Privately funded experiment in Tasmania aiming to regenerate land

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The degradation of land and forests around the world means many ecosystems are at severe risk of destruction. In Tasmania, a pioneering experiment is underway to use private money on private property to regenerate an ecologically-significant area.

Transcript

00:00In the middle of Tasmania sits a 5,000 hectare private property, known as the coin after

00:11these Jurassic era dolerite cliffs.

00:14The varied landscape is home to mobs of forester kangaroos and endangered animals such as the

00:19Tasmanian devil.

00:22More than a century of sheep grazing has degraded the land.

00:27But in 2021, an unlikely buyer moved in who wanted to restore the land, not farm it.

00:35The coin is a patchwork landscape of areas that are in relatively good condition and

00:40then areas that have been quite degraded.

00:45Wedgetail is a private company investing in projects around the world that conserve valuable

00:50ecosystems.

00:52It's challenging and costly work, made possible by a successful business venture.

00:59Lisa Miller is married to billionaire Cameron Adams, one of the co-founders of Canva, an

01:03online graphic design tool.

01:06We've been able to take some of that capital and we really wanted to deploy it against

01:11our mission which I mentioned before around improving outcomes for biodiversity and nature

01:15loss in conjunction with climate change.

01:20Wedgetail has partnered with the University of Tasmania to test out new technologies.

01:25So we're heading over to Honeysuckle Homestead, which is my study site for my project.

01:34Alice Robbins is using a drone to map an area on the property.

01:39Here they're doing a bit of work on the creek system behind us, doing some replantings to

01:43help increase landscape connectivity.

01:45So we're going to map that over the next two years and just see what we can pull out of

01:48it and hopefully show what you can do with drones to map active land management works.

01:55The university says its role is to provide the supporting science.

02:00But the chance to say how can you make a difference to a whole landscape, to whole animal populations,

02:07that's a fantastic opportunity and as a university we're interested in being able to operate

02:11at that scale because it's pressingly what the planet needs.

02:15Wedgetail says it won't lock the coin up away from the public.

02:19Bushwalks, educational opportunities and on-site accommodation are all in the works so people

02:23can interact with the environment.

Category

Transcript

Recommended