Agricultural Conservation Partnerships | Bush Heritage Australia

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Over 58% of the continent is dedicated to agriculture and around 50% of threatened species are found on private land. In contrast, only 22% of the continent is made up of protected areas. If we want to fulfill our purpose of returning the bush to good health, we recognise that we have to go beyond our reserve boundaries. Sustainable farming practices are a necessary solution to the biodiversity crisis.

We’re working across 10 million hectares of agricultural land to bring our national scientific expertise to farmers and large-scale landholders.

We have the tools to provide a holistic view of the land they manage and support them to develop plans to protect the ecological values of their land. To do this we've developed a four-phase framework that can be applied to our partners with small-scale family farms or large-scale pastoral properties.

Agriculture icon - Characterise

1 Characterise

Our team of ecologists and data scientists analyse and map the natural values on each property and verify findings with on-ground surveys.

Agriculture assessment icon

2 Assess

To understand what condition the natural values are in. Working with partners across the continent, we’ve developed innovative technology to provide them with a wealth of data across 4 million hectares. 

Agriculture icon - improve

3 Improve

We co-develop projects to enhance those natural values. We look at direct actions such as threat management to protect threatened species, or landscape rehydration and restoration techniques. 

Agriculture Icons - Measure

4 Measure

We make sure the implemented actions are improving outcomes on the land. 

“No two farms are the same, but we have a framework that supports everyone and can be extended to specific landscape contexts.”

Contact our Agriculture Team

To help build sustainable outcomes and diversify our income streams, our work with natural capital in agriculture is fully funded by contributions from the farmers, partners, corporations, governments and landholders with whom we work. 

Focus areas

Environmental services

Such as preparing accounts of natural capital and advising on fire, weed and feral predator management.

Biodiverse carbon capture

Using our experience to help landholders explore biodiverse carbon capture opportunities.

Natural products

Supporting the development of natural products (e.g. sustainable seed harvesting) that could diversify revenue to invest in conservation.

Midlands Conservation Partnership

The Tasmanian Midlands are home to some of the most threatened ecosystems in the world - temperate grasslands and grassy woodlands. In collaboration with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy we’ve been working with farmers in the midlands for over 10 years, using a fund that provides stewardship payments to farmers in return for conserving biodiversity.

Tasmanian Midlandscapes Project
Ecologist Matt Appleby with farmer Valerie Le Maitre.
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Ecologist Matt Appleby with farmer Valerie Le Maitre. Photo Amelia Caddy.
Drone footage of a fork in a creek at Naree Reserve, NSW.
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Drone footage of a fork in a creek at Naree Reserve, NSW. Photo Justin McCann.

Integrated Vegetation Condition

In partnership with Climate Friendly, we’ve developed a way of using satellite and drone images with other field data to measure the condition of vegetation. It's been accredited by Accounting for Nature. We apply this on farms to produce evidence for agricultural impact investors and to certify biodiverse carbon capture.

We’re in the process of expanding the method to monitor vegetation on large rangeland properties with carbon projects (>10,000 ha).

Biodiverse carbon capture

We use learnings from restoration work and carbon trade projects on our reserves to advise other local projects. 

Restoration & biodiverse carbon capture
Person carrying seedlings and planting tool.
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Person carrying seedlings and planting tool. Photo Amelia Caddy.
Bluegrass (Dichanthium spp.) seeds at Carnarvon Station Reserve.
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Bluegrass (Dichanthium spp.) seeds at Carnarvon Station Reserve. Photo by Krystle Wright.

Harvesting Bluegrass seed

Native Bluegrass grasslands at Carnarvon Reserve in Queensland occupy under 600 ha but provide crucial habitat. We're harvesting Bluegrass seed to sell to local landowners, graziers and mines undertaking offset work. This creates a sustainable, minimal-impact income stream for Carnarvon Reserve and more healthy native grasslands.

The blue grass of home

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