Founded | 1991 |
---|---|
Focus | Conservation |
Location |
|
Area served | Australia |
Method | Acquisition |
Members | 54,000 supporters [1] |
Key people | Bob Brown |
Revenue | A $34,000,000 (2023/August 2023) [1] |
Employees | 199 (full-time equivalent) [2] |
Volunteers | 785 [1] |
Website | bushheritage |
Formerly called | Australian Bush Heritage Fund |
Bush Heritage Australia is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, that operates throughout Australia. It was previously known as the Australian Bush Heritage Fund. Its vision is: Healthy Country, Protected Forever.
It works under three Impact models:
It does so to protect endangered species and preserve Australia's biodiversity. It's 2022-23 Impact Report stated it was contributing to the protection of 11.3 million hectares on its reserves and partnership lands. There were 7,735 Australian species recorded on its reserves and partnership properties, including more than 200 threatened species. [3]
Bush Heritage Australia was founded in 1990 by Bob Brown who purchased two forested properties in Tasmania, adjoining the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site, to save them from being woodchipped. He used the money of his Goldman Environmental Prize as a deposit, borrowing the rest and setting up the Australian Bush Heritage Fund. [4]
The organization subsequently developed, first in a small way in Tasmania, before expanding to the Australian mainland, and has grown with the assistance of regular subscribers and other donors. [5]
Doug Humann AM led Bush Heritage Australia as CEO from 1997 to 2011, raising its profile nationally. (As of 2021 [update] he is chair of Landcare Australia.) [6] Gerard O'Neill took over from 2011 until 2018 and Heather Campbell has been the CEO since January 2019. [7]
In 1997 Bush Heritage acquired the lease of Erith Island, an island in the Kent Group, Bass Strait, used for cattle grazing. It was relinquished to the Tasmanian Government in 2002 for incorporation into the Kent Group National Park. [8]
In 2011 Bush Heritage entered into a ten-year agreement with the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation, the "first long-term agreement in Australia between traditional landowners and a non-government conservation organisation". Many others have since followed. The Healthy Country Plan developed by the two groups helps to manage the Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) within the Mitchell River National Park in the Kimberley region in Western Australia. [9] Bush Heritage now has an extensive Aboriginal Partnerships Program.
Bush Heritage Australia is striving for the long-term protection of Australia's biodiversity through the acquisition and management of land, water and wildlife of outstanding conservation significance. To do so it focuses its attention and investment on broad 'priority landscape' regions across Australia, selected for a combination of criteria, including the number of threatened species and ecosystems, the number of endemic species, the general condition of the lands, expected climate change impacts and existing staff and resources deployed in the region. Care of Bush Heritage owned properties includes the rehabilitation of degraded land, the control of introduced herbivores and predators, the use of fire as a management tool, consultation and co-operation with neighbouring landowners and traditional owners, as well as with government departments, and the creation of habitat corridors.
Bush Heritage Australia also has a conservation science program led by Rebecca Spindler. [10] They study public attitude towards conservation as well as the conservation of animal and plant species. [10] [11]
Bush Heritage is run by an independent board of directors skilled in land management and conservation, around 200 paid staff and many volunteers. In 2022-23 Bush Heritage had over 50,000 supporters and hundreds of highly skilled volunteers (contributing over 43,206 hours in 2022-23) who are given opportunities to visit and work on the reserves. Details of income and expenditure can be found in the Impact Report on its website. [1]
As of October 2023, Bush Heritage had 42 reserves and was working with 25 Aboriginal partnerships protecting 11.3 million hectares (113,000 square km): [1]
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Georges River National Park is a protected Australian National Park, under the management of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The park falls in the regions of the Sutherland Shire Council and Canterbury-Bankstown Council. Located in the city of Sydney, 25 km south-west of the CBD, surrounded by neighbouring suburbs of Lugano, Illawong, Alfords Point, Padstow Heights, Revesby Heights, Picnic Point and Sandy Point. The primary use of the park is to service for recreational activities such as; bush walking, picnics, barbeques, boating, fishing, and water/jet skiing. The park is Segmented into 15 sectors along the riverbanks of the Georges River, encompassing 514 hectares, housing many native aquatic and terrestrial Australian flora and fauna. The traditional custodians are the Dharug people located on the north side of the river, and Dharawal people located on the south of the river.
Southwest National Park is an Australian national park located in the south-west of Tasmania, bounded by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to the north and the Hartz Mountains National Park to the east. It is a part of a chain of national parks and state reserves that make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering an area of 6,183 km2 (2,387 sq mi), it is Tasmania's largest national park.
Conservation in Australia is an issue of state and federal policy. Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, with a large portion of species endemic to Australia. Preserving this wealth of biodiversity is important for future generations. 25% of Australia is managed for conservation.
