The private approach to protecting land water and wildlife
The public parks system in Australia has protected more than 7 % of the continent and if you include multiple uses areas about 10.5% is conserved. But historically the uptake of productive country for agriculture and an emphasis on protecting charismatic landscapes has left inland Australia and some of the most important areas for biodiversity under represented in the national reserve system.
To achieve a more representative and effective reserve system there is an urgent need to secure the most poorly reserved and threatened ecosystems while also restoring functionality in the landscape. The private land conservation sector has a key role to play here both through acquiring and managing their own reserve lands but also assisting others to manage key landscapes for conservation.
Organisations like Bush Heritage Australia, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Greening Australia are using a variety of flexible approaches to achieve on-ground conservation outcomes at the landscape scale. The money raised by supporters can be used to effectively leverage funds from government and other sources. This increases the amount of land that can be protected and managed over the long term for its biodiversity values.
Internationally the private land conservation sector has also expanded dramatically and The Nature Conservancy is actively encouraging growth in Australia.
Bush Heritage Australia currently owns 26 reserves covering close to 700,000 hectares nationally. Acquisition and management is based on the Anchors in the Landscape frame work which focuses activities around 5 key anchor regions which have outstanding biodiversity values and are under serious threat. The vision is to own or manage 1 % of Australia by 2025. The organisation places high value on working in partnership with others including researchers, land holders, indigenous people and government. Half of the 7 million ha in the vision will be protected by working in conjunction with landholders beyond the boundaries of our own reserves.