Just outside Narrandera, where the Murrumbidgee River winds through the Riverina, a quiet transformation is taking place.
Allandale, a 413-hectare property of rolling pastures with pockets of eucalypt-rich woodland, is permanently protected by a NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) agreement, offering hope to a species that, 50 years ago, had all but disappeared from this southern NSW landscape.
Prior to the 1970s, koalas were thought to be locally extinct, but efforts to translocate animals from other regions of NSW and Victoria successfully created a colony that grew from an initial 23 koalas to more than 300 over five decades.
Former Allandale property owner, Brian McKinnon, said he started noticing koalas on the property 25 years ago and knew his land was key to safeguarding the precious population.
He opted to protect it, by selling to our Revolving Fund, who will sell Allandale with an in-perpetuity conservation area across 153 hectares of the property, leaving about 260 hectares to operate as a normal farm.
“I just thought it was a really good opportunity to sell to the BCT and see a part of this environmentally unique property being conserved,” Brian said.
Just like the local koala population, the conservation success story has continued to grow with creation of a habitat corridor. Generous donors have funded the seeding and planting of new trees to connect the Murrumbidgee River across Allandale’s conservation area with the adjoining Murrumbidgee Valley National Park.
Through NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust’s Public Fund, donors make tax-deductible donations which flow directly through to on-ground outcomes.
Partnerships and Investment Co-director Holly Park said she was excited to see philanthropists join a collective ambition to create a substantial wildlife corridor that not only protects native species but restores the landscape and connected habitat.
“This wildlife corridor will provide habitat for koalas, the superb parrots, a range of bats and many other species. It's an exciting example of putting donor funds onto the ground to achieve real conservation outcomes and to restore ecological communities that are at risk,” Holly said.
The opportunities to bridge and connect habitat are possible through the efforts of private land conservation.
“With more than 80 per cent of NSW land privately managed, private land conservation is critical to protecting, connecting and restoring nature to meet local, state, national and even global biodiversity goals,” Holly said.
In NSW alone, habitat loss, climate change and invasive species are driving wildlife to the brink.
Since European settlement, more than half of the state’s forests and woodlands have been destroyed. Without urgent action, many of NSW’s most iconic species may not survive the next century.
Private land conservation is emerging as a critical solution to biodiversity loss, with landholders and philanthropists playing a vital role in restoring and protecting ecosystems.
Conservation on private land makes an important contribution to global targets, such as protecting 30 per cent of land and restoring 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
“These conservation agreements sit on the title of the property and remain there even if the property is sold into the future, so we know the land is protected and managed forever,” Holly said, adding private landholders managing in perpetuity conservation areas also expand the National Reserve System of protected areas, which includes national parks and reserves.
However, despite significant NSW Government investment in private land conservation, a financial gap remains.
Donor funds can help us bridge that gap, complementing existing and secure NSW Government funding, increasing the funding pool available. This will help protect more highly cleared and fragmented landscapes, safeguard more habitats for threatened species and further expand wildlife corridors.
At Allandale, the 153 hectares of protected koala habitat joins the Murrumbidgee Valley national park and the Murrumbidgee River and is home to superb parrots, several bat species along with the area’s growing koala colony.
“The property’s conservation area protects mature river red gums, crucial nesting sites for the vulnerable superb parrot, and provides habitat for a threatened microbat, the southern myotis (Myotis macropus),” Senior Ecologist Mitchell Whitten said.
“Allandale links to the nearby national park, which means the property provides safe habitat and essential corridors for koalas and other wildlife to move freely.”
While one-third of Allandale is conserved, the remaining land is available for grazing and other uses, balancing conservation with productive farming.
To learn more about the impact of philanthropic giving on private land conservation efforts in NSW, visit bct.nsw.gov.au/donate.