The voice is calm and reflective. Nigel Sharp is someone who has the sound of the country in what he says, the way people raised on the land used to speak – unhurried, unfussed, uncomplicated. But Nigel’s message is anything but old-fashioned: it is, in fact, full of the urgency of the environmental challenges confronting the globe and finding new ways to support regenerative agriculture and biodiversity.

We know we are interdependent with, and intrinsically connected to, our natural environment. We’re investing in agriculture, renewable energy and start-ups that help restore the vitality of our ecological systems, including the soil and land, water as a natural resource, and cleaner air.

Sites like Orana Sanctuary are vital to re-establishing native animals back into their natural habitat and increasing biodiversity, an important measure of ecosystem resilience.

Orana Sanctuary, located 40 minutes from Bendigo, is the fourth site within the South East Australia Sanctuary Operations Network (SEASON) run by Odonata.

Odonata are a national not for profit organisation with a focus on biodiversity as well as social and commercial outcomes.

Predator proof sanctuaries have proven to be effective in protecting Australian mammals that are endangered due to the impacts of climate, bushfire risk, invasive species and habitat loss.

In celebration of World Animal Day and the final stage of the 2020 Wild Idea business incubator, we had a chat with Odonata founder Nigel Sharp about what inspired him to get involved with conservation, how not-for-profit Odonata is paving the way for contemporary conservation and the role partnerships play in connecting businesses to biodiversity.

Odonata is a not-for-profit social enterprise demonstrating the economic benefits of investing in biodiversity. Their vision is to see a world where nature, people and the economy thrive together in harmony – food is plentiful, our air, water and land are clean and healthy, and wildlife is in abundance.

An experimental research project led by researchers from The Australian National University has found a new way to boost the survival rates of eastern quolls reintroduced to the Australian Capital Territory.

I started Odonata in 2016 to find business- based solutions for protecting biodiversity. At that time we knew that we were fulfilling an important need but we are happily surprised at the way things have taken off.

A podcast about threatened species and what farmers, business and NGOs are doing to protect them. To find out more visit savingourspecies.online/podcast

Around 80 per cent of the mainland’s surviving population of eastern barred bandicoots live at Mt Rothwell, north of the You Yangs mountain range, near the town of Little River.