Ex-futures trader Rich Gilmore was standing in the mud of an African mangrove forest when he realised his life was about to take another sharp turn.
After a change in direction from his previous career at the Sydney Futures Exchange, Gilmore was in Africa on an Earthwatch fellowship he’d been awarded as part of his latest job in business development at Amcor Recycling.
His first ambition on leaving school had been to become a stockbroker. But here in Kenya, surrounded by international scientists dedicated to saving the planet, it occurred to him that he wanted to make a difference too.
“I was a bit of a reluctant conservationist,” Gilmore says today from Melbourne where he heads up the Australian arm of the world’s largest conservation organisation, The Nature Conservancy. “But going to Kenya was literally a life-changing moment for me.
“The reason I applied was because I had never been to Africa and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see a part of the world I had never experienced.
“But I was struck by these capable, intelligent and articulate people. They could have done anything but they had decided to spend their careers in the mud solving other people’s problems.”
Inspired by this two-week stint in mangrove conservation, Gilmore returned home and enrolled in a degree in Environmental Management at the University of NSW. Eighteen months later he joined Earthwatch Australia as director of operations and programs, quickly rising to CEO at the age of just 31.
The young executive’s success at Earthwatch, where he accepted the Prime Minister’s Award for Australian Environmentalist of the Year on behalf of the organisation, eventually led to his current position in 2014.
The Nature Conservancy, which had global revenues of more than $1 billion last year, aims to demonstrate that in Australia economic and natural prosperity can be achieved in alignment with each other rather than conflict.
An example of this is the $100 million world-first Murray-Darling Basin Balanced Water Fund. The fund shows how water markets can be used to better manage a precious natural resource for sustainable economic growth while conserving the natural ecosystem.
The Murray-Darling Basin is one of the most significant agricultural areas in Australia and supports a diverse range of flora and fauna, including 35 endangered bird species and 16 endangered animal species.
The commercial fund operates to buy water entitlements that can be traded, while also ensuring a portion of the allocation is used to enhance environmental outcomes, such as supplying water to a wetland.
“The Murray-Darling project is a globally significant achievement,” Gilmore says. “What the fund does is turn the variability of rainfall and supply from a threat into an opportunity.
“We are fortunate in Australia to have the largest and best regulated water market globally. We are achieving large-scale restoration and delivering food security for Australia and our export markets.
“I’m proud to do work that demonstrates that you can have economic prosperity in balance with conservation.”
The fund raised $27 million and was oversubscribed in its initial offering last year. It aims to raise the balance from high net worth individuals, institutions and super funds.
The National Australia Bank has already provided $5 million in debt finance in a commercial agreement through its agribusiness division.
Gilmore, who himself grew up on the land in Queensland and the NSW Hunter Valley, says the water fund provides certainty to the whole market about its intentions in an environment where there is concern about speculators driving up prices.
It also benefits farmers who can free up capital to generate the best returns for their business while still having the same level of certainty about water access. In one deal the water bought was leased straight back to the same landholder.
Among its other projects, The Nature Conservancy is working to rebuild the lost reefs of southern Australia, which once stretched thousands of kilometres from Sydney to Perth, and is also working with Indigenous communities on conservation in the western deserts.
Gilmore says travelling into the field and seeing the benefits he has driven for local communities and individuals is one of his key personal motivators.
“That’s why I turn up to work,” he says. “It’s absolutely seeing the benefits for communities, doing work that is culturally important to them.”
He has also spent time working in East Timor driving sustainable economic development for the Balibo House Trust. He continues to run a sustainable boutique hotel there as a social enterprise, employing locals within the walls of the 350-year-old Balibo Fort.
The rest of his time Gilmore devotes to his family: his wife Clare and daughters Charlotte, 10, Harriet, 9, and Esther (“Peachy”) who was born in April this year.
The environmentalist is also keen to spread the word about the benefits of a career in social enterprise as it becomes an increasingly professional sector.
“There’s an opportunity to improve the lives of millions throughout the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, if we can drive new models of conservation,” he says. “I’m really excited that Australia is taking a leadership role in balancing natural and material wealth. It’s early days but the market is heading in the right direction.”
