People For Nature

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  • Meet our ambassador: Melissa Packham

    Meet our ambassador: Melissa Packham

    Climate Fresk, Biodiversity Collage & Circular Economy Collage Facilitator, Tasmania

    Melissa is a Climate Fresk, Biodiversity Collage and Circular Economy Collage facilitator based in Tasmania.

    She joined People For Nature as an Ambassador because she firmly believes in our mission to empower citizens through engaging educational experiences.

    Melissa is the founder of Wild-Built, a boutique consultancy offering strategic, cross-disciplinary expertise to help businesses align with future, real-world challenges. Melissa blends 20 years of marketing, brand, business and sustainability skills to help business leaders activate their strategic imagination and their humanity, in service of a liveable future. 

    “Participating in the workshops offered by People For Nature has changed the trajectory of my life, and I’m inspired to be part of the movement to make that happen for others. We have a rapidly closing window to act on the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis – which are symptoms of our consumerist, extractive way of life.”

    “We simply will not see this action from governments and businesses alone – we need to come together, form community and create a shared vision of the future – with a revived reverence for nature – if we’re to create a liveable future for all. People For Nature provides the ideal platform to engage and empower citizens to do just that.”

    🤝 Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn 💚

  • Why People For Nature is proud to be a member of SECNA

    Why People For Nature is proud to be a member of SECNA

    At People For Nature, we’re all about empowering people — individuals and communities alike — to take meaningful action on climate and biodiversity. But what makes us a bit different is how we operate: not just as a registered environmental charity, but also as a social enterprise. This means we blend the heart and purpose of a charity with the creativity and sustainability of a business.

    What’s a Social Enterprise, Anyway?

    Simply put, a social enterprise is a business set up to solve social or environmental problems. Instead of focusing on making profits for shareholders, it reinvests any money earned back into its mission. The Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA) describes it as a business that trades to create positive change — both for people and the planet.

    Social enterprises sit at this really exciting crossroads of doing good while staying financially sustainable. They’re not just charities relying on donations, and they’re not just businesses chasing profit. They’re something fresh — combining the best of both worlds to make a real difference.

    Why Environmental and Social Work Go Hand in Hand

    We truly believe that environmental issues are human issues. Some might say the environmental crisis is, at its core, a human crisis. When ecosystems suffer, people do too — especially vulnerable communities. Climate change and biodiversity loss affect people’s health, wellbeing, and livelihoods. That’s why at People For Nature, we see environmental care and social justice as inseparable.

    By supporting nature, we’re supporting communities, and by empowering people, we’re protecting nature. It’s all deeply connected.

    People For Nature: A Social Enterprise With a Charitable Heart

    We’re proud to wear two hats:

    • Registered Environmental Charity: We’re officially recognised for our work benefiting the public, which means your donations are tax-deductible. We’re committed to being open, honest, and accountable in everything we do.
    • Social Enterprise: We also run educational workshops, corporate training, and community programs that generate income. This earned revenue helps us grow our impact and stay financially strong — all without losing sight of our environmental mission.

    Why We Joined SECNA

    SECNA is more than just an organisation — it’s a thriving community of changemakers who believe business can be a powerful force for environmental and social good. Being part of SECNA means we’re connected to:

    • Other nature-focused social enterprises like ours, helping each other thrive
    • Advocates pushing for policies that support and grow social and nature enterprises
    • A network of passionate people bridging business, environment, and community sectors

    Being a SECNA member makes us stronger. It helps us blend smart business skills with deep care for nature. Because we know that solving climate and biodiversity challenges means finding new, creative ways that are both impactful and sustainable in the long run.

    More info on SECNA: https://www.secna.org.au/

  • Expanding our impact with Climate Training Co. in New Zealand

    Expanding our impact with Climate Training Co. in New Zealand

    At People For Nature, we believe in the power of collaboration to accelerate climate and biodiversity education. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Climate Training Co — a purpose-driven organisation empowering climate-literate professionals and organisations across Aotearoa New Zealand.

