Dear Adopt an Acre Supporter,

Thank you for your commitment to preserving nature and protecting life in Australia’s legendary Gondwana link.

Your support of the Adopt an Acre® program enables The Nature Conservancy to continue the conservation of Australia’s botanic wonderland and that’s why I wanted to write this letter - to update you on what your donation is helping to make possible.

Thanks to generous individuals like you, The Nature Conservancy has successfully galvanised the enthusiasm of five conservation organisations, unified their efforts and focused their work to protect one of the richest biological regions on Earth.

Gondwana Link and the Great Western Woodlands

Gondwana Link is a visionary project of global significance - more than 50 percent of the flowers within Australia’s southwest are found nowhere else in the world and the region as a whole supports over 10,000 distinct plant and wildlife species.

With nearly 20 percent of the region’s flowering plants still yet to be scientifically described, new discoveries within this ancient land are not restricted to the imagination.

And within this ecological wonderland, at the northern tip of Gondwana Link, lies a paragon of Mediterranean woodland - one of the planet’s most important habitats in need of protection. The Great Western Woodlands spans 37 million acres and represents the largest and most intact Mediterranean habitat remaining in the world today.

As part of a multi-faceted project, in 2008 The Conservancy and its partners publicly released a new study unveiling the conservation significance of the woodlands and confirmed its existence as the largest and healthiest temperate woodland remaining on Earth.

Landscapes with similar climates and geography in South America, Africa and Europe have all experienced a heavy human footprint. Much of the original vegetation has been replaced by agricultural fields and urban sprawl, and the remnants have been logged for firewood or overgrazed by cattle. In stark contrast, the Great Western Woodland is a relatively unspoilt treasure.

Your Investment Makes a World of Difference

The Conservancy - through its vision of a protected Great Western Woodlands and thanks to your continued support - has brought together the region’s traditional Aboriginal land owners, local communities, the Western Australian and Federal Governments as well as mining and tourism companies, scientists and partner conservation organisations.

Thanks to work undertaken by the Conservancy and its partners to encourage broad community support to protect the woodlands, government action has been stimulated - a great start for a project that continues with great urgency. Your support makes it possible for us to continue protecting this important area.

Plus, for a limited time, your gifts to the Great Western Woodlands will be matched 100 percent by Pew Charitable Trusts. This means that your gift will protect twice as many acres. There’s no better time to give to help protect this critical region.

Thank you again for supporting the Adopt an Acre program in Australia during 2008 and for all you do to help protect the Earth’s botanic wonderlands such as the Great Western Woodlands of Western Australia.

Sincerely,

Michael Looker
Director
Australia Program

p.s. We invite you to learn more about our expanding work in Australia. You can even post this "I support Adopt an Acre in Australia" widget on your blog, social network or Web site.

p.p.s. You can also send our great Adopt an Acre in Australia e-cards, perfect for any occasion! Send nature e-cards to all your friends and family. You can schedule them now to go out any day you choose.

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Indian Ocean coastline of western Australia. Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC.