Copley was a British financier and insurance underwriter. He first visited Australia in 1966. In 1991 he purchased a property containing a large area of natural bushland at Chidlow, Western Australia, now the Karakamia Sanctuary, for conservation purposes, effectively founding what was to become the AWC.[3] In 1994 he moved to Australia permanently.[1] In 2001 the AWC became a public charitable organisation.[4] Copley died of cancer on 30 July 2014.[5][6]