Private Land Conservation Outcomes

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457 landholders

have entered or are in the process of entering conservation agreements

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332,643 hectares

under new private land conservation agreements

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More than $284 million

assets held to support conservation agreements

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147 threatened species & 29 ecological communities

protected by our conservation agreements

What We Do
Benefits for Landholders

Landholder Helen Huggins recently signed an in-perpetuity conservation agreement with the BCT for her property, Savernake Station. Here she talks from the heart about the significance of protecting her land for conservation.

Private Land Conservation Outcomes

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust is managing 2,368 Private Land Conservation agreements with landholders across 2.3 million hectares. This represents more than 2.8 per cent of the landmass of NSW.

Since 2017, 503 landholders have entered or plan to enter a conservation agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, creating conservation areas across 332,643 hectares.

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust is investing more than $284 million to support these agreements. This investment is split 82.29 per cent for in-perpetuity agreements and 29 per cent for term agreements (minimum 15-years). The median annual payment to agreement holders is $85 and 87% of payments are between $5 and $300.

As a result, many unique landscapes, many threatened ecosystems, and habitats for our threatened native plant and animal species are now protected and being managed by private landholders for conservation.

Agreements with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust protect at least 147 unique threatened species and at least 29 threatened ecological communities

Landholders with partnership conservation agreements are eligible to apply for Conservation Partners Grants.

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust has approved Conservation Partners Grants worth $7.67 million to 393 landholders across 123.5K hectares.

Priority Investment Areas

The Biodiversity Conservation Investment Strategy 2018 maps areas of the state into five orders of priority, known as Priority Investment Areas (PIA) 1 to 5, which guides the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust's investment priorities. To date the Trust has entered conservation agreements with landholders across 4,137 hectares of PIA 1 land, 84,399 hectares of PIA 2 land and 41,960 hectares of PIA 3 land.

To learn more about our priority investment areas and to view our Program Implementation Plan, click the below link.

Conservation Management Program 

Protecting NSW Landscapes

Target 1 in the BCIS states: By 2023, private land conservation agreements will protect examples of 30 NSW Landscapes that are either not represented within, or are inadequately protected in, the protected area system in 2017.

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust met Target 1 in February 2019, four years early. So far, new conservation agreements are protecting examples of 11 landscapes not previously represented within the protected area system and 101 landscapes that are inadequately protected.

Under the Biodiversity Offsets Program the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust has protected 1 NSW landscape not previously represented within the protected area system and 24 NSW landscapes that are inadequately protected.

Reaching Target 1 means that the BCT has contributed progress towards meeting CAR targets. However, this does not mean these NSW Landscapes are now adequately protected or that CAR targets have been met. The BCT will now focus on achieving Target 3, to sample a further 90 unique, inadequately-protected NSW Landscapes. 

Diversifying Incomes

Target 3 in the BCIS states: By 2023, diversified incomes streams will improve the financial sustainability of participating landholders relative to similar local businesses.

Under-funded conservation agreements, 174 landholders have received annual payments worth $9.64 million over the past 12 months to manage 180,049 hectares of conservation areas providing these landholders with an additional source of income. 

Many of the highest priority investment areas identified in the BCIS are in the NSW sheep-wheat belt, which stretches the length of the state from the Queensland border to the Victorian border. These areas are our agricultural heartland and support most of the cereal-growing areas and much of the irrigated farmlands of New South Wales. These areas have been extensively cleared for grazing and cropping and there is a relatively low proportion of land in the protected area system. Therefore, the BCT is directing most of its investment in funded conservation agreements in this high-priority part of NSW.

As a result, around two-thirds (66 per cent) of the BCT’s investment in funded conservation agreements is flowing to graziers, farmers or mixed farming enterprises. These farmers are being paid by the BCT to manage parts of their properties for conservation. The BCT has also invested in threatened grasslands in the Monaro and in high-priority koala habitat on the North Coast.

A December 2020 survey showed 69 per cent of 141 participating landholders with a funded conservation agreement agreed that signing an agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust had diversified their income (with 15 per cent unsure/neutral and 15 per cent disagreeing).

Conservation Partners Program - Outcomes To Date

The Conservation Partners Program is for landholders wishing to protect and manage biodiversity on their land. It is available for landholders who are ineligible to participate in the Conservation Management Program or not seeking a funded agreement.

Landholder Applications

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264 conservation agreements & 19 wildlife refuge

agreements signed by landholders

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50,220 hectares

of land under conservation

Landholders wishing to permanently protect and conserve biodiversity on their land can apply to enter an in-perpetuity conservation agreement with the BCT at any time. A wildlife refuge agreement is an option for landholders who wish to protect their land but do not want to enter a permanent agreement. The BCT has received over 650 applications and we have ramped up our capacity to respond to this demand.

These agreements include many threatened species of fauna such as the grey-headed flying-fox, the glossy black-cockatoo, the brush-tailed phascogale, the Southern pink underwing moth and the koala, and threatened species of flora including the native milkwort, square-fruited ironbark, sandstone rough-barked apple, Wee Jasper grevillea, and the Southern ochrosia.

Conservation Partners Program dashboard data as at 31 December 2023
Conservation Partners Program dashboard data as at 31 December 2023

Revolving Fund

To date, the BCT has revolved three properties and is currently in the process of selling another five properties under the Conservation Partners Program.

Conservation Partners Grants

All landholders with an agreement that does not include annual conservation payments can apply at any time for a conservation partners grant. Grants can assist landholders to maintain the ecological values of their properties. Find out more.

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust is assessing grant applications on an ongoing basis. To date, the Trust has approved grants worth $7.67 million to 393 landholders covering more than 123,500 hectares.

Conservation Management Program - Outcomes To Date

The BCT’s Conservation Management Program is for landholders in priority investment areas or with conservation assets seeking to enter agreements with annual conservation management payments. The BCT uses a range of mechanisms—conservation tenders, fixed price offers and revolving fund —to encourage landholders to participate.

Conservation Management Program dashboard data as at 31 December 2023
Conservation Management Program dashboard data as at 31 December 2023

Fixed Price Offers

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45 conservation agreements

in seven rounds of fixed price offers

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76,438 hectares

of land covered by conservation agreements

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$13-$57 per hectare per annum

paid to landholders over the life of these agreements

These conservation areas contain endangered ecological communities such as Semi-evergreen Vine Thicket, Inland Grey Box Woodland, and White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland.

Revolving Fund

To date, the BCT has revolved ten properties and entered funded conservation agreements with the new landholders. The BCT is currently in the process of selling one property under the Conservation Management Program.

Conservation Tenders

NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust conservation tenders have so far resulted in 164 conservation agreements covering more than 145,598 hectares of high-conservation value land and ecological assets across the state.

Koala Conservation Outcomes

Koala Conservation Outcomes 31 December 2023
Koala Conservation Outcomes 31 December 2023