When farming meets conservation
More than 800 hectares of privately owned farmland have been added to a nation-leading conservation management program in the Tasmanian Midlands.
There is something special about the land surrounding the Balonne River in Queensland’s southeast.
Much of it lies within the Murray–Darling Basin’s Condamine–Balonne catchment on Gunggari Country, six hours west of Brisbane. Two-thirds of this catchment is a flat floodplain.
An intricate system of creeks and rivers link up to the Balonne, creating a diverse landscape filled with ancient gums, grassy plains and dry rangelands.
When it floods, the scenery transforms.
– Joel Fitzgerald, Agricultural Partnership Lead“It is a pleasure to walk the vast plains intersected by flooded landscapes; an enchanting feature of the Murray Darling Basin,”
Sadly, human interventions have altered much of the natural landscape here.
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Much of the land has been cleared for grazing. Credit: Pastoral Partners Australia
To help regenerate and protect these ecosystems for generations to come, the Bush Heritage team has partnered with agricultural company Pastoral Partners Australia.
Pastoral Partners owns 12 grazing stations near the Balonne River and is on a mission to transform the health of the local landscape.
Through our long-term partnership, we'll mentor and train the company’s staff to deliver best-practice biodiversity methods, such as those pertaining to native vegetation and feral species monitoring.
“Bush Heritage is supporting us as we prepare for our Accounting for Nature accreditation utilising the NV10 Integrated Vegetation Condition Method, as well as some other specific fauna work.”
“Their deep ecological expertise has helped us see our project areas through a clear biodiversity lens.”
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A vivid sunset greeting our Bush Heritage staff on a recent field trip. By Joel Fitzgerald
Pastoral Partners selectively purchases agricultural properties that give them the best ability to regenerate the native vegetation and optimise the grazing land.
"This regeneration is being funded through the creation of carbon credits, allowing nature to bounce back at scale. Anywhere from 40 to 60% of their properties are working towards regenerating natural forests, whilst diversifying farm income” says Joel.
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Bush Heritage and Pastoral Partners staff on a recent field trip together. By Joel Fitzgerald
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A thermal drone is ready to take off. By Joel Fitzgerald.
Accounting for Nature
Bush Heritage is proud to be mentoring Pastoral Partners through the development of their first Environmental Account under the Accounting for Nature Framework. Accounting for Nature is a high-integrity organisation, which helps businesses account for nature.
“It effectively puts nature on the balance sheet, conceptually similar to that of a financial account,” says Joel.
“Through the Accounting for Nature process, Bush Heritage developed two accredited methodologies, Native Vegetation Assessment Methodology and Integrated Vegetation Condition Method, which focus specifically on the changes to health and composition of native vegetation over time. Both provide industry leading native vegetation monitoring, particularly in rangelands environments.”
Prior to this current work with Pastoral Partners, we are proud to have successfully applied the Integrated Vegetation Condition Method to around 4 million hectares of country across agricultural and conservational landscapes. Joel says it’s rewarding to now be training others in the use of this method.
"The more people that we can actually mentor and train in the use of this method, the greater its scalability is going to be,” he says.
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Bush Heritage and Pastoral Partners staff on a recent field trip together. By Joel Fitzgerald
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Drones and on-ground survey methods are being used. By Pastoral Partners Australia
Grazing land legacies
Close to 60% of Australia’s landmass is used for agricultural purposes. Partnering with these agricultural landholders is pivotal to having conservation impact at scale, a core part of our 2030 strategy.
"Even in the last four years we've managed to have north of 14 million hectares of impact across partnering properties. So, the scale is enormous,” says Joel.
Focusing on partnerships around priority landscapes, such as this diverse pocket in Queensland’s southeast, is equally important.
Pastoral Partners’ properties border the drier rangelands and rain-fed coastal country.
– Joel Fitzgerald, Agricultural Partnership Lead“It's a really special place because it has sufficient rainfall and soil quality to provide for productive agricultural and biodiverse systems, supporting strong natural regeneration of their carbon areas,”
Pastoral Partners CEO, Ben Sawley, sees this partnership as a potential model for others in the agricultural space.
"There is an opportunity here for more producers to adopt science-led environmental practices that increase both the financial returns and sustainability of their properties. What we’re doing with Bush Heritage shows that conservation organisations and commercial agriculture can work together to deliver real, measurable outcomes,” he says.
