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Isabel is a passionate and highly active supporter of a number of charities. That passion lies primarily with animal and environmental related causes, and she also lends her name to various childrens and women’s health and welfare causes. Her enthusiasm for the environment and animals comes from her childhood, as she grew up surrounded by nature. “Looking after the environment and doing things in nature was really an integral part of my life growing up. I love the environment and I want to be able to protect it,” she says. Rather than call herself an ‘activist’, Isabel says she has “more of an altruist streak, but I’m active about it.” During her appearance on Rove Live in 2009, Isabel teased that she would “do anything for charity,” and she’s certainly not shy when it comes to talking about her supported causes, or going all out to do her best for them.

While she may not be entirely comfortable with all the aspects that have come with her newly found fame, Isabel knows that she’s in a powerful position to promote the causes she cares about, and give them a stronger voice. But she’s also aware that what means a lot to her won’t necessarily mean the same to others – “I don’t want to push my ideas on other people. Everyone should think for themselves,” she says.

Isabel says the key thing when wanting to get involved in activism, is to find what you’re passionate about. Think about what you really care about. The next step is to self-educate yourself about the issues, so you really know what’s going on – Isabel finds it really important to know why she’s doing what she’s doing for these causes. She also says that self-educating yourself about your chosen causes can help to inspire you to discover how you can help those causes in ways which will suit you or play on your strengths and talents.

Read on for detailed information on the charities and causes Isabel supports, what she’s done for them, and how you can help. Even if none of these causes are ones you feel strongly about, maybe it will inspire you to find what you do feel strongly about and find out how you can support that issue.

Save the Whales Again! is a campaign of The Whaleman Foundation. The mission of the “Save the Whales Again!” Campaign is: To end all commercial and scientific whaling worldwide by Japan, Norway, and Iceland; To end the brutal drive and harpoon hunts of Japan and the Faroe Islands which kill over 25,000 dolphins, porpoises, pilot whales, and other small whales every year; To raise public awareness to all the other threats dolphins and whales face including toxic pollution, noise pollution, global warming, loss of habitat, entanglement in fishing nets, collisions with ships, and increasing whaling.

Isabel’s most publicised and controversial charitable endeavor was of course the protest against the killing of dolphins, in Taiji, Japan in 2007.

“They are such remarkable, beautiful creatures – and so gentle.”
“If more people would take the opportunity to see how magnificent these creatures are – they wouldn’t be able to shut out that this is happening”.

“It was heart-rending to witness this barbaric, cruel slaughter. Everyone was in tears.”

“It’s our responsibility as Australians to really take action on this and ask the Government to put this on the agenda.” – on the 2007 Save the Whales petition started by The Daily Telegraph, to voice the support of the Australian people to the need to stop Japanese whaling.

After the Taiji protest in 2007, Isabel said of the day – “We were quite calm and happy about it.”

She and the others involved considered going back in 2008, but so far Isabel has not returned to the town for further protests – “At the moment we are still assessing the situation about what is happening in Japan and whether we will go back. We are considering going back in February to up the ante, but it is all depending on whether we would be detained. Obviously we don’t want to be detained. We are getting advice on that.”

When asked why she put herself in this dangerous position, she says, “I do it because I really believe in it.”

“Going to Japan we felt like we could physically get out there in the water and bring attention to exactly what was happening.”

“They did state there was an arrest warrant, I think it was more of a scare. My agents had to do some research: If I went back for the Transformers premiere, would they arrest me at the airport? We basically came to the conclusion that, because Transformers is the largest grossing film in Japan ever, it would obviously bring a lot more attention to what they’re doing and what they’re trying to hide,” she said.

Isabel re-counted the protest in an interview with New Idea soon after it happened.

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

“I admire Paul Watson. I know he gets scrutinised a lot in the media because he takes such a forward stance, but I think he does because he feels no one else is. Often we feel like ‘What can one do individually to help or to make a difference?’. I really believe in these organisations because they are the ones that get out there in between the whales and the harpoonists. They make a difference and save endangered species. It is very important to me and it is something I would be involved in regardless of whether I’m an actor or in this industry or not.”

Find out more: www.seashepherd.org

The Whaleman Foundation is an oceanic research, conservation and production organization dedicated to preserving and protecting dolphins, whales, and their ocean habitat.

Isabel and other campaigners hoped to go to an international whaling conference in Chile in 2008 to protest, but there was no media coverage of Isabel visiting, so it is unsure whether she ended up going. Isabel was clear that their intentions were simply to try to learn more about the situation – “We don’t sort of claim to go there and corrupt the whaling system, I just want to go and soak up information and see if there’s anything else I can physically do or just learn more and become more educated about this whole topic.”

