Land Acquisition Policy
The Australian Bush Heritage Fund aims to acquire land and manage it for conservation in the long term. Therefore Bush Heritage strives to acquire land:
That protects biodiversity and other nature conservation values by:
- contributing to the survival of rare and threatened taxa, communities and landscapes
- displaying unusual richness and/or diversity of taxa or communities
- contributing to the maintenance of natural processes
- contributing to the maintenance of evolutionary and biogeographic processes
- representing communities and species that are poorly represented in secure reserves.
That will result in reserves which are viable and robust, so that:
- the maintenance of the values for which they were acquired is within the scientific capabilities of Bush Heritage
- reserve boundaries and design minimize edge effects and off-reserve impacts
- threatening processes beyond the control of Bush Heritage will not compromise reserve values.
That maximises value for money by:
- minimising initial and ongoing outlays
- maximising conservation outcomes for Bush Heritage
- ensuring that the maintenance of the values for which the land was acquired is within the financial capabilities of Bush Heritage.
That complements other conservation initiatives as:
- it is unrepresented or under represented within other public and private reserve systems
- its values are threatened and will otherwise remain unprotected
- while viable itself, may contribute to the long term viability of other reserve systems
Bush Heritage will not compete with indigenous people for land with which they have a traditional or historical association and where they have a clear intention to acquire.