    This partnership marks an exciting step in our journey: expanding our delivery capacity beyond Australia to support the growing demand for powerful, science-based education tools like the Climate Fresk and Biodiversity Collage.

    With Climate Training Co’s deep expertise in climate strategy, facilitation, and training, and our commitment to accessible, participatory learning experiences, we’re ready to deliver even greater impact — together.

    Whether you’re in Brisbane, Wellington, or anywhere in between, we’re working to ensure individuals, teams, and communities have the tools they need to understand complex environmental challenges and take action that matters.

    🌿 Why it matters

    Our work is grounded in the belief that knowledge leads to empowerment. By joining forces with like-minded organisations, we strengthen our collective ability to reach more people and build the foundations of a nature-positive, climate-resilient future.

    🤝 What’s next?

    More workshops.

    More trained facilitators.

    More communities empowered to step up for nature and climate.

    We can’t wait to bring our shared energy, creativity, and knowledge to new audiences across the sea.

    If you’re based in New Zealand and want to experience one of our workshops, collaborate on a project, or become a facilitator — get in touch: info@blog.peoplefornature.org.au

    The movement is growing, and you’re invited.

  • Understanding the Circular Economy Collage

    Understanding the Circular Economy Collage

    ♻️ A Systems Learning Workshop for Change

    In a world built on linear “take‑make‑dispose” systems, understanding how our economy interacts with the environment is essential for lasting change. People For Nature recognises that traditional approaches to sustainability education often miss the bigger picture — the systems that drive environmental impact.

    That’s why we’re excited to introduce the Circular Economy Collage — an interactive workshop designed to help participants explore the complexity of economic systems, identify root causes of waste and inefficiency, and imagine pathways to a regenerative future.

    📘 What Is the Circular Economy Collage?

    The Circular Economy Collage is a hands‑on, participatory learning experience that guides individuals and groups through the core concepts of the circular economy — a model that moves beyond linear consumption toward regenerative, restorative and equitable systems.

    Instead of lectures or presentations, the Collage uses engaging visuals and collaborative dialogue to help participants:

    • 💜 See how products and resources flow through the economy
    • 💜 Identify where waste, emissions and resource loss occur
    • 💜 Understand key circular strategies (like reuse, redesign, recycling, and systems redesign)
    • 💜 Explore systemic leverage points for change

    This format makes complex economic concepts accessible, memorable and actionable — perfect for learners of all backgrounds.

    🧠 Why It Matters

    Traditional economic models often treat nature as an externality — something separate from profits, production and policy. But the reality is clear:

    🌱 Economic systems are embedded in ecological systems.
    🌎 The way we design, use and dispose of products directly affects biodiversity, climate resilience and community wellbeing.

    The Circular Economy Collage helps people see the whole system, not just individual pieces. By building systems literacy, the workshop supports:

    • 💜 Better decision‑making at organisational and community levels
    • 💜 Innovation in business models that reduce waste and emissions
    • 💜 A shared language for cross‑sector collaboration
    • 💜 A foundation for strategic sustainability planning

    Whether you are part of a business, school, community group, or local government, understanding the circular economy is essential to navigating a future where resources are finite and environmental limits matter.

    🤝 What Happens in a Workshop?

    Participants work in small groups to build a visual collage that represents:

    1. the journey of a product or resource through the economy
    2. points of extraction, consumption, disposal and reuse
    3. flows of waste, energy, information and value
    4. opportunities for circular strategies and systems change

    Through conversation and reflection, participants uncover:

    • 💜 How linear systems lock in waste
    • 💜 Where circular strategies can have the greatest impact
    • 💜 How individual, organisational and collective choices influence outcomes

    This collaborative process boosts both understanding and ownership — people don’t just learn the concepts; they live them.

