Another wonderful addition to the NGT Foundation: The Alan Steele Foundation Fund

Over the past year or so, NGT have had the great pleasure to get to know and share our ecological restoration work with Alan Steele. As you will read below, Alan has long been a supporter of many fantastic environmental organisations doing great work across Australia, and it is an absolute privilege to now be able to share to news that the latest Named Fund within the NGT Foundation, has been personally established by Alan who has chosen to support to NGT’s work – including the management of our Restoration Reserves – in perpetuity. There really is no greater or more strategic gift to ensure the places we are working hard to restore today, will continue to provide an inspiring, lasting demonstration for the community, of what habitat restoration can look like in the agricultural regions of south-eastern Australia.

Please read on and hear what Alan has to say about his motivations for establishing a Fund in the NGT Foundation, and – on behalf of everyone associated with NGT – thank you Alan for your very kind words, ongoing support and wonderful generosity!

The Alan Steele Foundation Fund

“From childhood I have always had a keen interest in, and an open-eyed appreciation of, the amazing environment that surrounds us in Australia.

As a young adult, I grew up alongside the growth of the conservation movement, and actively participated in those early campaigns to protect such icons as Lake Pedder and the Franklin River. Closer to home, I was particularly concerned by the practice of clear felling our spectacular old growth forests.

When Bob Brown in the early ’90s argued for a pro-active approach to “buying back the bush”, I quickly jumped on board as a regular donor to Bush Heritage, and a few years later, I also joined Australian Wildlife Conservancy, which is now the largest non-profit manager of land for conservation in the Southern Hemisphere. I am grateful to have seen these bodies grow over the decades, to be stalwart leaders of the conservation movement in Australia.

It was only last year that I became aware of Nature Glenelg Trust, and I immediately called Mark Bachmann, and had a detailed chat that convinced me that I wanted to be involved, beginning with immediate support for the next stage land purchase at Walkers Swamp. A little later Mark was kind enough to spend a day taking me around several project sites, which cemented my desire to be more involved, and I was happy to come on board as a Foundation supporter.

On a recent visit to Australia, David Attenborough said – “There are a lot of ingredients to success in conservation, part of it, of course, is money; part of it, of course, is having the area where you can do things; part of it, of course, is having science behind you; and part of it, of course, is having dedicated people who give their lives to dealing with these problems.”

I can see that all these items are ticked off at N.G.T., and I can see that just as Bush Heritage and A.W.C. had Bob Brown and Martin Copley as their respective founders and driving forces, N.G.T. is blessed to have Mark Bachmann executing that role at Nature Glenelg Trust.

I look forward to a hopefully long collaboration with Nature Glenelg Trust.”

Alan Steele, May 2024.