Trust for Nature (Victoria)

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

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  • 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
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  • Resources
    • All publications
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  • What we do
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    • Neds Corner Station
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    • 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
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    • Victorian ecosystems
    • Sustainable Development Goals

When one covenant isn’t enough

one covenant

Situated on the lower Perry River on the Gippsland Plains, David Hawkes has made a substantial contribution to conservation, having recently placed a covenant on a further 88 ha of his property. This addition brings the total number of hectares under covenant to 148 ha.

The additional 88 ha was made possible through the Protecting Our Ponds project, funded by the Victorian Government’s Our Catchments Our Communities program through the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.  Increasing the area of protected habitat in the Perry River catchment helps to look after and restore the unique Perry River chain of ponds—a system of irregularly shaped wetlands linked by shallow floodplains. Chains of ponds used to be common across south eastern Australia.

The covenanted areas are adjacent to farming land. David said he was interested in protecting the land because he knew what a difference it could make to the ponds. He said, “The area that’s under covenant had low grazing value but extremely high conservation value. I wanted to see it protected forever and the incentives for covenanting it made it possible.”

Eastern Forests project

The covenants are making a significant contribution to the protection of the ponds, providing an important buffer and protection to the river and extending the existing Perry River covenant network, which is over 2,000 ha across the catchment. They also protect nationally endangered Red Gum Grassy Woodland and the state threatened Swamp Scrub, Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland, and Coast Banksia Woodland. Important estuarine wetland and salt marsh are also now protected.

The new covenant also provides habitat for threatened fauna such as the Diamond Firetail and Lace Monitor.
The Perry River, through a series of disconnected ponds, links the forested slopes of the Great Dividing Range to the Gippsland Lakes, providing a significant corridor in a largely cleared rural landscape.

For more information about projects in the East Gippsland region contact Robyn Edwards (03) 8631 5888 or robyne@tfn.org.au

Diamond Firetail

The new covenant also provides habitat for threatened fauna such as the Diamond Firetail and Lace Monitor.

The Perry River, through a series of disconnected ponds, links the forested slopes of the Great Dividing Range to the Gippsland Lakes, providing a significant corridor in a largely cleared rural landscape.

Photo by Sean Phillipson

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We acknowledge and respect Victorian Traditional Owners as the original custodians of Victoria’s land and waters. We pay respect to Elders past and present and to the continuing spiritual and cultural connection Aboriginal Victorians continue to have with Victoria’s diverse environments.

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

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+61 (0)3 8631 5888
Freecall 1800 999 933
trustfornature@tfn.org.au
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Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

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