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Fragile bushland in caring hands in Corangamite
Landholders in South West Victoria are looking to the future by protecting severely depleted ecosystems with conservation covenants.
Over the past 30 years Victoria's peak body for the protection of native bush on private land, Trust for Nature, has developed conservation covenants with 62 landholders across the Corangamite region.
The covenants permanently protect land containing high-value native vegetation from threatening activities such as subdivision or clearing.
Funding
Through the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA), the Australian Government has provided Trust for Nature with $277,000 over the past seven years to help protect what remains of the region's natural bushland.
The funding helps to employ two part-time positions. The organisation also receives support from the State Government, philanthropic trusts and public donations.
Activities
Trust for Nature's Regional Manager Peter Moulton said the covenants aimed to protect endangered habitat over a 2.3 million hectare area from Melbourne to Portland, known as the volcanic plains.
"Most of the plains used to be covered by native grasslands, woodlands and wetlands, but most of these habitats were cleared, meaning only a few scattered patches remain," Peter said.
"These areas are crucial to the survival of threatened species including a wide variety of reptiles such as the Corangamite Water Skink, as well as birds of prey and waderbirds."
While the drought has meant landholders have struggled to make conservation a priority, many are still involved in covenants.
"Trees provide shade and shelter for stock, and they prevent many of our debilitating land issues such as erosion and salinity. In the process, they maintain the long-term productive capacity of the land," Peter said.
Recently at Lethbridge, northwest of Geelong, a landholder agreed to covenant 140 hectares of native grassland. The chicken broiler business wanted to protect the high-value grasslands on the property, locating its operations well away from the site. Luckily it did not need to sacrifice commercial viability to do so.
Peter said the covenant fostered conservation, research and commercial outcomes, which was rare.
"A lot of the time covenants are placed on properties used purely for lifestyle reasons or there might be a small hobby operation with alpacas, but it's not often large landholders are at liberty to set aside so much land for conservation," he said.
Achievements
"Over the past eight years we've registered 25 covenants across the region, including the iconic Belcher property on the Moorabool River near Batesford, which contains several endangered plains vegetation classes," Peter said.
"We're also convinced three councils in the region to reduce their rates for covenanted properties, with other councils likely to adopt a similar approach."
More information
- Peter Moulton, Corangamite Regional Manager, Trust for Nature: (03) 5222 8139 or pm.tfn@bigpond.net.au
- Trust for Nature website: www.tfn.org.au
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