Ecosystem restoration focus of $500,000 Volkswagen donation

In another act of incredible generosity for the environment, the Australian arm of German car manufacturer Volkswagen has committed a further $500,000 to restore ecosystems in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

The donation comes a year after Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) donated $1 million to fund bushfire recovery work in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.

Now, more areas we protect are set to benefit from Volkswagen’s continuing generosity.

The $500,000 donation will be spread across three areas we protect comprising:

• Tarcutta Hills Reserve on Wiradjuri country in NSW,
• Our Kara Kara Wedderburn priority landscape on Dja Dja Wurrung country in central VIC,
• Eurardy Reserve on Nhanda country in midwest WA.

The additional Volkswagen funding will allow us to put more trees in the ground, as well as plant out critical understory and ground cover to restore entire ecosystems from the ground up. This new healthy habitat will provide food and shelter for multitudes of native species long into the future.

The donation will also fund further work on our 1 Million Trees project at Eurardy Reserve where we are planting 1 million native trees and shrubs over the next 10 years. Last year’s Volkswagen funds and the most recent funds will allow us to revegetate 200 hectares of the yellow soils component of this project, as well as enable us to collect seeds, plant seedlings and remove weeds to prepare the land for planting.

A large portion of last year’s funding was directed to our Scottsdale Reserve on Ngunnawal country in southern NSW, which was significantly impacted by the Orroral (Namadgi) and Clear Range fires in February 2020. It is enabling us to plant native trees and shrubs over 400 hectares at Scottsdale to replace the large sections of revegetated areas destroyed by the fire.

With the recent donations, VGA has fulfilled its $2.5 million commitment to bushfire recovery following the Black Summer bushfires although VGA managing director Michael Bartsch said that the company anticipated ongoing involvement in Australia’s recovery from the disaster.

"The work of agencies like Bush Heritage is literally endless,” Mr Bartsch said. “While the devastation wrought during the Black Summer was unprecedented we must assume that it will be a precedent.

“VGA looks forward to working with our partners and playing its small part in reviving native flora and fauna.”