feature conservation volunteers australia and chevron expand partnership

PERTH, 11 February 2024 – Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) and Chevron announce the renewal and expansion of their partnership with a new three-year agreement which will support initiatives that aim to build biodiversity across Australia. 

Chevron Australia, which has partnered with CVA for the past 17 years, is the national partner for the “Revive our Wetlands” initiative and “Urban Shade Project” supporting conservation and community engagement activities at 10 wetland and three urban shade forest locations. 

As part of the renewed partnership, Chevron Australia will be joined by Chevron’s premium fuel brand Caltex in contributing a total of A$4.2 million to CVA over the new three-year agreement. 

Conservation Volunteers Australia chief executive officer Phil Harrison said growing global research is demonstrating the importance of wetlands to planetary health, biodiversity and the economy.

“Australia’s wetlands play a vital role in protecting coasts from storms and flooding, maintaining water quality, filtering pollutants, sequestering carbon, and supporting biodiversity. Unfortunately, though, we’ve already lost more than 70% of these incredibly important ecosystems,” said Harrison.  

“This continued and significant investment from Chevron enables us to continue our critical wetland restoration work and further strengthen their biodiversity.”  

Chevron Australia general manager corporate affairs Kathryn Sydney-Smith said the 17-year partnership with CVA had resulted in significant progress in the restoration of wetlands and other environmental sites across Australia. 

“With almost 20,000 volunteers helping to plant more than 455,000 plants and trees, manage invasive weeds across 218 hectares of land and collect more than 14 tonnes of litter, together we’ve improved the health of Australia’s wetlands and biodiversity,” said Sydney-Smith. 

“With our colleagues at Caltex joining our long-term partnership, we’re excited for the next chapter that will build on the efforts and successes we’ve already achieved.” 

The partnership also includes an expansion of the Urban Shade Forest initiative, designed to combat rising heat levels in built-up areas by increasing urban greening to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by infrastructure. 

This renewed and expanded commitment will add another Urban Shade Forest to the project, complementing the recently planted forest in Dandenong, Victoria, and the soon to be planted forest in Rockingham, Western Australia, which will both see continued support as part of the ongoing partnership.