Combating climate change is the central priority of the Global Green Plan (GGP), an initiative of the Global Green Plan Foundation, an environmental organization established in 2004. The GGP takes a practical, coordinated and holistic approach to community engagement. GGP projects provide a set of integrated initiatives that interlock, reinforce, raise awareness, inform, motivate, resource – and promote a shared responsibility for change to lower impact lifestyles. It is about harnessing the energy and passion of youth in the fight for their future, and using schools as a springboard into the community. It is about educating and motivating our youth, and through them, their parents. It is also about spreading the initiative from schools and households to business and government, to involve the whole community in a collective effort to combat climate change.

Find out more: www.globalgreenplan.com

The Humour Foundation is a charity dedicated to promoting the health benefits of humour. International research has found there are physiological and psychological benefits of laughter. Doses of humour help relieve fear and stress and aid recovery. The whole hospital community benefits – patients, families and staff.

The foundation sponsors people to dress up as clowns and visit children’s hospitals. “I don’t actually dress as a clown, but I’ll put the nose on and stuff. It’s just more about spending time with the kids and talking to them,” Isabel says. She and Jason Smith (Robbie in Home & Away) supported the foundations’s National Smile Day on April 1st 2004.

Find out more: www.humourfoundation.com.au

“Currently, a third of the world’s population doesn’t have access to adequate drinking water. More kids die from lack of drinking water than any other thing – more than war, HIV/AIDS, malaria,” she says. That figure is set to increase within the next 45 years, with it expected to rise to half the world’s population not having clean water.

“The water crisis is not just an African problem or a third world problem. It’s a global issue. There are things you can do to make changes. The climb was very informative as well as being an amazing adventure.”

“It’s the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done – I had altitude sickness at the top with headaches and nausia but to stand on the summit and to have done it together for such a good cause was one of the most incredible feelings.”

When they reached the summit there was a snowstorm, and Isabel describes it as “really intense physically”. While they had been in training for three months prior to the climb, nothing could really prepare them for the extreme conditions. Altitude sickness, nausea, headaches and even loss of consciousness were side effects of the climb. Isabel said she didn’t fell the effects until the summit, but when they were going back down she started to get sick. She didn’t mind the camping though, as she was used to it from her childhood in Australia.

Such is Isabel’s dedication to the cause, she invited her friend Emile Hirsch to join them after Justin Timberlake had to pull out. Emile heard Isabel talking about the climb and asked her if he could join, but there were no free spaces. When Justin pulled out three weeks before the climb to film a movie instead, Isabel recommended Emile and he was delighted!

As well as their incredible efforts for the charity, Isabel said she also really enjoyed and valued the friendships she made during the process. Her “tent buddy”, Santi White (aka Santigold) was a “real gem,” Isabel says, “a real soul sister; she’s such an incredible, strong, beautiful person.” She described Jessica Biel as “lovely; really sweet”, and musician Lupe Fiasco as “super funny, quick-witted and intelligent”.

“It’s not just something for the developing countries, it’s one of the most critical issues of our time.”

Factoid – they were the biggest group to have all reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro together. Only 50% of people that climb the mountain actually reach top, but all 45 of their group made it.

CLIMBER BLOG: Isabel Lucas

WHY I JOINED SOTSK

About 3 1/2 years ago when Kenna and I became friends, he told me about his first trip to Kili, how he didn’t reach the summit. He wanted to return and expand on the adventure of climbing by making it personal, relating to his Dad and to create awareness about the global clean water crisis. At that time, it was just a seed of a thought. Kenna is one of my best friends and he is a man of his word, I never doubted he’d fail to bring this dream to fruition. I just didn’t know what the scale of it would be—it’s become much more immense than I imagined at the time.

I feel like I was emotionally supporting and a part of the project from the get go. It’s such an incredible opportunity to visit a new part of Africa and an amazing adventure for a cause that’s vitally important. And we, in water rich nations, unfortunately have no idea the extent of the problem. Kenna told me a lot about the issue and as I delved deeper, I did a lot of self-informing and I watched 4 documentaries…FLOW (For The Love Of Water), Blue Gold, A World Without Water, and The Acid Test. What most hit me was how disconnected and unaware so many of us in western cultures and fast-paced society are. And this is not a minor issue that’s not going to go away, this is a looming catastrophe.

I feel fortunate to be in the position to where I have the opportunity to talk about things I care about and hopefully many others do too. This is a new cause for me, but it’s related to some others I’ve been a part of—The Whaleman Foundation, Sea Shepherd Society, Protect The Coral Sea Campaign and then the peaceful protest in Japan against the slaughtering of dolphins and whales.

