Trust for Nature
Trust for Nature is one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations.
Our goal is to protect and restore places in Victoria where wildlife and native plants can thrive.
We do this for the benefit of future generations by working now with private landholders, volunteers, government agencies and others with similar vision.
Over the last 49 years, we have secured nearly 110,000 hectares of habitat on private land forever – places that are home to some of our rarest species such as the Helmeted Honeyeater, Victoria’s critically endangered bird emblem.
We were established in 1972 through the Victorian Conservation Trust Act. This enabled people to contribute permanently to nature conservation by donating land or money to a not-for-profit organisation with a specific focus on private land.
Our vision
A future in which Victoria’s nature is
valued, protected and thriving.Our purpose
We work with Victorians to protect nature on private land forever.
In 1978, Trust for Nature developed ‘on title agreements’ known as conservation covenants as a way to protect native plants and wildlife. These legally binding agreements allow private landholders to conserve natural habitat on their properties in perpetuity. This is a unique power that Trust for Nature holds in Victoria.
Since then, we have negotiated more than 1,500 covenants and so protected more than 72,000 hectares.
In addition, government funding and public donations have enabled Trust for Nature to purchase more than 40 properties which we have converted to conservation reserves covering more than 35,000 hectares.
Among them are the iconic Neds Corner Station, a 30,000 ha conservation reserve in the far north-west of Victoria, bordering Murray-Sunset National Park and the Murray River, forming an important cultural landscape on Ngintait Country.
Meanwhile, our innovative Revolving Fund has allowed us to purchase and protect more than 60 properties rich in native habitat. We sell these on to conservation-minded buyers, and recycle the money back into the Revolving Fund to purchase more properties.
Finally, there is the on-the-ground work of our regional teams. They are engaged in communities across Victoria, taking practical action to care for and nurture nature.
Together, we can and will make a difference to Victoria’s natural environment.
For you, for your family, for future generations, for the world
The wonder of nature, and everything nature has to offer, has been given to us as a gift. The reality is that nature supports our human existence in all aspects from food production and water quality, to health and well-being.
Each one of us is responsible for taking care and looking after the natural wonders of Victoria — from rainforests to deserts, coasts to mountains.
In the face of climate change and continued vegetation loss, Trust for Nature’s role is increasingly important in preserving Victoria’s remaining native habitat. This is critical in a state where two-thirds of the land is privately owned, the highest proportion anywhere in Australia.
Only by joining hands in partnership will we be able to maintain and protect these wonders forever. It is your help that will enable us to protect Victoria’s habitat forever.
Our goals
As Victoria’s dedicated private land conservation body our key focus is on achieving strategic conservation with partners – this sits at the centre of what we do. Three supporting focus areas provide the foundation and enabling actions to achieve strategic conservation: engagement for greater outcomes, sustainable finance and our people.
We have always been ambitious at Trust for Nature. Faced with a state full of beautiful but vulnerable flora and fauna, with 79% of Victoria’s essential habitat on private land, our 50-year-old organisation has always set its sights on protecting as much as we can, for perpetuity – Gayle Austen, Chair, Trust for Nature
Key initiatives for the next five years
Add 35,000 hectares of priority conservation land on privately owned land to Victoria’s protected area network.
Work with partners to restore 5,000 hectares of private land in priority areas.
Maintain and improve the quality of Trust for Nature’s protected habitat.
Increase our partnerships, reach and impact to help Victorians protect nature on private land.
Substantially grow our annual revenue from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to support private land conservation.
We have a safe and inclusive workplace, and our people are motivated and supported to achieve strategic conservation.
Get to know us more
Our people
Trust for Nature’s staff are a diverse and skilled team of people. We employ over 50 people across Victoria, who work in science, field work, strategy, fundraising, communications, law, operations, finance, and administration.
Our partners
A collaborative approach to conservation: we work with government, businesses, not-for-profits and community organisations of all types to achieve shared conservation goals.
Our reserves
Trust for Nature’s conservation properties across Victoria. Trust for Nature currently owns more than 40 conservation properties across Victoria, including the state’s biggest private conservation property, Neds Corner Station.
Our covenantors
Protecting land with a conservation covenant is one of the most important things a landholder can do to prevent species extinction and build nature’s resilience in a changing climate.
Careers at TfN
Would you like to join our passionate team working to conserve Victoria’s unique environment? Take a look at our current employment opportunities.