His Majesty the King to remain Patron of Australian Wildlife Conservancy

His Majesty the King has retained his Patronage of Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), a global leader in conservation, providing hope to Australia’s wildlife.

The decision to retain the Patronage of AWC was confirmed by The Royal Household after a thorough analysis of over 1,000 organisations.

Tim Allard, AWC Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the confirmation, saying AWC is honoured by King Charles III’s ongoing support.

“We thank His Majesty the King for his continued support of Australian Wildlife Conservancy,” Mr Allard said. “We share the King’s passion for conservation and anticipate that the Patronage will continue to bring global attention to the plight of Australia’s threatened wildlife and AWC’s work in reversing the tide of extinctions.”

“AWC’s innovative model has allowed us to secure and protect populations of iconic endangered species that would otherwise fall prey to introduced predators such as cats and foxes, land clearing and increasing pressures from climate change.”

King Charles III’s Patronage of AWC commenced in 2013. Over the last decade, the King lent his reputation as an environmental activist to raise AWC’s profile globally, this included a special video message recorded in 2021 celebrating AWC’s 30th anniversary.

Over the last 250 years, Australia has suffered the highest rate of mammal extinctions in the world, with 34 species declared extinct. The loss of wildlife has continued unbated into the 21st century, with predation by feral cats and foxes acting as the primary driver of declines.

AWC works aims to halt and reverse the loss of wildlife through landscape scale conservation land management, reintroductions of threatened species and the establishment of ‘safe havens’: areas from which introduced predators have been eliminated.

AWC manages Australia’s largest network of safe havens, with nine fenced areas and one island making up 47,700 hectares of feral predator-free landscapes. Across these sites, along with sanctuaries where predators are intensively managed, AWC has founded 53 populations of 24 threatened and locally extinct mammals.