Green Tier Creek

AN INNOVATIVE WAY TO PRESERVE LAND IN TASMANIA:

Helsinki Foundation aims to protect the world one piece at a time through digital-age crowdfunding

Swanston, Tasmania - With the launch of its newest Guardianship Project in Tasmania, a Finnish non-profit organization is aiming to conserve nature and leave many more of the world’s green spaces intact.

The Green Tier Park Conservation area in Tasmania opens to collective guardianship on 5 April 2017, through the Foundation's latest project to protect natural habitat for generations to come.

The Helsinki Foundation, formed in 2015, acquires ecologically significant nature areas from all over the world with donations received from the individuals and corporations. The land is then divided into virtual Greenspaces. Donors become the Guardian of their chosen Greenspace, allowing them to name it on the interactive map. Guardians receive rights to the Greenspace, allowing them to participate in any decision-making relating to that parcel of land. Founders see it as a crowdfunding approach that is relevant to people of the digital age.

“The Foundation was established after growing concerns about the ever-increasing footprint of man upon the world, and the need to think long-term about land conservation. Land depletion is a common concern for many global citizens, but individually we lack the resources to make a large-scale impact. Recognizing the need for a collective approach, The Guardianship Project was born,” says founder and Executive Director Viivu Padden.

The Foundation’s goal is to allow everyone to participate in nature conservation, without having to make a highly significant financial contribution. The main income source for the Foundation is the sale of Guardianship rights.

Australian Jeanette Cheney, an adventure traveler and blogger, is excited to see this area of Tasmania becoming the latest protected area under the Foundation's management. She and her partner James, who are already Foundation Guardians of a plot of land in Lapland, Finland, wanted to make a tangible difference in the world without affecting the communities to which they travel. "By becoming Guardians, we knew that we were making a difference and helping to conserve a valuable area", says Ms Cheney. She believes it is an ideal, memorable gift to offer someone, for example for her nephew’s first birthday, that would last a lifetime.

The Helsinki Foundation is a non-profit charitable foundation established for the purpose of either directly or indirectly promoting the conservation of nature and the environment. The Foundation was registered in the Finnish Register of Foundations in 2015.
To learn more visit www.helsinkifoundation.org or call us at +358 504004007.