Trust for Nature (Victoria)

Our mission is to protect and restore biodiversity on private land across Victoria

Protecting habitat along the Murray River

The “Iconic Estates – Murray River” project area includes the vast floodplain of the Murray River, stretching from the far north-west (at the border with South Australia) towards the headwaters near Towong in the north-east of the state.

Biodiversity mapping by Trust for Nature and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has been used to identify priority areas for permanent protection, such as:

  • areas that act as buffers around public land reserves, shielding our iconic parks
  • areas that create corridors between public land reserves, securing landscape connectivity.

In the Mallee region, protecting this habitat will help threatened ecological communities, plants and animals such as the Regent Parrot, Carpet Python, Giles Planigale, Fat-tailed Dunnart, Hooded Scaly-foot, the Victorian Mallee Bird community and Semi-arid Woodlands.

In the Goulburn Broken and north east regions, protecting this habitat will help threatened plants and animals such as Regent Honeyeater, Booroolong Frog, Swift Parrot, Brolga, Squirrel Glider and Bush Stone Curlew.

If you’re a landholder interested in protecting habitat near the Murray River, a Trust for Nature Conservation Officer is available to discuss your property and plan a site assessment. Check this map to see if your property falls under the project area.

Some key points about conservation covenants:

  • a conservation covenant is a voluntary agreement on a property title that enables landholders to permanently protect nature forever, even after a property changes hands
  • landholders choose which areas of their property to covenant, depending on their plans and how they use their property
  • there is no cost involved for the landholder
  • management for covenanted land is guided by a tailored conservation covenant management plan, developed by Trust for Nature in collaboration with the landholder. Actions in management plans may include the best way for landholders to tackle pest and weed control on their property.

For more information about the project contact Trust for Nature’s Senior Conservation Officer Louise Nicholas on 0477 010 973, louisen@tfn.org.au.

This project is funded with the support of the Victorian Government.