    🌟 Why People For Nature Offers This Workshop

    At People For Nature, our mission is to empower citizens with systems understanding that leads to informed action. The Circular Economy Collage aligns with this mission by helping people:

    ✅ Translate abstract sustainability ideas into tangible insights
    ✅ Visualise complex interactions between economy and ecology
    ✅ Identify leverage points where change is possible and meaningful
    ✅ Build shared understanding across diverse groups

    By delivering this workshop, we aim to shift narratives from “problems seem too big” to “we can see where we can act” — and that’s where real change begins.

    📩 Who It’s For

    The Circular Economy Collage is suitable for:

    • 💜 Schools and students exploring real‑world economics and sustainability
    • 💜 Workplaces and teams seeking strategic insight and innovation
    • 💜 Community groups building local resilience and resource planning
    • 💜 Government and planning bodies engaging stakeholders
    • 💜 Nonprofits and educators teaching systems thinking

    No prior knowledge is needed — just curiosity and a willingness to explore systems together.

    ✨ Ready to Explore Circular Systems?

    If your organisation or group is interested in hosting a Circular Economy Collage workshop, People For Nature would love to partner with you. Let’s build understanding, spark ideas and grow capacity for real sustainability — from awareness to action.

    👉 Contact People For Nature today to explore workshop formats and scheduling.

  • Meet the Superb Lyrebird

    Meet the Superb Lyrebird

    One of Australia’s most extraordinary birds, the Superb Lyrebird is renowned for its elaborate courtship displays and remarkable ability to mimic sounds from the natural world and beyond.

    With its ornate tail feathers forming the shape of a lyre, the male performs spectacular dances while imitating the calls of other birds, the sounds of animals and even human-made noises such as camera shutters and chainsaws.

    It is a reminder that some of Australia’s most impressive biodiversity is as much about behaviour and intelligence as it is about appearance.

    Why it matters

    The Superb Lyrebird plays an important role in maintaining healthy forest ecosystems.

    🐾 It scratches through leaf litter and soil in search of food, helping to aerate the forest floor

    🌱 Its foraging behaviour helps disperse seeds and recycle nutrients

    🌳 It contributes to the health and regeneration of forest ecosystems

    🕸️ It demonstrates the complex relationships between species and the environments they inhabit

    Through its daily activities, the Superb Lyrebird helps shape and maintain the forests it calls home.

    Fun facts

    🤓 The Superb Lyrebird has one of the most complex syrinxes, or vocal organs, of any bird

    🤓 It can imitate an extraordinary range of sounds, from the calls of other birds to human-made noises

    🤓 Male lyrebirds perform elaborate courtship displays using their distinctive lyre-shaped tail feathers

    🤓 Their vocal abilities have made them one of Australia’s most celebrated and recognisable bird species

    A deeper reflection

    The Superb Lyrebird challenges the way we think about animal intelligence and communication.

    Its ability to learn and reproduce such a diverse range of sounds highlights the remarkable behavioural complexity that exists within Australia’s native wildlife.

    Yet the species depends on healthy native forests that continue to face pressures from habitat loss, fragmentation and changing environmental conditions.

    In a country with more than 600,000 native species, many found nowhere else on Earth, the Superb Lyrebird reminds us that biodiversity is not only about the species we protect, but also the ecological processes and habitats that allow them to thrive.

    How we care for Australia’s native forests today will shape the future of one of our most fascinating and iconic birds.

    From Wonder to Action

    Learn & understand

    Explore how biodiversity, climate, and land systems are deeply connected through our workshops with People For Nature.

    Create your Nature Oasis

    Plant native species to restore habitat and support the insects, birds, and wildlife that depend on them.

    Join citizen science

    Record native species around you on iNaturalist and contribute to real conservation data.

    (Special thanks to Simon Andrews, Ambassador for People For Nature, for helping shape this story)

    References:

  • Climate: part of Nature, not apart from it

    Climate: part of Nature, not apart from it

    At People For Nature, we often hear a fair question:

    “If you’re all about nature, why do you focus so much on climate change?”

    Here’s the answer — grounded in science:

    Climate is not separate from nature.

