Meet the rising star taking the Sunshine Coast Biosphere to the world stage

Ella Woodborne helped take the Sunshine Coast to UNESCO Biosphere status, and now she’s about to represent our Biosphere globally as an inaugural member of a UNESCO think-tank informing international bodies, governments and the business world.

And she’s just 19 years old.

The Belli Park teenager and University of the Sunshine Coast Science/Arts student said she was “over the moon” to be selected for the UNESCO Our Humanature Pathways panel.

“I have the acceptance letter saved to my desktop, and every morning I go back and check it’s still there,” Ella said.

“I feel exceptionally honoured for both the potential of what the group can do, but also personally what I can learn from the members of this panel.”

The UNESCO Our Humanature Pathways panel will conduct its first meeting in January to discuss humanity’s role in establishing and maintaining a healthy relationship with nature.

Now living on her family’s cattle farm in Belli Park, Ella hopes to bring the unique perspective and representation for both youth and agricultural communities living and working in a Biosphere.

Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson congratulated Ella on her latest achievement and said she would make a fitting representative for the newly designated Sunshine Coast Biosphere.

“Ella is a voice for our youth and proud advocate for positive change, both vital values as we come to understand what it means to live, learn, work and play sustainably as a Biosphere community,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“Her input on this international stage will demonstrate to the world the strengths of our region as we work towards our goal of being Australia’s most sustainable region: healthy, smart and creative.”

Ella counts chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall and Sir David Attenborough among her idols and said her passion for the environment began with her childhood spent in South Africa with her parents, who worked in conservation.

“I grew up in the bush, was always outside, and we had animals everywhere,” she said.

“I always knew I wanted to work with the natural world.”

When her family moved to the Sunshine Coast she founded the Grammar Green Team, a student-led environmental action group at Sunshine Coast Grammar, all while making an early start on her university degree.

At just 16 years of age, she joined the Sunshine Coast Biosphere Community Reference Group to represent the region’s youth as the group launched its campaign to have the Sunshine Coast recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere.

In June 2022 the designation was officially declared, and Ella has remained on the transitional Sunshine Coast Biosphere Community Advisory Group (CAG) as it lays vital groundwork to ensure the region sustains its Biosphere values and status for future generations.

Sunshine Coast Biosphere CAG chair Will Shrapnel said in the three years he’d worked with Ella she had been an enthusiastic and diligent environmental leader, and would be a wonderful ambassador for the region.

“Ella has been an amazing advocate who has always taken a hands-on approach to implementing and leading grass-roots initiatives that make a real difference,” Mr Shrapnel said.

“She was still in high school when we first started working together on the Biosphere nomination, and it has been amazing to witness Ella pursue her passion through university studies and now as a UNESCO panellist.

“Ella has certainly never been afraid to put forward her perspective and ideas through group discussions, speaking with confidence on behalf of current and future generations of Sunshine Coast people.”

Ella is also a member of the Excellence Advisory Panel for the Sunshine Coast Ecological Park, a major Sunshine Coast Council green space project adjacent to Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.