What started as a simple plan among friends in Tasmania has now grown to be a large and influential national conservation organisation, that has more than one million hectares of land reserved to protect its biodiversity and the species on it. 

In the wild and beautiful Liffey Valley, nestled below Barn Bluff, 25 years ago environmental campaigner and then-politician Bob Brown made a decision that would change the face of conservation in Australia. 

Using his prizemoney from the Goldman Environmental Prize as a deposit, he bought two blocks of forest to protect them and the species such as tiger quolls and wedge-tailed eagles they harboured. 

But, there remained the challenge of paying off the remainder. In stepped like minded people with donations to help, and so began Bush Heritage Australia. 

“There was no real history of that sort of philanthropy working in Australia,” Mr Brown said. 

“I think I was very lucky that it turned out to be just the right time to get going in Australia.”

The idea behind Bush Heritage Australia is protecting rare, vulnerable and endangered species – by protecting their homes. 

“It’s establishing that the areas are able to be protected and kept in good order for their eco systems because that’s what’s important. If you're going to protect a species you have to protect its living environment and that means the bush in which it lives and it’s got to be in large enough amounts,” Mr Brown said.

Bush Heritage Australia continues to buy land for conservation, and now owns more than one million hectares outright, as well as an additional four-and-a-half million hectares in partnership. 

Mr Brown said this is a significant achievement. 

“Bush Heritage is establishing effectively a private national parks system, which in some ways is more secure than the public national parks,” he said.

“It’s incredibly important that areas are protected, and properly protected, and Bush Heritage is doing that right around the country.

“It gives people good jobs but it also gives the much wider public an opportunity to really get a sense of leaving a legacy to coming generations.”

After the seeds were planted at the two beautiful Liffey properties 25 years ago, the legacy of Bush Heritage Australia has grown as an organisation that gets things done. 

Current Bush Heritage Australia chief executive Gerard O’Neill said the organisation is nimble and adaptive to change, able to quickly respond to areas of particular and urgent need. 

“That’s one of the benefits of being a non-governmental organisation we can actually be quite quick to make decisions, we can take risks sometimes that might not be easy for state agency or government agency to take,” he said. 

Mr O’Neill said a key achievement of the organisation is the land it holds and simply that it still exists. 

“It’s gone from a tiny little group of passionate people in Tasmania really growing around the original purchase to a genuinely national organisation that’s ... increasingly being sought out by other organisations and groups for advice,” he said. 

“The thing that holds true throughout that whole period of time is the conservation potential of Australia's unique plants and animals is paramount, those wild places, those wonderful landscapes that make Australia unique are fundamental.”

Mr O’Neill said collaboration and partnership are, and have always been, integral to the operation of Bush Heritage.

“Collaborations is a key thing, you know it started on day one with Bob (Brown) and a group of friends and still has that atmosphere about it, but a very much larger group of friends,” he said. 

“We’re nearly 40,000 to 45,000 direct supporters and 20,000 volunteer hours, worth almost one and a half billion dollars, to us just from volunteers alone putting in their passion and skill.

“This is one of the most amazing things I find about the work of Bush Heritage is that people don't have to give you a dollar but they freely choose to give of their time .. to looking after Australia’s unique heritage.”

As more and more people move to urban areas, Mr O’Neill said they are needing to find new ways to connect with people about the environment and ensure they maintain a profile for the environment in national conversations. 

Into the future, Bush Heritage Australia will continue to strategically acquire land and form partnerships, such as that with the Tasmanian Conservation Trust, to continue their work. 

“The 25 years to date is really a down payment on the next 100 basically and its a testament that we've grown up and we’re looking to the future and we’re working to keep doing what the original vision set out, to secure and protect Australia's unique environment,” Mr O’Neill said. 

“Our position has always been that this is forever basically, this is for long term.”

To find out more about Bush Heritage Australia projects and land visit the website at http://www.bushheritage.org.au/.