Protecting nature on productive farms

Laying between Tasmania's Eastern Tiers and Great Western Tiers is one of Australia's 15 national biodiversity hotspots – the woodlands and grassy lowland plains of the Tasmanian Midlands.

A rich farming region dotted with convict-era farmhouses, and interspersed with a patchwork of woodlands and grasslands, the region is a refuge for animals now lost from or struggling on the mainland, including the Eastern Bettong, Spotted-tail Quoll and Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

Surrounded by mountains, the Tasmanian Midlands has lower rainfall and is ecologically distinct from the wetter regions of the west, south and north of the state. It's also much less represented in national parks and other designated conservation areas.

At the time of settlement in the early 1800s the area was a mosaic of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands, maintained by traditional burning regimes of its Aboriginal custodians. The open landscape enabled the rapid establishment of sheep grazing estates on native pastures – a form of farming that left the native ecosystems relatively intact.

However in recent decades, as farming practises have changed and intensified, native grasslands and woodlands have declined and increasingly given way to agricultural pastures and cropping. Less than 10% of the original native grasslands and 30% of all native vegetation remains, much of it degraded in some way. There's now a pressing need to protect these precious remnants.

In collaboration with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, we're helping landholders protect the plants, animals and natural features of the region through the Tasmanian Midlandscapes Project.

What we're doing

Most native vegetation in the Tasmanian Midlands is privately owned, and many of landholders have long historical connections to the landscape. Given this, and the high value of land in this agriculturally productive region, buying properties to manage them for conservation isn't practical or appropriate.

In collaboration with landholders and the Tasmanian and Australian governments, Bush Heritage and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy work together to implement the Midlandscapes Project, designed to foster conservation on private land.

A key initiative within the project is the innovative Midlands Conservation Fund, which provides stewardship payments to farmers for conserving biodiversity on their farms, alongside agricultural production.

Landholders who take up stewardship agreements are paid a fee for putting portions of their land toward conservation. These agreements then provide annual performance payments for meeting conservation targets.

Our ecologists help identify native plants and animals, and help develop and implement plans to protect them, which include fencing, grazing management and restoration of native vegetation.

The first participants

In June 2013 the Midlands Conservation Fund was launched at the ‘Beaufront' property of Julian von Bibra at Ross in Tasmania's Northern Midlands. Beaufront was one of the first 10 properties to be signed up to the fund.

Landowner Julian von Bibra is conserving 190 hectares of endangered grasslands and woodlands on his farm under the fund.

The Midlands Conservation Fund means that we now have a model that is committed to conservation and farmers working together for shared goals. Essentially, conservation now has a place on the farm balance sheet.

A long-term commitment

Stewardship agreements are initially committed to by landowners for up to 10 years with the intent that they'll be extended for rolling 5-year terms.

The fund contains over $3 million, generously donated by the Sidney Myer Fund and the Myer Foundation, John T Reid Charitable Trusts, the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and others. As we work towards our $10 million capital target by 2020, we'll have the capacity to support many more landowners.

The stewardship agreement model will be more viable for farmers in the long-term than traditional conservation covenants because it's underpinned by a fund that will provide money for conservation in perpetuity.