Three reasons why you’d want to protect what you have

Only 49% of adults have a will. That’s a staggeringly low proportion of us. 

When anything can happen to any one of us at any time, you want to be sure that your wishes are clearly stated and carried out. And the last thing you need is for legal requirements to get in the way of that. 

What do we want to give to our loved ones, how do we wish to be remembered, and if there is anyone we especially want to make sure is provided for when we’re not here all come to mind when making or updating a will. 

It’s not something we think about everyday. The future for many of us seems very distant. Distant enough not to occupy our present, everyday thoughts  but milestone moments like buying a house, getting married, the birth of a child, divorce, retirement, grandchildren are typical life stages when we think about making or updating our wills. 

There are family, loved ones and for some of us a cause that is close to our heart. Of the 49% of us who have a will, only 7.5% leave a gift to such a cause. 

There are many great causes to support. The environment is one of them. 

ACF supporters Doreen and Graham Burge shared what motivated them to give, “Our generation had the best of a lot of things. Growing up with free education, Medicare and untouched bushlands. We know that with climate change, life is going to be vastly different for our future generations. We’ve decided to leave a gift in our will to ACF so that their work to protect the planet can continue.”  

When our parents and grandparents stood up and took action to stop oil drilling in the Great Barrier Reef back in the 1960s, could they have ever imagined that 50 years down the track, the next generation would be taking action about the reef bleaching away into extinction? 

Great Barrier Reef bleaching. Photo © Xanthe Rivett.

Jenny Grundy who lives in Hobart has this to say, “I was just a kid when the campaign to save the Franklin River happened but it’s one that’s stuck in my mind. Today, I’ve been lucky enough to raft down the Franklin and I just can’t imagine anyone would want to build a dam through it. The future is uncertain. I’ve left a gift in my will to ACF so that environmental wins like saving the Franklin would continue for the long road ahead.“  

Many of us haven’t had the privilege of visiting the reef, or rafting down the Franklin. But all of us can’t stomach the idea that our future generations will never get the opportunity to see the reef, a koala in the wild or witness the breathtaking scenery of one of the last truly wild rivers on Earth threading its way through Tasmania’s unique World Heritage Area. 

Rafts on the Franklin River. Photo © Andrew/Flickr CC

A devastating bushfire or relentless flooding suddenly makes the reality of climate change not an abstract thing but a very real and immediate threat. Who could forget the scenes of koalas dying from thirst and approaching cyclists on the road for a drink of water. Or those forced to abandon their homes as the deluge reached rooftops wiping out entire suburbs.

Making a gift to ACF takes adding an extra line in your will when you next make or update it. 

Just 1% of what you have as a gift in your will can help the planet. Our future generations will need all the help they can get.