Trust for Nature (Victoria)

  • What we do
    • Conservation covenants
    • Working with Aboriginal Victorians
    • Climate change
    • Protecting threatened species
    • Neds Corner Station
    • Conservation reserves
    • Current projects
  • Ways to give
    • Help Protect What Remains
    • Bush Protection Program
    • Wills and bequests
    • Donate land
    • West Gippsland Fund
    • Volunteers
  • About us
    • Our board
    • Our people
    • Covenantors
    • Partners
    • News
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Contact us
  • Resources
    • All publications
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    • Statewide Conservation Plan
    • Resources for landholders
    • Preparing for fire season
    • Resources for businesses
    • Victorian ecosystems
    • Sustainable Development Goals
  • What we do
    • Conservation covenants
    • Working with Aboriginal Victorians
    • Climate change
    • Protecting threatened species
    • Neds Corner Station
    • Conservation reserves
    • Current projects
  • Ways to give
    • Help Protect What Remains
    • Bush Protection Program
    • Wills and bequests
    • Donate land
    • West Gippsland Fund
    • Volunteers
  • About us
    • Our board
    • Our people
    • Covenantors
    • Partners
    • News
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Contact us
  • Resources
    • All publications
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    • Statewide Conservation Plan
    • Resources for landholders
    • Preparing for fire season
    • Resources for businesses
    • Victorian ecosystems
    • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Make an enquiry
  • Properties for sale
  • Donate
  • What we do
    • Conservation covenants
    • Working with Aboriginal Victorians
    • Climate change
    • Protecting threatened species
    • Neds Corner Station
    • Conservation reserves
    • Current projects
  • Ways to give
    • Help Protect What Remains
    • Bush Protection Program
    • Wills and bequests
    • Donate land
    • West Gippsland Fund
    • Volunteers
  • About us
    • Our board
    • Our people
    • Covenantors
    • Partners
    • News
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Contact us
  • Resources
    • All publications
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    • Statewide Conservation Plan
    • Resources for landholders
    • Preparing for fire season
    • Resources for businesses
    • Victorian ecosystems
    • Sustainable Development Goals

North Central

15 November 2020 by

Protection underway for Gippsland island

Gippsland island

A Victorian island is set to become the state’s first freehold island to be legally protected under covenant.

Flannagan Island, off Lakes Entrance, is 77 ha and is one of just a handful of islands that are privately owned in Victoria.

The island is part of the internationally significant Ramsar listed Gippsland Lakes, recognised for its environmental values.

The owner of Flannagan Island has volunteered to place a conservation covenant on the property, an agreement that is tied to title and will remain in place even when the island changes hands. They see this as a unique and special opportunity to leave a legacy for wildlife, habitat, and endangered species.

Trust for Nature’s Gippsland area manager Robyn Edwards said it’s commendable that the owner had the foresight to agree to put a covenant on the property ensuring it is looked after for future generations, joining more than 1,400 landholders across the state who have conservation covenants.

Robyn said, “This is an unusual covenant and it’s the first time we’ve placed one on an island. The landholder is making a significant contribution to the protection of waterbirds and migratory birds on the Gippsland Lakes.

“Flannagan Island is extremely important because it provides habitat for water birds and migratory shorebirds such as the nationally threatened Hooded Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit, the state threatened Royal Spoonbill, Eastern Great Egret and Little Egret.”

Flannagan Island

Much of the Island is covered with Swamp Scrub and Estuarine Wetland that are in good condition but the surrounding woodlands are degraded or cleared.

Past goat farming has impacted on the island’s plants, and vegetation is starting to recover now that they’re been removed.

Robyn said, “The removal of livestock has changed the trajectory of the island’s biodiversity, this is reflected in the regeneration of Swamp Paperbark and native tussock grasses.

“The degraded sections of the woodland have the potential to be restored, with the presence of mature Gippsland Red Gums and Southern Mahogany trees providing excellent foundations for potential revegetation works.”

