President's report

Every time I visit a Bush Heritage reserve, I'm humbled and amazed by each landscape’s rich individuality. Before commencing at Bush Heritage as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rachel Lowry joined the Board for a reserve visit in south-west Western Australia on Goreng-Noongar Country. While marveling at a restored area’s recovery on Red Moort, we spotted the quick tail of a Gnow (Malleefowl)! To see this bird – who had spontaneously found refuge on a Bush Heritage reserve – was to see our work come to full fruition; the culmination of countless individuals all working together to heal Country. 

Three years ago, we set an ambitious 2030 Strategy in recognition of the instrumental role we want to play in delivering on national and global targets to protect 30% of land by 2030. In the past 12 months, we proved that we're well on the way to delivering the goals of our strategy and made significant achievements across its key focus areas – our reserve network, partnerships with Traditional Custodians and, an emerging focus of work, with agricultural partners. 

Firstly, the acquisition of Evelyn Downs: 235,000 hectares on Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Country in South Australia. This is our largest reserve acquisition to date, and, thanks to our generous supporters, it was supported by our largest fundraising campaign. 

As a community, we're looking forward to making a difference with this exciting and big acquisition. Secondly, we deepened our right-way partnerships with Traditional Custodians and committed to becoming stronger listeners, bringing about important shifts in how we work together to heal Country. 

This year, our work growing and sharing knowledge with other Indigenous ranger groups for the Night Parrot’s protection led to the finding of new populations beyond Pullen Pullen Reserve; a win for the species and all those contributing to its safer future.

Thirdly, we further developed our agricultural partnerships with a framework to guide our operations and were engaged to provide baseline biodiversity assessments and advice for 9.8 million hectares. Throughout those assessments, we found a diverse mix of ecosystems and threatened species, which reiterates the importance of our work in the sector.

This year, we saw our second-highest yearly revenue and our highest operational expenditure. The Evelyn Downs fundraising campaign meant we completed the year with an unexpected surplus, which will hold us in good stead as we continue the path of the 2030 Strategy.  

I would like to thank our former CEO Heather Campbell for her leadership at Bush Heritage and wish her all the best at Greening Australia. Also, a formal welcome to Rachel, who joined as the next Bush Heritage CEO. We look forward to her leadership, as she takes the organisation to the next level and carries the momentum built by all those before. Thank you, Mark Dwyer and Rob Murphy for performing as interim co-CEO and all the Bush Heritage staff who ensured our work could continue seamlessly during the transition period.

At a board level, I would like to recognise and thank you Avelina Tarrago, our outgoing Board member, for your significant contribution to the organisation. You deepened our understanding of Traditional Custodians' connection to Country and centralised this within our work.  

Finally, a huge thank you to our Board and committees, supporters, donors, staff, partners and volunteers. As I saw the tail of that Gnow on the restored landscape, I was reminded of our work’s vital impact, all of which your dedication allows us to achieve. 

Kind regards, 

Sue O'Connor, President