The first land handback to Bunurong Traditional Owners in 180 years is on track to happen at Rhyll, Millowl, or Phillip Island as it is more commonly known.

The eight ha property will be transferred to the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, who are working with Trust for Nature to conserve, restore and maintain the land.

The land, which was donated to Trust for Nature in 2020, is part of the unique, richly biodiverse Rhyll Inlet—one of the most significant sites for migratory birds in Australia and recognised as a globally significant wetland under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation are the Registered Aboriginal Party over an area that includes Phillip Island.

An agreement between the Land Council and Trust for Nature includes 12 months access and management rights followed by a title transfer in 2023.

Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation’s Board of Directors Chair, Kelly Lehmann said, “This is an amazing opportunity for Bunurong people. Through this land we can further support our future generations in learning culture and Caring for Country.

“The Bunurong Land Council is proud to be able to support Bunurong people now and into the future, so we can thrive to establish a better future including opportunities like this for our mob.”

The property also has a conservation covenant on it which ensures that, no matter who owns the land, the plants and animals on the property are protected forever.

Critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possums and Helmeted Honeyeaters—Victoria’s animal emblems—have a more secure future thanks to protection of 41 ha of habitat at Yellingbo on Wurundjeri Country east of Melbourne.

The 41 ha property has been purchased by Trust for Nature with funding from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and will be added to the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve—a seven per cent increase in the reserve’s size.

Trust for Nature purchased the property from beef farmer Bruce Logan, whose family has been in the Yellingbo area since 1933.

“It’s good to see conservation keep going because it’s important and it’s nice to see the birds around,” Bruce said.

Bruce’s grandfather started farming pigs and dairy cattle before moving onto beef. His family sold two other properties to Trust for Nature which are now part of the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve.

Trust for Nature has contributed about 200 ha to the 550 ha reserve thanks to its strong connections with landholders, including some of the most critical habitat for Helmeted Honeyeaters.

Helmeted Honeyeaters are found only in sedge forests in the area around Yellingbo and have been found on the new property. After declining to around 60 wild birds in 2013 due to the loss of their habitat, the population has increased to around 200 thanks to efforts to release captive-bred birds and protect and improve their habitat.

The property also extends habitat for the lowland population of Leadbeater’s Possum, also only found at Yellingbo, and threatened by the degradation of its streamside habitat.

Trust for Nature congratulates the nine recent Indigenous graduates of the Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management.

The Trust celebrated the students at a ceremony on Friday 26 November featuring the Djirri Djirri dancers.

MP Sheena Watt, who spoke at the event, congratulated the students.

“The learning and teaching that happens in this course is two-way, where the students learn practical skills and also share their knowledge and culture with the people they work with,” she wrote on Facebook.

The 2021 course is the third time the course has been run. It is organised by the Trust in partnership with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Holmesglen.

Chelsea Cooke, one of the graduates, said the course complimented her work as a ranger.

“It’s a great opportunity because I’m learning so much and I’m also able to bring that to my work field,” she said. Chelsea has recently been employed by Trust for Nature in the Melbourne region.

“It’s been an amazing year of learning and working together and sharing knowledge,” said Trust for Nature regional manager Ben Cullen. “I can’t wait to see the role these grads play in the future of how our natural areas are managed.

“Traditional Owners have told us they want to work more on country and want support to do that. Trust for Nature is in a position to help join those dots. The course is guided by Aboriginal people and we work with them to deliver it.”

One of Victoria’s oldest intentional communities has protected more than 180 ha to help save the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum.

The Moora Moora cooperative on Wurundjeri Country in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges, near Healesville, was established in 1974 and is home to 30 households.

The property, featuring 80-year-old Mountain Ash forests, is important habitat for the Leadbeater’s Possum, which were found on the property for the first time in 2020. Protecting more habitat is essential for saving the possum, with some researchers predicting it could be extinct within decades due to habitat loss.

One hundred and eighty hectares of the property is now protected under a conservation covenant, a legal agreement placed on the property title that protects habitat for wildlife forever.

“Moora Moora was founded with sustainability in mind. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m really pleased we can protect the natural environment on the property,” said community founder and member Peter Cock.

“Placing a covenant on the property is a commitment to making sure that when I’m gone, the land is still protected. It makes us accountable to the future and helps us to face nature rather than see it as a background. Nature also needs our partnership,” he said.

Founded in 1974 on Mount Toolebewong, the Moora Moora Cooperative Community is home to around 60 people who live on the property under a cooperative arrangement. The community includes six hamlets and a farming area.

Supported by the Victorian Government Faunal Emblems project, the covenant protects habitat for Leadbeater’s Possums and other threatened species such as Lace Monitors and Powerful Owls.