Restore Australia’s Forest after the Wildfires

Dear Donors, Our project, Restore Australia's Forests After the Wildfires, has some very, VERY exciting news!! So exciting--we even changed our main project picture. Our project has seen our mission evolve from a rescue and recovery operation after the Black Saturday and other Wildfires of Jan/Feb 2009 to a rehabilitate and restore operation. In some cases in fact, even beyond merely restoring the forests by designing and planting natural defenses and buffer zones in and around the forests so wildfires like the record breaking ones last year don't sweep in and burn as fast as before. This is a very important fact because in a minute, the Australian Rainforest Foundation is going to introduce you to our 2nd project beneficiary, Mr. and Mrs. Alan and Stella Reid of Wildhaven outside of Melbourne, Victoria where the Black Saturday Wildfire stormed in like a tornado on the sun. Wildhaven (at St. Andrews) is a wildlife shelter in the Australian state of Victoria and is located south of Melbourne. As Stella puts it, " Wildhaven is a property dedicated to caring for the beautiful natural wildlife of Australia." At Wildhaven, the animals roam free and if they can't be re-introduced into the wild after triage, treatment and/or other rehabilitation purposes, they live out the rest of their lives at Wildhaven. Wildhaven was completely and utterly destroyed on 7 February 2009. Every kangaroo, koala, wombat, wallaby, etc...at Wildhaven at the time was killed. Alan and Stella Reid were lucky to get out alive. This is why the Australian Rainforest Foundation started this project in February 2009. We knew that with the help of GlobalGiving and GlobalGiving Partners such as eBay and MissionFish and of course, GlobalGiving donors such as yourself, we could help raise much needed funds for people like Alan and Stella Reid and for Richard Appleton and the work we are involved in with restoring these forests and designing and planting the natural buffer zones. The good news folks is that Alan and Stella Reid are determined to bounce their way back and never give up on their passion and true love for the wildlife. Wildhaven has just completed stage one of the shelter re-build, which includes a 4.5 acre enclosure with four shelters/feed sheds inside as well as a five stable complex for the large injured kangaroos brought in and a well stocked first aid room for triage and treatment purposes. This is a big and important operation friends and operations like this cost money, lots of money. The Australian Rainforest Foundation (thanks to all of you GlobalGiving donors) is helping fund Wildhaven's general operating expenses which vary greatly throughout the year. On average, these costs could range from about $2,000-$2,500 a month. For example, a bag of powdered milk for the joeys to drink costs $500 Australian dollars, plus you have bandages, tape, medicine, food, etc.. and again these things aren't cheap. But our commitment is solid and we will continue to raise funds for operations such as Wildhaven and for our forest projects in bushfire affected areas in Victoria. We are enclosing pictures of Wildhaven, the Reid's and of course the incredible kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and more. Stella names all the animals living at Wildhaven--whether the animals are there for a quick triage and rehab or permanent members of the Wildhaven family. In time, you will get to know these incredible animals and hopefully take pride in the fact that your donations will help keep their tummies full and their cuts and scratches clean. The Australian Rainforest Foundation is very happy to be engaged in this two-tier operation of helping rehabilitate wildlife and restoring their habitat. The two go together and we hope all of you will continue supporting our vital efforts here in Victoria, Australia. Thanks again and we'll be updating you again real soon on Wildhaven and on our work with Richard Appleton and the vital habitat. Cheers Mates!