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Nigel Sharp

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Nigel Wimble Sharp
Born (1961-07-28) July 28, 1961 (age 63)
Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationConservationist
SpouseRosemary Etherton
Websitewww.linkedin.com/in/nigel-sharp-tiverton/

Nigel Sharp is an Australian conservationist and biodiversity impact investor known for his work on the continent of Australia with threatened species conservation, new business models of regenerative agriculture and urbanism, nature-based tourism, and indigenous enterprise development.

Early years

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Nigel Sharp was born on July 28, 1961, in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. Growing up on his family’s farm in Branxholme, Victoria, he later credited much of his interest and passion for conservation through helping his father plant and protect creek lines on their farm and in surrounding areas, to combat rising soil salinity levels, which was a major issue at the time.[1]

Career

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Sharp began his career as a qualified property valuer, and gained experience running a listed company trust. He worked in senior positions across the property funds management and property development industries, including both rural and urban property projects.

He began involvement in conservation in 2000 when he helped rescue the predator-free ecosystem at Mt Rothwell Sanctuary[2] Little River, Victoria and introduced a breeding program for species such as the Eastern Quoll, Eastern barred bandicoot and Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.[3]

In 2010, he and business partner Harry Youngman, widened their collective conservation work by purchasing Tiverton Farm,[4] a 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) working sheep property in Western Victoria, for the purpose of eradicating non-native species and reintroducing Eastern Barred Bandicoot and Eastern Quoll,[5] while maintaining a viable agricultural business.

In 2016 Sharp founded the Odonata Foundation,[6] specialising in the business of biodiversity. Odonata designs and manages financially sustainable conservation projects, educating the public and empowering businesses to embrace biodiversity,.[7] Odonata projects have included the National Sanctuary Network (formerly the South-East Australia Sanctuary Operations Network),[8] the Great Australian Wildlife Search,[9] Odonata Academy,[10] Melbourne Skyfarm,[11] Wild Idea Business Incubator,[12] and the organisation manages both Tiverton Farm and Mt Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre.

In 2017, the knowledge gained from projects at Mt Rothwell and Tiverton Farm enabled, Nigel Sharp and Harry Youngman to establish Tiverton-Rothwell and the Tiverton Agricultural Impact Fund[13] to promote regenerative agricultural practices and demonstrate farming’s importance in protecting and restoring natural capital. Among other projects the Fund is responsible for the purchase of Juanburg station, a site of a globally significant conservation, and a project to restore the Great Cumbung Swamp[14] in partnership with The Nature Conservancy Australia.[15]

Key conservation projects

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2022 – Successfully returned a breeding population of Eastern Quolls into Tiverton Farm, returning the species to a region it had been extinct for 70 years.[16]

2021 – Helped establish the Byron Bay mobile wildlife hospital, based in Knockrow, NSW.[17]

2021 – Originated the concept of “regenerative urbanism” at the Glen Junor development outside Melbourne, creating a high value corridor connecting Brisbane Ranges National Park and the Werribee Gorge State Park.[18]

2020 – Founded the South-East Australia Sanctuary Operations Network (now the National Sanctuary Network), bringing diversity and connectivity to threatened species conservation.[19][20]

2020 – Secured the down-listing from extinct to critically endangered of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot.[21]

2019 – Marshalled the emergency bushfire evacuation and translocation of Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies from Canberra, saving them from local extinction.[22][23]

2019 – Co-designed Melbourne SkyFarm Environmental Education Centre.[24]

2017 – Integrated threatened species programs into three regenerative agriculture enterprises: Orana Park farm,[25] Picardy Station[26] and Sunland Fresh Fruit.[27]

Awards and honours

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The Australian Impact Investment Awards (2020) - Outstanding Individual Achievement[28]

Zoos Victoria[29] - Lifetime Achievement Award (2019)

References

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  1. ^ "Our People". Tiverton Agricultural Impact Fund. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Mt Rothwell | Conservation and Research Reserve | Little River". Mtrothwell. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Back from the brink: new hope for an Australian species rescued from Black Summer bushfires". SBS News. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Tiverton Farm and Mt Rothwell". Food and Land Use Coalition. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  5. ^ Hub, T. S. R. "Private land manager profile: Nigel Sharp". TSR Hub. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Odonata Foundation – New solutions for ending extinction". Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Supporting sustainable agriculture - NAB". www.nab.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Sanctuaries – Odonata Foundation". Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Great Australian Wildlife Search – Odonata Foundation". Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Establish a Sanctuary – Odonata Foundation". Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Melbourne SkyFarm". Melbourne Skyfarm. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  12. ^ "WILD IDEA | Wild Idea Incubator". www.wildideaincubator.com. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Tiverton Agricultural Impact Fund". Tiverton Agricultural Impact Fund. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Saving the Great Cumbung". The Nature Conservancy Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Organisation". The Nature Conservancy Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  16. ^ Jeuniewic, Lexie (29 July 2022). "Rare, 'fiercely cute' eastern quolls return to regional Victoria after 70 years". ABC News. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Wildlife Recovery Australia: Mobile wildlife hospitals". www.wildliferecoveryaustralia.com. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  18. ^ Johnston, Poppy (16 February 2021). "A regenerative housing estate at Gisborne that's attracted a lot of savvy people and community buy in". The Fifth Estate. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Purposeful partnerships: Odonata + Saving our Species". NSW Environment and Heritage. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  20. ^ "SEASON PROGRAM | Saving Australian wildlife from extinction". Carbon Landscapes. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  21. ^ Fulloon, Sandra (19 October 2019). "The fight to save one of Australia's most endangered native animals from extinction". SBS News. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Back from the brink: new hope for an Australian species rescued from Black Summer bushfires". SBS News. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Aptly named Wallaby Airlines to the rescue evacuating endangered animals from Canberra". ABC News. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  24. ^ Clark, Georgia (13 May 2019). "Melbourne gives green light to city skyfarm". Government News. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  25. ^ Meneguzzi, Justin (28 February 2022). "Eastern barred bandicoot: how the little diggers rebounded". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  26. ^ Schlesinger, Larry (23 January 2019). "Tiverton Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy buyers of NSW cattle stations". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  27. ^ Schlesinger, Larry (22 July 2018). "Sunland Fresh Fruit Orchards sold to Nigel Sharp Orana Agriculture for $20m". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Australian Impact Investment Awards". Social Impact Hub. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Zoos Victoria". www.zoo.org.au. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
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