The covenant will protect a range of threatened plant communities including Coast Banksia Woodland, Swamp Scrub, Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland, and Estuarine Wetland/Saltmarsh.

This project is funded by the Victorian Government for the Gippsland Lakes. It enabled not only the permanent protection of the island but it also allowed for important weed control, providing an important start to habitat restoration in the cleared section of the Island.

Media contact

Kathy Cogo, Media and Communications Manager, Trust for Nature, 0466 015 183, kathyc@tfn.org.au.

Back to all news

15 November 2020 by

Landholders receive financial incentives for bird conservation

bird conservation

Landholders in the Northern Plains of Victoria can now receive financial incentives for helping fight the extinction of the critically endangered Plains-wanderer bird.

Conservation organisation Trust for Nature, in partnership with the North Central Catchment Management Authority, is offering $1,000 per hectare to landholders who protect their grassland to provide suitable habitat for the native bird.

Because of habitat clearing and cultivation there are fewer than 1000 individuals of this unique species left in the wild.

Greg Rankin is the latest landholder to express interest in receiving the new incentive by applying to put a conservation covenant — a legally-binding agreement permanently protecting native vegetation — on 120 hectares of his property on the Patho Plains.

“The cash incentives are really great and show the value of what we have out here,” Greg said. “And the beauty of our covenant is that we can still selectively graze our land. There’s no negative effect for us.”

Trust for Nature Senior Conservation Officer Kirsten Hutchison said the opportunity to offer financial incentives to landholders for covenanting their land is a huge win in the urgent fight for the Plains-wanderer.

“Time is running out and conservation covenants are absolutely critical to the survival of this bird,” Kirsten said. “We still have cases of unauthorised grassland clearance on the Patho Plains even though it’s protected under state and federal legislation and there’s less than one percent of these grasslands left. It’s heartbreaking.

“To have a species that’s so globally significant in our own backyard that’s on the brink of extinction means we need to do something about it.

Northern Plains

“Conservation covenants are the only way we can guarantee that nothing happens to this habitat in the future and to ensure the Plains-wanderer doesn’t become extinct.”

Under a conservation covenant, Trust for Nature works directly with landholders to sensitively manage their land. The northern plains grasslands in Victoria are one of the few areas in the state where selective grazing complements conservation.

“We always support them in their management of a covenant, which generally sits over just one paddock of land,” Kirsten said. “We don’t just tell them what to do.”

Greg agrees. “I am able to negotiate how we will manage it with Trust for Nature and I won’t lose the right to my land,” he said. “Some people are wary about that but you actually have a lot of autonomy.”

Conservation covenants, however, aren’t just beneficial for endangered species. In addition to the financial incentives, Kirsten said landholders take a lot of pride knowing they have Plains-wanderers on their property.

“People love being a part of this journey to help save a species,” Kirsten said. “When they realise they have a natural legacy on their property, they understand what a difference they can make.”

Greg said he feels proud to be leaving a legacy for the future. “It harks back to remembering what the land was like when you were a kid and wanting to give that to the next generation,” he said. “I’m proud to be helping out.”

This project is supported by the North Central Catchment Management Authority, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Main photo courtesy Chris Tzaros

Plains wanderer

More about the Plains-wanderer:

Plains-wanderers are small grassland birds standing to about 12 cm tall.

There are estimated to be between 250 and 1,000 Plains-wanderers left in the wild, and 95 percent of native grasslands that Plains-wanderers formerly occupied have been lost to cultivation and urban development.

The main threat to Plains-wanderers is the continued habitat loss due to cultivation throughout Victorian grasslands and eastern New South Wales Riverina grasslands. The grasslands that do remain also have to be managed to have a preferred habitat structure as Plains-wanderers disappear from severely overgrazed, burnt or overgrown paddocks.