If this were to end today…I feel like I’ve leaned so much. Some of it subconscious which will gradually sift into my consciousness in everyday life. The talks with the educators have been wonderful and really informative. I’ve been fortunate to come to Africa twice before this and what really stays with me is how the beautiful energy of Africa opens your heart. The land, the people, the music and the mountain… Trekwise, it’s been empowering to see when you’ve reached the point where you’re exhausted and have hit your exertion limit and find out you still somehow have energy in reserve…and you see how the body is such an incredible machine and you keep going…

- Isabel Lucas

(SOTSK Tumblr post)

For more of Isabel’s thoughts on the experience, read her interview with New York Magazine.

Even with as many grandiose illusions that I have had, this has gone beyond my wildest dreams and expectations. The influencers, educators, staff, crew, and publicists have literally braved this on behalf of the world and in a personally meaningful way on behalf of my father.

- Kenna

You can see the list of 45 climbers here.

What can you do to help?
Two of the easiest things you can do to help this cause, are not buying bottled water, and being aware of the amount of water you use for everyday tasks, such as brushing your teeth, washing up and taking a shower.

Ozquest: Young Australian Adventures is an organisation for 18 to 30-year-olds that offers programs to acheive the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. “It’s aim is to combine adventure travel with volunteer community work,” Isabel says.

In 2007 Isabel embarked on a charitable mission to Namibia, where she worked with disadvantaged communities.
Some of the tasks she was involved with was building a water trough for elephants, to keep their water separate from the community’s water, and building a permaculture fruit and begetable garden in the middle of the desert.

“It’s a completely personal thing – it’s just part of my life journey and experience. It’s not a publicity move, it’s just something I feel will help me to appreciate how lucky I am in my life.”

On the eve of her trip, Isabel attended the Catch A Fire premiere in Australia, where she met Bono at the after-party. “Meeting someone like Bono, who obviously does so much positive work to better the situation in Africa, was incredibly inspiring for me. To have that encounter on on the eve of this trip was amazing.”

Upon her return from Naimbia, Isabel was invited to FilmInk’s Style Villa, and she was aprpeciative of getting to experience such extremes – “I think sometimes it is good to experience the extremes and this (the style villa) is a completely different extreme to being in Africa and living in the desert. I makes you stop and realise: Gee, I’m so fortunate. The people I was working in Africa could never have imagined something like this,” she said at the event.

Find out more: www.ozquest.org

In April 2006 Isabel joined forces with the WWF in a campaign to save the leatherback turtle. WWF marine scientist Dr Gilly Llewellyn explained, “With more than 10 years after the last sighting, it looks like we have witnessed the beginning of the extinction of eastern Australian leatherback turtles. This is a sad anniversary for Australian turtles and a sad symptom of the state of our oceans.” Isabel was as active and vocal with her support as ever, saying, “”We have never been in a situation before where the choices and actions of one generation have such an impact on our future. We can’t afford to wait until governments and leaders show some responsibility. It’s time for individual action.”

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour. Earth Hour is organized by WWF. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth’s natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature. Earth Hour has done a lot to raise awareness of climate change issues. But there’s more to it than switching off lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice on the future of our planet and working together to create a sustainable low carbon future for our planet.

Isabel was an ambassador for, and took part in, this event in 2008 alongside other Australian celebrities such as Cate Blanchett. The aim was to promote the awareness of how climate change is affecting natural icons, and encouraged people to turn off their lights for one hour. The event was organised by WWF. Isabel acknowledged the immediacy of the problem when voicing her support for the cause – “A generation ago people with concerns about the environment and nature were often labelled greenies and radicals, today these issues are accepted by the mainstream as essential to our survival, therefore supporting organisations like WWF is really important.” She attended, and spoke on stage at, the Earth Hour LA event in Los Angeles on April 22nd 2008.

Find out more: www.earthhour.org

The Coral Sea is a tropical marine jewel which lies east of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It’s one of the last places on Earth where large marine animals can still be found in great numbers. Yet less than 1% of this Serengeti of the Seas is protected. Right now the federal government is considering the future of the Coral Sea within Australian waters. Help protect our Coral Sea and make the Coral Sea a safe haven for marine life.

Isabel is an ambassador for this campaign, and lent her support to it in 2009/10. The campaign aims to establish a marine park in the Coral Sea, east of the Great Barrier Reef, to safeguard the area’s habitat and sea life. Activists involved in this campaign thought Isabel would be a good ambassador after seeing her involvement in The Cove. In January 2010 she promoted the cause in Grazia magazine, and the camilla and marc (Australian designers) dress she wore in the photoshoot (pictured to the left) for the magazine was auctioned off, and sold for AU$359.

“I remember visiting the reefs off the coast of Queensland when I was 10 and going snorkelling for the first time. It was so colourful and completely unique. It’s essential that we protect it because it’s so pristine,” Isabel says of the reef.

