Protecting West Gippsland’s Natural Wonders

We all know that West Gippsland is special – a spectacularly beautiful, vast and varied terrain stretching from Warragul in Victoria’s east to Sale in its west, north to the Great Dividing Range and south to Wilsons Promontory, boasting sandy beaches, lakes, mountains and lush farmlands. It is an iconic wilderness area, home to many of the state’s most popular natural places and native animals.

The establishment of the West Gippsland Conservation Fund is an exciting initiative for Trust for Nature and the region.  It is not only a first for the Trust but a significant agent of change for conservation in West Gippsland. It transforms our ability to protect this wild, beautiful, richly biodiverse part of Victoria. It delivers security, sustainability and a game changing boost to our capacity to act on the ground to preserve and rehabilitate West Gippsland’s precious natural habitats.

Our initial goal was to establish a million dollar endowment fund that will be invested, with the returns invested in our ongoing conservation efforts in West Gippsland. We are tremendously grateful for the generous lead donor who made this campaign possible by offering to match, dollar-for-dollar, up to $500,000. With your support we have now reached our first milestone of $1,000,000, allowing for funds to start flowing soon to the region for conservation projects. We are now looking to grow the fund further to enable us to provide increased support for covenantors over the coming years.

Trust for Nature is asking all of our friends and supporters across our extensive networks to follow this inspirational lead. We won’t realise our vision for West Gippsland without you.

Help save Plains-wanderers

You can help prevent the extinction of the critically endangered Plains-wanderer.

With only one percent of native grassland remaining and less than 1,000 Plains-wanderers in the wild, the protection of its habitat is vital in the fight to save this unique species from the brink of extinction.

Plains-wanderers are ranked number one in Australia and fourth in the world on a list of 9,993 recognised bird species we can least afford to lose because of their evolutionary distinctness.

Trust for Nature is part of a National Recovery Team for the bird which has established a captive program to save it from extinction. The Team includes partners such as Zoos Victoria, Parks Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, catchment management authorities and national partners.

The bird can only survive if it has safe places to be released – this is where our work is so important. Working with farmers we have protected about 540 ha in north-central Victoria with conservation covenants so far, and as a result of the work we’re doing to raise awareness of the birds’ plight in the area we have recently heard from many other farmers who are willing to protect this bird; but we can’t do this without more funds.

Main photo courtesy Chris Tzaros
Inset photo courtesy Mark Antos