Adelaide Festival and Wilderlands are proud to announce they have already protected 3,424 square meters of vulnerable habitat in the Coorong Lakes region. Starting with the 2023 Festival, this collaboration has resulted in the safeguarding of 38 bird species and 11 threatened species, marking a significant stride towards preserving Australia's precious biodiversity.

Now Adelaide Festival is asking South Australian audiences and communities to help us reach the target of 5,000 square metres of protected critical habitat.

It’s easy to participate. Simply go to https://wilderlands.earth/af/ or use the QR code on signs at select Adelaide Festival and Writers’ Week events – sign up via this website by 22 April and Wilderlands will reserve you a square metre of land for free, with the chance to donate further to help preserve more land. 

"Our collaboration with Wilderlands is part of our program to work with artists, audiences and biodiversity experts to help save the beautiful diversity of plants and animals in South Australia. Please join us in this cause, contributing to the protection of Australia's ecosystems, one square meter at a time,” say Adelaide Festival Artistic Director, Ruth Mackenzie CBE, and Chief Executive, Kath M Mainland CBE.

Adelaide Festival holds deep-rooted values in environmental stewardship and the importance of addressing biodiversity loss. In the Adelaide Festival program, artists from across the world and South Australia are sharing art about issues of climate change, danger to plants, animals, country including free events Create4Adelaide, Floods of Fire, a two-day festival within the Festival, and HARBINGERS:Care or Catastrophe, as well as ticketed events Gondwana VR: the exhibition and world-leading Akram Khan with Jungle Book reimagined.

Wilderlands CEO Ash Knop said the leadership shown by Adelaide Festival has attracted global attention among nature markets and biodiversity credit developers, as more organisations recognise that biodiversity loss is detrimental for business and look to innovate ways to make protecting the planet part of their everyday operations: "We speak to businesses every day looking for creative ways they can protect nature as part of their way of working and we always reference the Adelaide Festival partnership as such a relevant way to take action and bring your community on the journey with you.”

Through collective action and commitment, Adelaide Festival aims to create a sustainable future where the richness of our natural world thrives.