Why

To help halt and reverse nature loss in Australia, we need to increase the amount of land that is protected for nature.

Back in December 2022, nearly 200 countries, including Australia, agreed on a plan called the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (or GBF for short). One of the main goals of this plan is to protect at least 30% of our planet’s land, rivers, lakes, and oceans by 2030.

Australia is in a great position to get to 30%. Already, 22% of Australia’s land is protected, which is a big jump from just 7% in the mid-1990s. To help get to 30%, Australia needs to create more national parks and nature reserves on public land, expand Indigenous Protected Areas, and enable more private landowners to permanently safeguard and actively manage wildlife habitat on their land.

Australian landholders love nature and play an important role in looking after it. Australian landholders actively care for nature and collectively, they look after more than 6,000 privately protected areas.

However, these areas make up less than 2% of the amount of Australian land that is permanently protected. That means there’s enormous opportunity to grow this network – but we need serious government investment. Let’s grab this chance to build a legacy we can all be proud of.

Credit: Edwina Cameron

Weeds

Many landholders are working hard to ensure our fragile native flora is protected from encroaching, invasive weeds. Weeds dominate landscapes and waterways, displacing native plants and the animals that survive on them.

Credit: Minden Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

Pests

A wide range of strategies are used to help the native animals that are at risk from highly evolved predators like feral cats and foxes, and to tackle the challenges of other feral animals like deer and pigs that compete for food and territory or destroy habitat.

Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing our planet, but there remains cause for hope. In the wake of COP-26, there is growing recognition of the role that nature will play in solutions including the work of private land conservation.  

Landscape-scale conservation plays an important role in carbon sequestration as well as in supporting biodiversity. 

Credit: David Tipling Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo

Fire

Fire is a natural part of our ecosystems, with many of our unique species relying on fire to survive. However, fire needs to be carefully managed to protect our wildlife. Climate change means extreme fire events are more common.

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