remoteness-areas].

Remote in 2000s comprises Lizard Island grants and Rock Art Australia grants ($2.6m)

• Outer regional in 1980s comprises Potter Farmland Plan grants ($700K)

• Percentages less than 5% are not shown.

Grants by Issue Area

$5,000,000

GRANT RECIPIENTS

Organisations that have received $100,000 or more in Environment grants from The Ian Potter Foundation

Organisation

Australian Academy of Science

Monash Sustainability Institute/ Climateworks (Monash University)

Royal Botanic Gardens Board (VIC)

Greening Australia Ltd

Australian Landscape Trust

Rock Art Australia Limited

University of Melbourne

Invasive Species Council Inc

Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation

Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists Foundation

Australian National University

Sydney Institute of Marine Science

Director of National Parks

Karrkad Kanjdji Trust

Museums Victoria

Griffith University

Australian Wildlife Conservancy

University of New South Wales

RMIT University

Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust (NSW)

Gondwana Link Ltd

La Trobe University

Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network

Trust for Nature (Victoria)

East Gippsland Landcare Network Incorporated

Birds Australia

Murray Darling Wetlands Working Group Ltd

Reef Life Survey Foundation Incorporated

Zoos Victoria

James Cook University

The University of Adelaide

Deakin University

The Conservation Ecology Trust

University of Tasmania

Grand Total State

$11,231,000 National

$6,040,000 National

$5,794,000 VIC

$4,545,000 National

$4,450,000 National

$3,650,000 WA

$2,998,543 VIC

$2,769,500 National

$2,551,000 QLD

$2,460,000 National

$2,449,121 ACT

$2,098,000 NSW

$1,900,000 ACT

$1,795,000 NT

$1,569,000 VIC

$1,338,090 QLD

$1,240,000 National

$1,234,450 NSW

$1,208,600 VIC

$1,056.000 NSW

$1,000,000 WA

$994,395 VIC

$957,000 National

$931,577 VIC

$840,000 VIC

$768,000 VIC

$750,000 NSW

$732,150 TAS

$684,700 VIC

$670,650 QLD

$630,700 SA

$618,000 VIC

$594,738 VIC

$512,330 TAS

Organisation

University of Western Australia

Australian Catholic University

Environmental Defenders Office Ltd

Central Victorian Biolinks Alliance Inc.

Monash University

Port Phillip Ecocentre Inc.

Bush Heritage Australia

Nature Foundation Limited

The Nature Conservancy Australia Trust

University of Technology Sydney

Albury Conservation Co Ltd

Rainforest Rescue

Charles Sturt University

The Ballarat Mechanics' Institute

The Conversation Trust

National Trust of Australia (Victoria)

Royal Zoological Society of South Australia Inc

Grand Total State

$507,500 WA

$500,000 VIC

$500,000 National

$495,000 VIC

$438,690 VIC

$427,000 VIC

$420,000 National

$352,805 SA

$347,000 National

$342,950 NSW

$330,000 VIC

$305,300 QLD

$300,000 WA

$300,000 VIC

$300,000 VIC

$298,500 VIC

$252,712 SA

Derwent Estuary Program Limited $246,000 TAS

Australian Network for Plant Conservation Inc.

CSIRO

Newman College Parkville

Penguin Foundation Ltd

Dolphin Research Institute Ltd

Queensland University of Technology

The University of New England

BirdLife Australia Ltd

St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne

Wettenhall Environment Trust

Centre for Sustainability Leadership

$220,000 ACT

$218,300 ACT

$200,000 VIC

$192,500 VIC

$169,000 VIC

$165,000 QLD

$161,638 NSW

$161,000 VIC

$150,000 VIC

$150,000 VIC

$149,500 VIC

St Michael's Church Restoration Fund $145,000 VIC

Victorian National Parks Association Inc

Charles Darwin University

Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species

Soil C Quest 2031 Limited

Australia's Virtual Herbarium Trust

Tasmanian Land Conservancy Inc

$131,100 VIC

$125,000 NT

$125,000 SA

$125,000 NSW

$100,000 ACT

$100,000 TAS

Peter Waldron, one of the pioneering farmers of the Potter Farmland Plan (see page 21).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A Timeline of Grantmaking (page 28)

1960s – Dr Ettershank with a casting made by pouring molten lead down an entrance hole and leaving it to set in the network of underground tunnels and galleries of a meat ant nest. Image: Monash University.

1970s – Early days at Lizard Island Research Station. Image: Australian Museum.

1980s – Potter Farmland farmers Peter Waldron (left) and Bruce Milne (right) with the video 'On Borrowed Time: The Potter Farm Plan in Action'.

1990s – Earthwatch students visiting Calperum Station, owned and managed by the Australian Landscape Trust. It is located in South Australia (about 10 km north-west of Renmark) and is part of a larger reserve system known as the Riverland Biosphere Reserve (formerly known as the Bookmark Biosphere Reserve).

2000s – Australian Garden Project at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, VIC. Image: Royal Botanic Gardens (VIC).

2010s – Climateworks bridges the gap between research and climate action, operating as an independent not-forprofit within Monash University.

2020s – Watertrust Australia Ltd was established in 2021 to improve how water and catchment policy decisions are made in Australia. It originated from a study to better understand how Australia could improve sustainable management of its inland waters and catchments, which was co-funded by The Ian Potter Foundation and The Myer Foundation.