The scale of Australia’s bushfires during the summer of 2019-2020 was
unprecedented and catastrophic. Thirty-three people tragically lost their lives,
3,094 homes were lost, and the impact on forests and wildlife was immense.
Over 29 million acres of forest and woodlands were burned, pushing many
threatened species, including the koala, to the brink of extinction. So much
was lost, and the impacts will be felt for years to come.
In January 2021, we estimated that 1.25 billion animals may have been killed
by the fires. We now know that the actual number is shockingly higher. Six
months after the fires, we published a report, Australia’s 2019-2020 Bushfires:
The Wildlife Toll, which estimated that nearly 3 billion animals perished or
were displaced by the fires.
The global response to this crisis was immediate. Thanks to you and other supporters around the world, we raised $50 million for the WWF
Australian Wildlife & Nature Recovery Fund, with $9 million coming from
the US alone. Your generous support, in particular, enabled us to act quickly
and at scale to get emergency funds to the frontline, mobilize resources to
help Australia’s wildlife, help local communities adapt and recover, and plan
the essential work needed to get Australia’s wildlife on the road to recovery
once the fires were out.
This is the final report summarizing the impact of your generosity.
