New Campaign and Documentary Urge Global Support for World Heritage Listing of Tasmania’s takayna / Tarkine Rainforest
VENTURA, Calif. (May 29, 2018) - Patagonia has launched a campaign with the Bob Brown Foundation to save one of Australia’s most culturally and environmentally significant wild places— takayna /Tarkine—with a goal to have this region in North West Tasmania listed as a World Heritage Area.
Patagonia has a history of taking every step necessary to defend wild places around the world. As part of the company’s most recent global campaign, Patagonia is launching a new film to raise awareness of the destructive impact of the mining and forestry industries on takayna / Tarkine. It has prepared a petition calling for signatures from around the globe to deliver to the Tasmanian state premier and Australian national government urging them to nominate takayna / Tarkine as a World Heritage Area. takayna / Tarkine is named after the Aboriginal takayna people who lived in large numbers on the coast.
The fight to save the area from extractive industries has been decades long, but Patagonia hopes to increase awareness about the threats to the area and the need for protection. takayna / Tarkine contains one of the highest concentrations of Aboriginal archaeology in the southern hemisphere, is home to 60 threatened and endangered species and is one of the oldest and largest undisturbed tracts of temperate rainforest in the world—dating back 60 million years.
Country Director for Patagonia Australia, Dane O'Shanassy, is proud to extend Patagonia’s stalwart defense of environmental issues to Australia. “Wild places continue to decline worldwide. Throughout our company’s 45-year history, we have fought for the protection of wild places to preserve environmental and cultural heritage values for future generations”, says O’Shanassy. “The campaign to protect takayna / Tarkine has been running for more than 40 years. At present, neither the Tasmanian government nor the Australian government support the nomination of takayna / Tarkine as a World Heritage Area, but pressure from a global community of supporters may be a catalyst for them to reconsider this approach and demonstrate the desire to see the region protected.”
Patagonia’s global vice president of public engagement, Rick Ridgeway, is travelling to the region to support this new Australian conservation campaign. “Patagonia uses business to achieve what government won’t. We use our brand to inspire change and to encourage people and business to act different. Our aim is to lead the way in promoting long-term solutions to environmental problems and gaining World Heritage protection of takayna / Tarkine is just that,” says Ridgeway.
The new film, takayna, was created in partnership with the Bob Brown Foundation, and is told through the experience of a doctor who is an avid trail runner. The film weaves together the narratives of activists and local Aboriginal communities while unpacking the complexities of modern conservation and challenging us to consider the importance of our last truly wild places. Watch the trailer here. takayna will be screened for free in several towns and capital cities around Australia and the US and on
June 7 the full film will be available on Patagonia.com.
Australia Tour Schedule:
May 17,18: Katoomba, NSW
June 4: Sydney, NSW
June 6: Melbourne, VIC
June 8: Hobart, TAS
June 29: Torquay, VIC
US Tour Schedule:
June 3: Patagonia Meatpacking, NYC
June 4: REI, Washington DC
June 4: REI, Seattle WA
June 5: Patagonia New Haven, CT
June 5: Sports Basement, Presidio SF, CA
June 6: Patagonia St. Paul, MN
June 6: Patagonia Palo Alto, CA
June 7: Patagonia Boulder, CO
June 7: Sports Basement Berkeley, CA
June 7: Patagonia Ventura, CA
June 8: Patagonia Salt Lake City, UT
June 8: Patagonia Pasadena, CA
June 9: Patagonia Reno, NV
June 9: Running Warehouse SLO, CA
Visit http://www.patagonia.com/new-localism/takayna.html for more information and screening venue locations. To sign the petition calling for the Tasmanian state premier to nominate takayna / Tarkine as a World Heritage Area, go to change.org/takayna.
About Patagonia
Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is based in Ventura, California. A certified B Corp, Patagonia’s mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. The company is recognized internationally for its commitment to authentic product quality and environmental activism, contributing nearly $90 million in grants and in-kind donations to date.
US Press Contacts
Corley Kenna Corley.Kenna@patagonia.com
Corey Simpson Corey.Simpson@patagonia.com