Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC)

What Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) does

The Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) is an Australian non-profit charity founded in 2007 and headquartered in Dickson, ACT, by Dr. Siwan Lovett (CEO) and Tom Clarke. The organization delivers river restoration programs, community engagement, and policy advocacy focused on the Murray-Darling Basin and other Australian waterways, operating with a lean team of approximately 12 staff supported by a deep volunteer and landholder network. Its core programs include Rivers of Carbon on-ground restoration, the Emerging Leaders Program, a podcast, and a small e-commerce merchandise line, alongside the Forgotten River public campaign that secured $50-55.6 million in Commonwealth funding. The business model is a hybrid non-profit: revenue is drawn from Commonwealth and state government grants, philanthropic donations, individual giving, merchandise sales (priced $25-$49.99), events, and engagement services. ARRC serves a stakeholder base of 600+ partnered landholders, 1,500+ volunteers, government agencies (MDBA, ACT Government, CSIRO, CEWH, Victorian Fisheries Authority), NRM regional bodies, and First Nations groups, with cumulative reported impact of 222,675 trees planted and 330+ km of waterways protected.

Name

Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC)

Legal name

Australian River Restoration Centre Limited

Website

https://arrc.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Australian River Restoration Centre is a non-profit charity founded in 2007 that delivers river restoration, community engagement, and policy advocacy across Australian waterways, partnering with government agencies, 600+ landholders, and 1,500+ volunteers to restore degraded river systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

akta.pro primary industry

Disaster Recovery, Reconstruction & Resilience Programs (BPAGAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Afforestation, Reforestation & Revegetation (ARR) (EUABABAA)

Keywords

• River restoration
• Environmental conservation
• Watershed management
• Community engagement
• Environmental education

Headquarters

HQ city

Canberra

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropy: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting river restoration work. Donors receive newsletters and impact updates. Bank transfer details provided for direct donations to ARRC Public Fund.
2. Merchandise Sales: Online shop selling mugs, apparel, calendars, books, greeting cards, wall art, and other branded merchandise. 100% of proceeds go directly to river restoration work. Products include the ARRC 2026 Calendar ($49.99), Australian native fish Mug ($25), Stock and Waterways Guide ($38), and apparel ($45-50).
3. Events and Engagement Services: Specialized stakeholder events and engagement services provided to waterway management industry clients including facilitation, workshops, field days, conferences, and forums. Helps fund ongoing charitable mission.
4. Grants and Government Funding: Grant funding supports on-ground activities through Rivers of Carbon Program. Led Forgotten River campaign securing $50-55.6 million in Commonwealth funding. Funded by Bush Connect and NSW Environmental Trust Program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) is a registered charity and not-for-profit organization that delivers river restoration services, education programs, and community engagement initiatives focused on improving the health of Australian rivers and waterways. It connects landholders, researchers, government, and community groups to coordinate on-ground restoration projects and capacity-building activities.

Product overview

The Australian River Restoration Centre operates as a charity offering river restoration services, merchandise supporting conservation, and educational content. Their core offerings include on-ground river restoration services (revegetation, erosion control, stock exclusion, invasive species management), leadership development programs (Emerging Leaders Waterway Management Program), science communication services, and events and engagement facilitation. They operate The Forgotten River advocacy campaign, the Rivers of Carbon restoration program, and the Take Me to the River podcast. Their merchandise line (mugs, calendars, apparel, books, tea towels) is sold through the ARRC Shop with 100% of proceeds funding restoration work. They also publish practical waterway management guides such as the Stock and Waterways: A NSW Manager's Guide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rivers of Carbon: ARRC's river restoration program that delivers on-ground restoration activities, supported by grants. The program works with landholders across Australia to restore rivers at catchment scale.

Quantifiable outcome

• 330+ km of waterways and 2,000 hectares of land protected
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Victorian Fisheries AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Co-hosted the Murray-Darling Carp Action Summit bringing together 80+ people from 41 organisations to drive coordinated national response to carp management. Partnership exemplifies ARRC's approach to convening stakeholders for environmental outcomes.
• Senator David PocockcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ACT Independent Senator driving Forgotten River campaign. Together secured $50+ million in Commonwealth funding for Upper Murrumbidgee restoration and Drought Operating Framework.
• Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration ReachcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with demonstration reach group for advocacy and restoration work on Upper Murrumbidgee River.
• Macquarie UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership featuring Professor Kirstie Fryirs on Take Me to the River podcast episode. ARRC collaborates with university researchers for science communication and river restoration expertise.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Landcare Australia: National nonprofit supporting community-led environmental restoration across Australia. Directly comparable to ARRC in community-led GTM, landholder engagement, and on-ground restoration project delivery at catchment scale.
• OzFish Unlimited: Australian charity focused on restoring fish habitat in rivers and waterways. Directly comparable to ARRC's riparian restoration and native fish programs, and operates a similar volunteer and landholder engagement model.
• Conservation Volunteers Australia: National nonprofit engaging volunteers in conservation projects including habitat restoration and tree planting. Comparable to ARRC in volunteer mobilization, field day operations, and similar impact metrics (trees planted, hectares restored).
• Wetland Care Australia: Australian nonprofit dedicated to wetland and waterway conservation through on-ground restoration and community engagement. Directly comparable to ARRC in mission (aquatic ecosystem restoration) and operational model (charity, volunteer-driven, government-funded).
• Greening Australia: Australia's leading environmental restoration nonprofit focused on revegetation and native vegetation restoration. Closest peer to ARRC in mission (large-scale revegetation, landholder partnerships) and operating model (registered charity, community-led, government-funded programs).
• Mulloon Institute: Australian nonprofit focused on landscape rehydration and regenerative creek/river management. Closely aligned with ARRC's Rivers of Carbon program and on-ground restoration approach through scientific research and demonstration projects.

Broad incumbents

• Australian Conservation Foundation: Australia's largest environmental advocacy nonprofit. Shares ARRC's advocacy-driven GTM (cf. Forgotten River campaign) but operates nationally across all environmental issues with significantly larger membership, staff, and campaign infrastructure.
• The Nature Conservancy (Australia): Global conservation nonprofit with substantial Australian operations. Operates broadly across land, water, and climate conservation at significantly larger scale and resources than ARRC, and competes for similar Commonwealth and philanthropic grant funding.
• Bush Heritage Australia: Major Australian conservation nonprofit that acquires and manages land for conservation. Operates at much larger scale than ARRC and is a comparable charity competitor for environmental grants and donor mindshare.

Emerging players

• Waterwatch Australia: Community water quality monitoring program engaging volunteers in citizen science for waterways. Adjacent peer with comparable volunteer engagement model, but narrower scope (monitoring vs. restoration) and a smaller operational footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/thearrcpage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thearrcpage
• Instagraminstagram.com/aus.river.restoration.centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC)