Protecting grasslands and fighting extinction
How covenants with private landowners are providing long term protection for critically endangered ecosystems.
The Nature Conservancy Australia has been working in partnership with the Trust for Nature (TfN) in establishing covenants with private landholders to permanently protect land with high conservation value and important ecosystems.
A unique conservation method that supports people and nature
A common method that has been used globally in support of conservation goals has been outright land acquisition. In Australia, a popular alternative method is the creation and operation of covenants with private landowners.
Conservation covenants are voluntary agreements on property titles that enable private landowners to protect nature for ever, even after the property changes hands.
Australia has more than 5,000 privately protected areas and has the largest area of land under this arrangement in the world. Together with Indigenous Protected Areas, national parks and nature reserves, they play an important role in the protection of Australian landscapes and biodiversity.
A partnership for Patho Plains
The lowland grasslands of south-eastern Australia are among the nation’s most threatened and poorly conserved ecosystems. They provide critical habitat for a multitude of bird species including the Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus).
The challenge was to find a solution that worked for both agriculture and nature conservation, one that truly respected the farmer’s needs, while also protecting the ecosystem for nature to thrive.
Working with TfN and other partners, we have succeeded in establishing protection via covenants at Patho Plains, about 100km north-west of Shepparton, Victoria.
Protecting grasslands and fighting extinction for one of the rarest bird species on the planet
The critically endangered Plains-wanderer is a ground-nesting grassland bird, once widespread throughout the grasslands of eastern Australia. They are now restricted to a few isolated remnants due to massive habitat loss as its native grasslands have been converted into urban and cropping areas. It has also suffered devastating predation from introduced predators such as foxes, dogs, and cats, reducing its numbers to an estimated 250 - 1000 left in the wild.
Typically, grasslands are still underrepresented within protected areas despite the vital role they play for so many of our unique species.
Private protected areas enabled by these covenants allow for a diversity of ecosystems to be protected. They also help connect other protected areas, creating a corridor for species like the Plains-wanderer to thrive.
This work also promotes the conservation of grasslands as vital for local communities, and shows how it can be integrated into an agricultural landscape that has many different industry sectors including cropping, dairy, intensive livestock, grassfed beef and sheep for meat and wool.
Using covenants to support willing landowners in the sensitive management of key parcels of land is allowing some of the nation’s most important and threatened grassland ecosystems to be conserved and protected.