TIP STORY

HELPING TO BLITZ BIODIVERSITY

Our team participated in Australia’s first species discovery blitz in May last year, albeit from the relative comfort of Fenton’s Sydney office. The seven-day blitz aimed to discover, identify, and map flora and fauna in Western Australia’s Charles Darwin Reserve, and was coordinated by Earthwatch Australia, and conducted by scientists and BHP Billiton Iron Ore employees.

Our role was to provide communications support for Earthwatch’s pilot partnership with BHP Billiton Iron Ore.

“It was crucial for Earthwatch to show a proactive commitment to communicating the success of the pilot event in order to build their business case for a potential long-term, national partnership with BHP Billiton Iron Ore,” explains Richard Gilmore, Earthwatch’s Executive Director.

The media approach focused on the uniqueness of the blitz and the involvement of Chris Darwin, Charles Darwin’s great-great grandson.

Despite its location five hours drive from Perth. We secured two media outlets to join blitz participants in the field. Positive media coverage included Perth radio, regional TV, metropolitan and local newspaper coverage, as well as a page three article and photo in The Australian.

Several new species of insects, reptiles and plants were discovered during the week, boosting scientific understanding of this biodiversity ‘hot-spot’.

Earthwatch Australia subsequently secured a significant commitment from BHP Billiton Iron Ore to support conservation science in Western Australia, and is continuing to discuss the possibility of a national blitz program with BHP Billiton.

Gilmore says: “The new partnership will build on the success of the pilot blitz, and I’ve no doubt that this commitment was secured in large part to the successful media outcomes generated by Fenton Communications.”

Earthwatch Australia has been a Fenton Communications Community partner since 2006. The international not-for-profit engages people in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.

http://www.earthwatch.org.au/australia

Issue One February 2010

Main story - A smoke free zone
Design focus - To refresh or rebrand?
Tip story - Incorporating new media into the media relations mix
Tip story - The ambassador advantage
Case study - Promoting debate about housing and homelessness
Case study - Helping to blitz biodiversity
Food for thought home