$1 million AUD donated to Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund
As part of Airbnb’s commitment to share its success with stakeholders, the company is giving back to the neighbourhoods and towns our Hosts call home via the Airbnb Community Fund. The Fund was created in 2020 to distribute $100 million USD through 2030 to help strengthen communities around the world. One of the organisations awarded the 2022 Airbnb Community Fund grant is Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund (FOABHF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to conserving Australia’s unique biodiversity.
The Airbnb program’s primary focus is sustainability, with more than $6 million USD in grants awarded to over 20 organisations working to protect our planet and promote environmental sustainability and conservation in 19 countries across six continents. As in 2021, our Host Advisory Board provided important feedback to inform this process.
The 2022 grant recipients include organisations around the world such as: Leave No Trace in the US, WWF-Brazil Coral Reef Restoration Project in Brazil, EcoExploratorio in Puerto Rico, Retake Roma in Italy, Lapalala Wilderness School in South Africa, The Association of National Trusts in Japan, the National Trust of Korea in Korea, and Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, who work to support conservation in Australia.
Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund is proud to partner with Bush Heritage Australia who works to protect native Australian plants and animals on millions of hectares of Australia’s most ecologically important landscapes through the acquisition and management of land of outstanding conservation value, and partnerships with Aboriginal groups.
Jennifer Smith Grubb, President, Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund has said, “Australia faces a biodiversity challenge with the highest extinction rate in the developed world. This generous grant funded by Airbnb, Inc. supports critical groundwork to restore Australia’s magnificent landscapes to good health, giving its irreplaceable native species an opportunity to recover and thrive.”
“The grant will enhance the vital partnerships that Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund supports with Aboriginal groups through charitable organisations working to conserve Australia’s unique biodiversity and manage land of substantial conservation value.”
Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand has said, “We are delighted to be able to provide support for Bush Heritage Australia through our Airbnb Community Fund grant program. Bush Heritage Australia works tirelessly to ensure the Australian landscape and its diverse wildlife is protected for generations to come.
“When Hosts on Airbnb open their doors to travellers from around the world, they welcome their guests into their communities, too. In Australia this means sharing the incredible natural beauty that is on offer and we know that this is a major drawcard for many of our visitors and it’s critical that we work together to protect our incredible surroundings.”
In 2022, the Airbnb Community Fund also supported sustainability education and awareness programs, as well as organisations performing home energy audits to help Airbnb Hosts across the UK and France improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The recipients were Effy and Essentiem in France, and Energy Savings Trust and The Energy Saving Trust Foundation in the UK. In addition, Airbnb also directed Community Fund grants to additional organisations that we believe play an important role in communities around the world.
During 2021, the Community Fund’s inaugural year, Airbnb distributed grants to more than 150 organisations focused on COVID-19 relief, economic empowerment, and education as they worked to meet the unprecedented needs brought about by the pandemic. Many of these organisations have since shared how the funding impacted their communities over the last year. Among the impacts these organisations shared, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Inc. provided 410,000 meals for Americans living in food insecurity and the Irish Hospice Foundation developed bereavement education programs for frontline workers.
To learn more about the Community Fund and the grant recipients, please visit the Airbnb Community Fund page.