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering 15,800 km2 (6,100 sq mi), or almost 25 per cent of Tasmania. It is also one of the last expanses of temperate wilderness in the world, and includes the South West Wilderness.
Greening Australia is an Australian environmental organisation, founded in 1982, the International Year of the Tree, to protect, restore and conserve Australia's native vegetation. Greening Australia was formed by the United Nations Association of Australia and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia.
Commonwealth v Tasmania was a significant Australian court case, decided in the High Court of Australia on 1 July 1983. The case was a landmark decision in Australian constitutional law, and was a significant moment in the history of conservation in Australia. The case centred on the proposed construction of a hydro-electric dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, which was supported by the Tasmanian government, but opposed by the Australian federal government and environmental groups.
Scottsdale Reserve is a 1,328-hectare (3,280-acre) nature reserve on the Murrumbidgee River in south-central New South Wales, Australia. It is 79 kilometres (49 mi) south of Canberra, and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Bredbo. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), which purchased it in 2006. The purchase was supportive of projects aiming to connect existing fragmented remnant habitat such as K2C. Since the 1870s up until 2006, the land was used for agriculture – primarily sheep grazing with some minor cropping. A significant component of the Reserve has been cleared of native vegetation.
Australian heritage laws exist at the national (Commonwealth) level, and at each of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia state and territory levels. Generally there are separate laws governing Aboriginal cultural heritage and sacred sites, and historical heritage. State laws also allow heritage to be protected through local government regulations, such as planning schemes, as well.
The Liffey Valley Reserve is a nature reserve comprising four separate parcels of land, with a combined area of 275 ha, in the Liffey Valley of northern Tasmania, Australia. It lies about 55 km (34 mi) south-west of Launceston and 25 km (16 mi) south-east of Deloraine. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA).
Mitchell River National Park is a national park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 2,140 kilometres (1,330 mi) northeast of Perth. The park adjoins the northern boundary of the Prince Regent National Park. The nearest towns are Derby, 350 kilometres (217 mi) to the southwest, as well as Wyndham, 270 km (168 mi) to the southeast. Created in 2000, the park covers an area of over 1,150 km2 (440 sq mi) on the Mitchell Plateau (Ngauwudu).
Beginning as a conservation movement, the environmental movement in Australia was the first in the world to become a political movement. Australia is home to United Tasmania Group, the world's first green party.
Australia's National Reserve System (NRS) is a network of more than 10,000 Commonwealth plus state and territory protected areas which, in combination, on a national scale, protect more than 137 million hectares, greater than 17% of the continent, of unique biodiversity and most significant ecological landscapes for future generations. The aim of the NRS is protect the diversity of all native landscapes, flora and fauna across Australia through strategic habitat protection. It consists of public, indigenous and privately protected areas of land and inland freshwaters.
The Peter Murrell Conservation Area is located in Huntingfield, Tasmania, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the state's capital city, Hobart. The conservation area has an area of 135 ha and is one of three reserves within the Peter Murrell Reserves. Also within these reserves are the Peter Murrell State Reserve and a Public Reserve. These reserves and the Conservation Area lie at the base of the Tinderbox Peninsula, between the suburbs of Kingston, Howden and Blackman's Bay. The Peter Murrell Conservation Area surrounds the northern, western and southern sides of the Peter Murrell State Reserve.
Glenrock State Conservation Area is a protected conservation area located eight kilometres south of the central business district of Newcastle in the state of New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. The park borders the coast and encompasses 534 hectares stretching from the residential suburbs of Merewether to Dudley within the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas.
The Worrorra, also written Worora, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley area of north-western Australia.
Bush Blitz is a species discovery program conducting scientific surveys in Australian terrestrial and marine environments to document known and new fungi, plants and animals. The program is a partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia. Bush Blitz is managed through Parks Australia and the Australian Biological Resources Study. The program began in 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, involving specialist taxonomists, indigenous communities, rangers and landowners, teachers, students and BHP employees. Bush Blitz funds taxonomy and further research based on material collected during Bush Blitz surveys, specifically targeted to assist in the publication of new species and the resolution of problematic groups collected from surveys.
The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their traditional lands, they refer to themselves as Wilinggin people.
Dry's Bluff is a mountain in the Great Western Tiers Range in Tasmania. The walk to its summit is listed in The Abels as one of the hardest day walks in Tasmania with an elevation gain of over 1000m from the base of the plateau. Access to the start of the walk is through Bob Brown's residence Oura Oura which has the sign Trespassers Welcome on the gate.
Scleranthus fasciculatus, commonly known as spreading knawel, is a rare, spreading, non-woody herb found in the south-eastern states of Australia and introduced to New Zealand. The species is found in dry grassland habitats and requires the maintenance of inter-tussock spaces for its establishment and persistence. A number of anthropogenic factors have contributed to the species decline such as impacts from land clearing, road construction and maintenance, and herbicide application.