    Climate is a core component of Earth’s life-support system. It influences the patterns of temperature, precipitation, and seasonal cycles that shape where species live, when they breed, and how ecosystems function (IPCC, 2023).

    From ocean currents to mountain meadows, from coral reefs to eucalyptus forests — climate defines the conditions in which nature exists. When those conditions shift rapidly, entire ecosystems are put at risk.

    The climate crisis is a nature crisis.

    According to the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment — the most comprehensive biodiversity report ever produced — climate change is already one of the top five drivers of biodiversity loss globally (IPBES, 2019). And that threat is growing.

    Let’s look at some examples here in Australia:

    • Koalas are losing their habitat as heatwaves, drought, and bushfires reduce the quality and availability of eucalyptus leaves — their sole food source (CSIRO, 2021).
    • Marine ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef are suffering from mass coral bleaching driven by warmer oceans and ocean acidification (AIMS, 2023).
    • Rainforests are becoming more fire-prone and fragmented as the dry season lengthens, threatening biodiversity hotspots like the Gondwana forests (WWF-Australia, 2022).

    These impacts are not just future projections — they are happening now.

    Nature regulates climate, too.

    Nature is not just a victim of climate change — it’s also a powerful part of the solution. Forests, wetlands, soils, and oceans absorb and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide, helping to stabilise the global climate (IPCC AR6 WG3, 2022).

    Protecting and restoring nature is essential if we are to limit global warming. For instance:

    Natural climate solutions could deliver up to 30% of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement goals (Griscom et al., PNAS, 2017).

    Climate and biodiversity are inseparable.

    They’re not “two crises.”
    They’re two sides of the same coin.

    When we act to restore ecosystems, we also build climate resilience — and vice versa. That’s why the IPCC and IPBES issued a historic joint report in 2021 calling for integrated action on climate and biodiversity. Their message was clear:

    “We cannot solve climate change without addressing biodiversity loss, and we cannot halt biodiversity loss without tackling climate change.” (IPBES-IPCC, 2021)

    So why aren’t we People For Climate?

    Because climate is nature. It’s not something separate. And because our mission goes beyond emissions — it’s about reconnecting people with the living systems that sustain us: air, water, soil, wildlife, and ecosystems.

    We believe that by empowering citizens with science-based tools to understand both climate and biodiversity, we can inspire deeper action for all of nature.

    Let’s stop treating these challenges as separate problems.
    Let’s work with nature, not against it.

    Believe in a better future? So do we.

    At People For Nature, our mission is bold: to educate 27,000 Australians by 2027 on climate and biodiversity, empowering them to take meaningful action for our planet.

    Your donation fuels citizen-powered education that turns knowledge into action—and action into lasting change.
    Donate today and be part of the change.

    💚 Together, we can shape a planet-boundaries literate Australia.

    References:

  • Meet the Lanternfish | Biodiverse Australia

    Meet the Lanternfish | Biodiverse Australia

    Hidden beneath the ocean’s surface is one of the most abundant groups of vertebrates on Earth, the lanternfish, a small deep-sea fish that plays an enormous role in keeping marine ecosystems healthy.

    With at least 250 species worldwide, many of which occur in Australian waters, lanternfishes spend their days in the deep ocean before rising towards the surface each night to feed.

    Their remarkable daily movements are part of one of the largest animal migrations on the planet.

    Why it matters

    Lanternfishes are essential to the health and functioning of ocean ecosystems.

    🐟 They provide an important food source for larger fish, squid and seabirds

    🌊 They help transfer energy between the ocean’s surface and deeper waters

    🌙 Their nightly feeding migrations contribute to the movement of carbon from surface waters to the deep ocean

    🕸️ They play a key role in supporting marine food webs across the globe

    Despite their small size, lanternfishes are among the ocean’s most important connectors, linking different parts of the marine ecosystem through their movements and feeding habits.

