Virginia Young

Virginia was Chair of Gondwana Link from 2011 to early 2025. She has extensive skills and experience drawn from diverse fields of endeavour: business, the government sector, where she headed the mining section of the Foreign Investment Division in the Federal Treasury, and a strong history in nature conservation.

Virginia has been involved in environmental campaigns across Australia since the late 1980s. She played a leading role as the Wilderness Society’s National Forest Campaign Co-ordinator in the difficult arena of protecting Australia’s native forests. She pioneered a continental-scale approach to nature conservation in Australia with the establishment of ‘Wild Country’, and formed the Wild Country Science Council of eminent Australian scientists to provide independent advice to guide the initiative.

Virginia has been involved in international climate change campaigns since 2007 and is a key influence in current international climate debates. She is currently Director of the International Forests and Climate Programme for the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society.

In 2001, Virginia was awarded Wild magazine’s Environmentalist of the Year and was recognised as one of twenty ‘Global Wilderness Visionaries’ by the World Wilderness Congress in 2010. Virginia is a past President of the Australian Committee for IUCN.