Partnering in Private Land Conservation
Partnering in Private Land Conservation
Connecting landholders to learn and share to expand private land conservation on the North Coast.
Collaborations -
LP023-016
The issue
The North Coast has a strong private land conservation movement that achieves excellent outcomes for wildlife habitat protection, connectivity, and regeneration. Often landholders are working in isolation and have varied levels of understanding and ability around wildlife habitat protection and regeneration. The aim was to create networks of landholders interested in conservation and to provide opportunities for both existing and new landholders to learn about private land conservation, objectives included:
- Increase landholder knowledge and practical conservation skills via networking events
- Increase the available data on species present in NSW via citizen science projects
- Improve knowledge sharing and collaboration between landholders, government agencies, experts, and Landcare
The solution
North Coast Regional Landcare Network developed the ‘Partnering in Private Land Conservation’ project with funding from Landcare NSW in Partnership with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust. The project aimed to connect and educate landholders about private land conservation, and develop a consistent regional approach to the delivery of these outcomes by working with local Landcare networks to codesign and deliver a series of workshops, field trips and data collection:
- Bird spotting
- Bell Miners and Bell Miner Associated Dieback (BMAD)
- Pest Animal and Weed Management
- Plant ID and Bush Regeneration
- Using trail cameras for Wildlife Monitoring,
- Online Property Planning Seminar
- Property Bioblitz
The impact
The severe flooding events of 2022 resulted in massive destruction of habitat and human infrastructure on the North Coast, an unintentional impact was the positive community outcomes the project offered through connection and shared stories. Landholders increased their knowledge, skills, and technical capacity to deliver best practice conservation through engaging with other landholders and local experts, feedback included:
“Love that I can have a small part in a larger project and get the data in the end.”
“This is a natural and insightful cooperation between two progressive organisations.”
“My faith in community and especially government organisations has been revitalised.”
Key facts
- More than 70% of NSW is privately owned or leased but only approximately 4% has a formal land conservation agreement in place.
- Conservation on private land is essential for protection of our native ecosystems and unique wildlife.
- Landholders like to learn from each other as well as experts. This partnership project enabled that learning and sharing.