How trust for nature happened
Our Story
For over 50 years, Trust for Nature has worked alongside Victorians to create a future where our native plants and animals can be valued, protected and thriving.
As one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations, we have unique powers enshrined in legislation to protect Victoria’s natural wonder forever, help meet biodiversity targets locally and globally, and to mitigate the effects of climate change.
What we do
Partnership and Conservation Efforts
At its core, our work depends on good people. We work in partnership to accelerate private land conservation in Victoria and help landowners protect nature on their property. We have partnered with more than 1,500 Victorians to protect more than 117,000 hectares (ha) of native habitat in Victoria.
Covenants and Care
Covenants are actively cared for by the landholders in accordance with our joint management plan and monitored by Trust for Nature. These special places are crucial sanctuaries for nature and provide vital refuges for wildlife as the climate changes.
The Climate Crisis and Our Role
As the scale of the climate crisis increases, the situation can feel overwhelming – but nature needs us now more than ever. Trust for Nature offers tangible and practical ways for Victorians to make a difference.
Our History
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.
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 1,600 covenants which protect more than 80,000 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.
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 – creating a continuous cycle of investment in nature.
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.
Our Misson
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.
117,000+
Hectares of private land protected in Victoria.
1600+
Private properties protected with conservation covenants
62%
of land in Victoria is privately owned
40+
Nature reserves owned by Trust For Nature.
Trust For Nature aims for:
100,000+
hectares of additional private land to be protected by 2030
For you.
For your family.
For future generations.
For the world.
Trust for Nature has the tools to permanently protect, conserve, and regenerate more private land in Victoria to create and sustain a healthy and vibrant landscape.
But threats to our native plants and animals, and the diverse habitats they need to survive, are increasing. This includes the impacts from climate change, changes to bushfire frequency and water flows, and threats from invasive plants and animals.
Victoria is the most intensively settled and cleared state in Australia. National and state parks are essential but these aren’t enough to ensure the health and survival of our environment. Two-thirds of Victoria is privately owned, so protecting, managing and improving habitat on private land is vital to safeguard nature – now, and for future generations.
We must urgently scale up the pace of our protection and restoration efforts to protect the quality and amount of native habitat in Victoria forever
Get to know us better
Landholders encouraged to support efforts to protect important habitat along the Birrarung/Yarra
March 18, 2025Saving Victoria’s grasslands and the Plains-Wanderer
March 4, 2025Grassland conservation partnership recognised in 36th Banksia National Sustainability Awards
1500+ landholders across Victoria have made an incredible gesture to nature by ensuring the native habitat on their property is protected forever.