Bush Heritage Australia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bush Heritage Australia

Logo
Founded	1991 (1991)
Focus	Conservation
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Area served	Australia
Method	Acquisition
Members	54,000 supporters
Key people	Bob Brown
Revenue	A $34,000,000 (2023/August 2023)
Employees	199 (full-time equivalent)
Volunteers	785
Formerly called	Australian Bush Heritage Fund

Bush Heritage Australia is a non-profit group based in Melbourne, Australia. They work all over Australia to protect its unique nature. Their main goal is "Healthy Country, Protected Forever."

They work in three main ways:

• They buy land that is very important for nature. They then manage these areas as wildlife reserves forever.
• They partner with Aboriginal groups, who often own large areas of land. Bush Heritage helps them create and follow "Healthy Country Plans."
• They also work with farmers to help with conservation on their land. They aim to help protect 10 million hectares of farmland by 2030.

All this work helps protect endangered species and keeps Australia's amazing biodiversity safe. In 2022-23, they helped protect 11.3 million hectares of land. This land is home to over 7,700 Australian species, including more than 200 threatened species.

History of Bush Heritage Australia

Bush Heritage Australia was started in 1990 by Bob Brown. He bought two forest properties in Tasmania. These lands were next to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site. He wanted to save them from being cut down for woodchips.

Bob Brown used money from a prize he won, the Goldman Environmental Prize, to buy the land. He borrowed the rest and set up the Australian Bush Heritage Fund.

The organization slowly grew, first in Tasmania, then across mainland Australia. Many people who donate regularly have helped it expand.

Doug Humann led Bush Heritage Australia as CEO from 1997 to 2011. He helped make the group well-known across the country. Gerard O'Neill was CEO from 2011 to 2018. Heather Campbell has been the CEO since January 2019.

In 1997, Bush Heritage leased Erith Island in Bass Strait. It was used for cattle grazing. In 2002, they gave it back to the Tasmanian Government. It then became part of the Kent Group National Park.

A big step happened in 2011. Bush Heritage made a ten-year agreement with the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation. This was the first long-term agreement in Australia between traditional landowners and a non-government conservation group. Many similar partnerships have started since then. This partnership helps manage the Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in the Mitchell River National Park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Bush Heritage now has a large program for working with Aboriginal partners.

What Bush Heritage Aims to Do

Bush Heritage Australia works to protect Australia's nature for a long time. They do this by buying and managing land, water, and wildlife that are very important for conservation.

They focus on special "priority landscape" regions across Australia. These areas are chosen for several reasons:

• They have many threatened species and ecosystems.
• They have species found nowhere else.
• The land is in good condition.
• They consider how climate change might affect the area.
• They look at where their staff and resources are already working.

How They Manage Their Lands

On the properties Bush Heritage owns, they do important work:

• They fix land that has been damaged.
• They control animals that are not native and cause harm, like introduced herbivores and predators.
• They use fire as a management tool carefully.
• They talk and work with neighboring landowners and traditional owners.
• They also work with government departments.
• They create habitat corridors, which are safe paths for animals to move between different areas.

Bush Heritage Australia also has a team of scientists. They study how people feel about conservation. They also research how to protect different animal and plant species.

How Bush Heritage is Run

Bush Heritage is managed by an independent board of directors. These people are experts in land management and conservation. The organization also has about 200 paid staff members and many volunteers.

In 2022-23, Bush Heritage had over 50,000 supporters. Hundreds of skilled volunteers gave more than 43,206 hours of their time in 2022-23. These volunteers often get to visit and work on the reserves. You can find details about their money and spending in their Impact Report on their website.

Places Bush Heritage Protects (Reserves)

As of October 2023, Bush Heritage owned 42 reserves. They also worked with 25 Aboriginal partnerships. Together, they protect 11.3 million hectares (which is 113,000 square kilometers) of land.

See also

• Conservation in Australia
• List of threatened flora of Australia
• Threatened fauna of Australia