“Ninety percent of our oceans have been depleted of their large-growing fish, like tuna and marlin, over the past 50 years. [The situation] is not irreparable, but we’re getting close to it. They need to be given a large space to breed and replenish, that’s why they need this large [ocean] space,” she explains. Isabel says that the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has announced that the Coral Sea is a conservation zone, but that does not stop mining, oil and gas exploration and commercial fishing from happening, all things that will destroy the habitat. They want it to be a “no-go zone, a fully protected space”. If this was to happen it would create the biggest marine park in the world, with a million square kilometres.

“Declaring the Coral Sea a marine heritage park is a truly unique and empowering opportunity for our generation to raise awareness of the amazingly diverse richness of this marine environment. By taking this step we can embrace the future and show what we mean when we talk change. How many nations can even consider the choice of declaring the largest marine heritage park on Earth? This is our chance – let’s make it happen.” – Isabel Lucas

Find out more: www.protectourcoralsea.org.au

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is the leading community-funded organisation in Australia raising money for research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer. The NBCF recently achieved a new milestone having now funded $67 million across 256 research programs since 1994.

Isabel is an ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Awareness Program in Australia. In April 2004 she attended the Girls Day Out exhibition in Sydney, which is an annual fashion, beauty, lifestyle, health and fitness exhibition held in both Sydney and Melbourne. Isabel joined the volunteers and spent the afternoon doing interviews and signing Pink Ribbon t-shirts. The event raised more than AU$10,000 for breast cancer research. Isabel also appeared in promotion for the charity and it’s Breast Cancer Band.

Find out more: www.nbcf.org.au

Oxfam Australia is part of a global movement of dedicated people working hard to fight poverty and injustice.

In March 2006 Isabel and her Home & Away co-star Tim Campbell (Dan) took part in Oxfam Australia’s 40th Walk against Want in Sydney. The 2006 event included breakfasts, barbecues, face-painting, clowning, firebird stilt walkers, African choirs and belly-dancers. The aim of the walk, which started in 1967, is to highlight the plight of women in third world countries who have to walk miles each day to fetch clean water, and it has gradually became an important fundraising event.

Find out more: www.oxfam.org.au

The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (HRAFF) is a volunteer-run, not for profit organisation established in 2007 by a group of young professionals committed to fostering a stronger human rights culture in Australia. HRAFF uses a vibrant and engaging array of mediums including film, art, forums, speakers, music, poetry, action hubs and community initiatives to encourage understanding, discussion and debate on human rights.

Now in its third year, The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is Australia’s premier cultural event devoted exclusively to the exploration of human rights issues through art and film. A vibrant array of film, art, music, performances, speakers and community initiatives, its patrons include the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, Margaret Pomeranz, Warwick Thornton and Isabel Lucas.

In November 2009 Isabel was announced as one of the new patrons of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, alongside Warwick Thornton.

As young Australians, we have the opportunity and responsibility to inform ourselves, reflect upon and comment on the human rights and environmental conditions that affect our fellow human beings in this country and abroad.

There are so many ways to raise awareness about these issues, but watching thought-provoking and artful films that influence and move us is a most effective medium.

It is what the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is about and I strongly encourage you to support it.

Find out more: www.hraff.org.au

• World Vision – became an Ambassador in 2004, helped to raise awareness of the plight of children in developing countries. Isabel appeared in print adverts across Australia talking about her role as World Vision’s Christmas Angels Ambassador, and giving information about world poverty.

• National Tree Day – took part on July 31st 2005, with Home & Away co-star Indiana Evans.
• Women Against Violence – Ambassador for this cause
• Seeing Eye Dogs Australia (website)

• UNHCR
• Wildlife Warriors Worldwide
• PETA
• PlayPumps
• Sponsors two children in Africa, including a girl in Zambia.
• Sponsors an orphanage in India, after she became involved with it whilst in India filming The Waiting City. The orphanage cares for children with leprosy.
• Australia’s Greenest Celebrity Award – competed for the award in 2005, completing a survey on how green her lifestyle is. Tammy Macintosh won.
• Art by Celebrities 2005 – Isabel and other Aussie soap stars all created their own individual canvas paintings for a special auction in aid of children’s charity William Campbell House, which provides care for abused, neglected and homeless children. The auction took place during a fundraising dinner at the Shellharbour Workers Club on June 18th 2005.
• The opportunity to meet Isabel and take photos with her was one of the prizes on offer at a Christmas-themed fair held by two Australian primary schools, St Francis Xavier’s in Lurnea and St Catherine of Siena in Prestons, in aid of St Francis Xavier parish in Lurnea.

Here are some links to other websites relating to the causes Isabel supports.

• The Australian Marine Conservation Society
• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society Australasia