Plains-wanderers were once widespread throughout the grasslands of eastern Australia; however due to habitat loss, they are now restricted to a few isolated remnants, mostly in Victoria and New South Wales. They have been found in South Australia and Queensland.

The Plains-wanderer is one of 27 threatened species identified in Zoos Victoria’s Wildlife Conservation Master Plan and one of Trust for Nature’s highest priority species to target for permanent habitat protection.

Conservation covenants and the Plains-wanderer Project:

Conservation covenants are voluntary agreements on property titles that enable private landowners to protect nature forever, even after the property changes hands. They are a way to leave a legacy for future generations and are one of the most important contributions a landowner can make to protect nature.

Trust for Nature and the Northern Plains Conservation Management Network have been working with farmers on the Patho Plains to raise awareness of Plains-wanderers and grassland conservation.

About 540ha in north-central Victoria has been protected with conservation covenants.

In 2018-19, 36 conservation covenants, covering 1918ha, were registered by Victorian landholders, bringing the total hectares protected by covenants to 66,827 ha.

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.

Photo courtesy David Baker Gabb

Back to all news

12 November 2020 by

Landholders create homes for critically endangered bird

Landholders in north central Victoria are putting legal protections on their properties to ensure a critically endangered bird has a home forever.
endangered birds
plains wanderers
plains wanderers
plains wanderers
plains wanderers
plains wanderers
plains wanderers
plains wanderer

Landholders in north central Victoria are putting legal protections on their properties to ensure a critically endangered bird has a home forever.

More than 400 ha of land in the area has been protected with conservation covenants, which are voluntary agreements that are tied to titles and live on, even after a property changes hands.

Landholders are being motivated to take this step to protect the Plains-wanderer, a historical and evolutionary important species that is critically endangered in Australia due to habitat clearing, cultivation and inappropriate grazing regimes; just 250 – 1,000 are estimated to be left in the wild.

Graziers Andy and Judy McGillivray are the latest landholders to put a conservation covenant on 129.5 ha of their property north west of Echuca and said it’s the least they could to ensure Australia doesn’t lose another species.

Andy said, “Researchers have been on our property and recorded six Plains-wanderers.

“This was an amazing find and we’re really proud to be able to provide habitat for them. Knowing that we can protect the land forever gives us peace of mind that they will always have somewhere to live.”

Securing safe environments for the birds is critical to the success of breeding programs that aim to release the animals into the wild.

The Plains-wanderer is one of 27 threatened species identified in Zoos Victoria’s recently released Wildlife Conservation Master Plan.

Trust for Nature conservation officer Kirsten Hutchison said, “Zoos Victoria is committed to helping us partner with more landholders to protect more than 500 ha of land in the north central region of Victoria where there are still excellent grasslands that can support the bird.

“It’s really encouraging that we’re finding the bird still living out here—they’re very elusive and difficult to locate.

“Our hope is that more landholders recognise the critical role they play in looking after its future, and understand that covenants, and the bird, can coexist with farming.”

Andy said, “Knowing that what we do on our property can potentially help prevent a species from becoming extinct is humbling and amazing.

“We are over the moon since covenanting two of our native grassland paddocks. I love going out there and seeing the results.”

The Plains for Wanderers project is supported by the North Central Catchment Management Authority, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Putting a protective conservation covenant on a property is one of the most important things landholders can do to help Victoria’s plants and animals survive, thereby ensuring they are around for future generations to enjoy.

In 2018/19, 36 conservation covenants (covering 1,918 ha) were registered by Victorian landholders, bringing the total hectares protected by covenants to 66,827 ha.

Trust for Nature is one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations, established by an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1972 to protect habitat on private land.

It is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generosity of supporters to help protect Victoria’s biodiversity.

Andy and Judy McGillivray’s property will be open on September 13 as part of Trust for Nature’s Spring into Nature program.

It will be a great chance for visitors to tour a property that has excellent habitat for the Plains-wanderer. See events for more information.

Main photo courtesy Chris Tzaros.

Back to all news