    Fun facts

    🤓 Lanternfishes get their name from light-producing organs called photophores on their bodies

    🤓 Their glowing photophores help them camouflage in dark waters and communicate with one another

    🤓 Although they are typically only 3 to 35 centimetres long, they are among the most abundant vertebrates on Earth

    🤓 Some species travel more than 500 metres every day during their vertical migrations in search of food

    A deeper reflection

    The lanternfish reminds us that some of the most important species on Earth are also among the least visible.

    Few people will ever see a lanternfish, yet these tiny deep-sea animals help sustain marine food webs and play an unexpected role in the global carbon cycle.

    Despite their abundance, lanternfishes face growing pressures from deep-sea fishing, climate change and light pollution, which can disrupt their natural migration patterns.

    In a country with more than 600,000 native species, many found nowhere else on Earth, the lanternfish is a reminder that biodiversity extends far beyond what we can easily see and that even hidden species can have global importance.

    How we protect our oceans today will influence the health of marine ecosystems for generations to come.

    From Wonder to Action

    Learn & understand

    Explore how biodiversity, climate, and land systems are deeply connected through our workshops with People For Nature.

    Create your Nature Oasis

    Plant native species to restore habitat and support the insects, birds, and wildlife that depend on them.

    Join citizen science

    Record native species around you on iNaturalist and contribute to real conservation data.

    Special thanks to Simon Andrews, Ambassador for People For Nature, for helping shape this story)

    References:

  • We’re part of Containers for Change in QLD and WA

    We’re part of Containers for Change in QLD and WA

    We’re excited to share that People For Nature is now a proud member of the Containers for Change scheme across Queensland and Western Australia!

    This means that anyone returning eligible drink containers in these states can choose to donate their 10-cent refund directly to our charity — helping us educate, empower, and reconnect communities with nature.

    🌿 What Is Containers for Change?

    Containers for Change is a state-run container refund program that aims to reduce litter and increase recycling by offering a 10-cent refund for every eligible drink container returned.

    The scheme currently operates in:

    By encouraging individuals to recycle thoughtfully, the program not only reduces waste and conserves resources — it also provides an opportunity to support local charities and community groups.

    💚 Why It Matters

    Australians use over 13 billion drink containers each year. A large portion ends up in landfill or as litter, particularly in waterways and natural environments, where they can take hundreds of years to break down and cause harm to wildlife and ecosystems.

    Programs like Containers for Change help:

    • Reduce waste and pollution
    • Keep litter out of nature
    • Encourage a circular economy
    • Support local charities and community causes

    And the best part? You can choose to support People For Nature with your refund.

    Your donation can help fund:

    • Free climate and biodiversity workshops
    • Community education programs
    • Citizen science and nature-based action projects

    🧃 How You Can Help

    It’s simple:

    1. Collect eligible drink containers – typically aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard containers between 150ml and 3L.
    2. Return them to a refund point in QLD or WA.
    3. Enter our Scheme ID to donate your refund to People For Nature:
      • QLD Scheme ID: C11593214
      • WA Scheme ID: C11593239

    Each 10-cent refund adds up — and contributes to a healthier planet and a stronger community movement.

    🌏 Good for Nature, Good for You

    Taking part in Containers for Change isn’t just an act of recycling — it’s an act of regeneration.

    By taking responsibility for the waste we create, we reduce our environmental footprint, shift towards sustainable behaviours, and support the kinds of solutions we need to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.

    Let’s turn waste into action — one container at a time.

    Thank you for standing with us for nature. 🌿

    📚 References & Sources

    1. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Australian Packaging Consumption and Recycling Data 2021–22, https://apco.org.au
    2. Clean Up Australia, Top 10 Litter Items, https://cleanup.org.au/litter
    3. Containers for Change QLD (COEX), How the Scheme Works, https://www.containersforchange.com.au/qld/
    4. Containers for Change WA (WARRRL), About the Scheme, https://www.containersforchange.com.au/wa/
    5. CDS Vic (VicReturn), How the Scheme Works, https://cdsvic.org.au
    6. CSIRO, Marine Debris Report, https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/collections/marine-debris
    7. WWF Australia, Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans, https://www.wwf.org.au