BHP Billiton and Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) today announced $1.5 million in new funding over the next three years for the Revive Our Wetlands environmental program.

Revive is a partnership formed by BHP Billiton and CVA in 2000 to address the degraded state of many of Australia’s wetlands.

Over the past three years, more than $2.5 million of assistance and more than 17,000 volunteer days have contributed to the revitalisation of 100 of Australia’s most significant wetlands.

Over the next three years, Revive will continue to make a difference to important wetlands across Australia and will make a substantial commitment to assisting community efforts at 10 priority locations across remote, regional and urban Australia.

CVA has set a target of 15,000 volunteer days across the 10 Revive sites.  Revive will appoint a national coordinator and a range of project officers who will work directly with the community to help them revegetate the wetlands, build new walking tracks, monitor and improve water quality and bird life and raise public awareness.

BHP Billiton and CVA aim to leverage the program to obtain additional funding commitments for Australian wetlands and share their learnings with organisations locally and internationally.

Revive, with the assistance of thousands of committed volunteers, has achieved significant environmental outcomes and has become the benchmark for business-community partnerships in Australia.

BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer, Chip Goodyear said: “Already more than 500 of our employees have volunteered in Revive outside work hours.  It’s a tangible way of leaving a sustainable community legacy and we are delighted to be involved”.

Revive has already been independently recognised as an outstanding example of community and business working together.  It is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships and more recently, was awarded the National Partnership of the Year in the Australian Financial Review Magazine 2003 Corporate Partnership Awards.

“This strategic investment by BHP Billiton into a critical part of our ecology, the kidneys of the land, will ensure our wetlands continue to function effectively, thanks to the actions to be undertaken by Conservation Volunteers. Revive is about future generations of Australians being able to enjoy the benefits of these fragile ecosystems,” said David Clark, Chairman, Conservation Volunteers Australia.

Emma Meade
Media Relations, BHP Billiton
Tel: +61 3 9609 2896
Mobile: +61 409 199 236
Email: Emma.Meade@BHPBilliton.com

Anna Grounds
National Partnerships Manager
Tel: +61 3 5333 1483
Mobile: +61 417 742 304
Email: agrounds@conservationvolunteers.com.au