Each year, Victoria Electricity's Eco-Gold Environmental Fund seeks out individuals and groups with environmental interests, helping to nurture their work within the community.

This funding has reached out to re-vegetation projects, environmental education and research programs, and other initiatives actively supporting positive environmental change. Throughout the year, Victoria Electricity staff also take direct action in sustainability project such as indigenous tree-planting programs and Clean-up Australia Day.

Through the Eco-Gold Environmental Fund, Victoria Electricity hopes to raise community awareness of environmental issues – both locally and globally.

In 2009, the Eco-Gold Environmental Fund continues its work by supporting Victorian teacher Karen Johns on the Earthwatch Teachlive expedition Wildlife of Brazil’s Pantanal – Amphibians, Reptiles and Otters (4-16 June).

The Pantanal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an oasis of biodiversity for the entire planet. One of the world's largest freshwater wetlands, this spectacular refuge of lakes, waterways and islands is brimming with the greatest concentration of wildlife in South America.

As our planet’s wetlands continue to vanish, preserving the Pantanal is more important now than ever.

Victoria Electricity is proud to support this TeachLive expedition, assisting teachers and students in discovering areas of research they have never before explored.

Photo from left to right: Nichola Clark, Eco-Gold; Gail Pollard, Principal Kalinda Primary School; Jayson Tayeh, Eco-Gold