WWF-Australia is encouraging Aussies to join Challenge 60 and get active in nature for Earth Hour 2025. 

• Despite Australia’s sunshine, new research shows nearly 40% of Aussies spend less than one hour outside a day.? 
•  Work is the biggest barrier, with 42% saying their jobs keep them indoors all day.
•  To encourage people to spend more time in nature, WWF-Australia is bringing back Challenge 60 as part of Earth Hour. 
• The Challenge 60 initiative calls on Aussies to switch off and spend 60 minutes a day walking, running, cycling, or swimming from 1 March to 22 March, getting active in nature to raise vital funds to protect wildlife. Sign up at earthhour.org.au. 

New research* reveals that work is the main reason Australians aren’t spending time outdoors, with almost half (42%) saying their jobs keep them indoors, and a third (34%) saying they have lunch at their desk.

Despite Australia’s sunshine, almost 40% of Aussies say they spend less than one hour outside a day?One in three people (31%) say there’s always something more pressing to do, while over a quarter (27%) say the weather is too unpredictable to risk spending time outside.

To encourage people to spend more time outdoors, WWF-Australia’s Challenge 60 has made its return, calling on Australians to get active in nature to support wildlife and wild places as part of Earth Hour 2025. Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has become the world’s largest grassroots movement to protect our planet, drawing millions of supporters globally.

Challenge 60 encourages Aussies to switch off, get outside, and move their bodies in the lead up to Earth Hour. From 1 March until Earth Hour on 22 March, people are being challenged to walk, run, cycle, swim or do some sort of physical activity for 60 minutes a day to raise funds to regenerate nature.

Challenge 60 returns as Aussies reveal the factors that would motivate them to spend more time outdoors

More than half of those surveyed (56%) said proximity to a beach or nature reserve would motivate them to get outdoors, while one in three (36%) would spend more time outdoors if they owned a dog. One in five (19%) mentioned they would spend more time outdoors if they were involved in a work initiative such as an officewalking or fitness group.

Spending time outdoors and exercising in nature can help improve people’s mental and physical health and reduce feelings of stress.

Sign up for Challenge 60 to protect and regenerate nature

Australia needs to take action to address the escalating threats of biodiversity loss and climate change.

WWF-Australia’s Head of Supporter Mobilisation, Rachael Lance, says “The clock is ticking for nature and our planet.?Biodiversity loss and climate change continue to accelerate, so we urgently need to scale-up solutions to address this crisis.

“Earth Hour is famous for its signature “switch off” moment, with millions of people and landmarks switching off their lights in support of stronger action on climate change and biodiversity loss.

“We will still have landmarks switching off for Earth Hour this year, but we also wanted to challenge people to get active and power up their commitment to a sustainable future with Challenge 60.

“By taking 60 minutes a day to move for nature and you’ll be making a world of difference.

“The funds you raise will drive critical conservation projects to regenerate nature. This includes projects like building artificial dens so eastern quolls have more safe places to raise their joeys, planting more trees to create homes for native animals like koalas, and tracking and protecting whales on their migratory paths.”

Earth Hour 2025 is happening on Saturday, 22 March at 8.30pm. Find out more and sign up for Challenge 60 at earthhour.org.au.

How to sign up to #Challenge60

1. Register at earthhour.org.au as an individual, team or workplace. Choose your challenge and set your fundraising goal to raise vital funds to support nature.
2. Share your challenge with your network and ask friends, family and colleagues to sponsor your Challenge 60 with a donation.
3. Get active in nature for 60 minutes each day from 1 to 22 March.

What your donation will mean

• $60 could help plant more trees and create homes for thousands of native animals like koalas.
• $80 could help fund artificial dens so eastern quolls have more safe places to raise their babies.??  

OR

• $80 could help increase community education so humans and tigers better coexist.
• $103 could push for lasting protection for remaining trees and forests.
• $250 could help re-introduce eastern quolls to a newly built fenced safe haven in NSW national park, entirely protected from introduced species
• $238 could drive work to expand marine sanctuaries and protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
• $500 could help construct and maintain tiger-proof pens to keep livestock safe, reducing local tensions.
• $1000 could help purchase drones and satellite tags to help track whales on their migratory paths or ocean ‘superhighways’.

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is WWF’s flagship global environmental movement. Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become one of the world’s largest grassroot movements for the environment; inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organisations in more than 180 countries and territories to take tangible environmental action for well over a decade. Historically, Earth Hour has focused on the climate crisis, but more recently Earth Hour has strived to also bring the pressing issue of nature loss to the fore. The aim is to create an unstoppable movement for nature, as it did when the world came together to tackle climate change. The movement recognises the role of individuals in creating solutions to the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges and harnesses the collective power of its millions of supporters to drive change.

About WWF-Australia

At WWF-Australia, we have been dedicated to protecting nature’s wonders for over four decades. Today, our mission extends beyond protection—we are committed to restoring and regenerating our precious planet for all its inhabitants.

By embracing the wisdom and traditions of First Peoples and local communities, we can inspire global change for climate, nature, and people. With a spirit of innovation and the latest technologies, WWF-Australia collaborates with communities, governments, and industries to deliver solutions where nature and wildlife, communities, and climate intersect.

Your support for WWF-Australia means joining a passionate movement that loves and protects nature. Together, we can drive transformative efforts to ensure a thriving future for our natural world and all its creatures. Help us to Regenerate Nature at wwf.org.au 

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