About The North East Tasmania Land Trust:

The North East Tasmania Land Trust (NETLT) is a community-based group that preserves, enhances and protects the natural environment in North East Tasmania. We do this by acquiring and managing land of significant ecological value.

We do this by raising funds to acquire, manage and conserve land and forests of significant ecological value. Our aim is also to link and manage landscapes and create ecological connections.

How do we work?

There are basically three strategies we can employ to achieve our objectives.

• The first one is to buy private land to establish permanent reserves in perpetuity. This occurs after a property which has significant conservation values has been identified and assessed.
• A second approach is the operation of a revolving fund. This is done by using raised funds to buy land which has some conservation values and to protect the land with a conservation covenant. Once under covenant the land can be resold and the funds re-used to purchase other properties for protection.
• The third approach is to promote the WildCountry philosophy. WildCountry is a science-based approach to conservation planning and a method of protecting and restoring Australia's natural ecosystems. The WildCountry approach is unfolding across Australia with the Gondwana Link project in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsular project in South Australia. In Tasmania the aim is to develop a WildCountry plan to identify “biodiversity hotspots” and wilderness areas connected by habitat corridors and buffered by areas of sustainably managed land.

In the north east of Tasmania this approach to landscape conservation has been applied with the “Linking Landscapes” project. Linking Landscapes is a program initiated by the North East Bioregional Network, a sister organisation to the North East Tasmania Land Trust. One example of this program is the St Marys Protected Landscape, which is an area of land that has been mapped by the North East Tasmania Land Trust.

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THE NORTH EAST IS UNDER THREAT!

Tasmania has the second highest per-capita rate of land clearing in the nation. Many important areas in the north east are now under threat from unsustainable development, land degradation, mono-cultures and land clearing. The Tasmanian Threatened Species Act and the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Conservation Act do not apply to some forest logging activities. Yet there are more than 600 species of threatened plants and animals in Tasmania. Changes to the landscape and native habitat, as a result of human activity, have put many of these unique species at risk.

A forest is a living ecological system and a bank vault for carbon. A tree is a boarding house for many species of flora and fauna. Help us preserve these unique ecological systems and keep the forest vaults of carbon safe.

OUR MISSION is to raise funds to purchase important natural places that are under threat.

“There is a quiet spirit in these North-East forests. Help us preserve the wonder of these valleys, mountains and wooded slopes”. Dr Andrew Lohrey, President NETLT and former Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly

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