About BioDiversity Legacy

Driven by a passion for conservation and returning land to community ownership, the BioDiversity Legacy team have decades of experience restoring land and bringing teams together to achieve best practice land stewardship and community engagement.

OUR FOUNDATIONS

BioDiversity Legacy is an evolution of the pioneering EcoGipps venture, established by the Phillipson family to restore and protect over 1,000 acres of land in the Avon Wilderness region of Victoria. The Phillipsons also created the Rendere Trust to help environmental organisations and leaders increase their impact.

The deep insights gained from the EcoGipps venture and the family’s experience engaging with covenantors and leaders across the sector, shaped the foundations of BioDiversity Legacy, launched by the Rendere Trust team in 2022. 

ConnectING people and landscapes

BioDiversity Legacy is part of a broad movement of individuals and organisations seeking to expand the amount of land protected for our native species. It is a collaborative network made up of environmental specialists and like-minded groups who share knowledge and information on vulnerable species, landscapes and properties.

BioDiversity Legacy is a founding member of Land Covenantors Victoria and works with Trust for Nature, the Australian Land Conservation Alliance and many other environmental organisations.

Purpose and vision

BioDiversity Legacy seeks to expand the community conservation movement and engage with Traditional Owners to achieve landscape-scale restoration and protection.

Our vision is to see Legacy properties returned to community ownership because we believe community conservation can also play a role in:

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Improving health and wellbeing by restoring biodiversity and connecting people with nature.

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Helping communities secure properties that are important to them.

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Giving everyone the ability to participate in private land conservation.

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Changing the story around private land – seeing it not just as a financial asset, but cultural and environmental assets for everyone to enjoy.

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Encouraging new forms of land use, such as regenerative agriculture, bush tucker, ecotourism, carbon capture and biodiversity enhancements.

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Strengthening and building biolinks to enable plants and animals to move more freely between private and public land.

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Creating pathways for graduates and young people to get onto Country.

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Supporting and strengthening Australian and Victorian Government action plans, such as BioDiversity 2037.

Returning Country to Tradtional Ownership

BioDiversity Legacy welcomes the guidance of Traditional Owner Councils and Corporations and seeks opportunities to enable the decision-making processes of Traditional Owner organisations.

Wherever possible, we seek to work with Indigenous groups to support the process of reconciliation and return of Country to traditional stewardship.

Next generation pathways

Involving the next generation in conservation initiatives is core to our mission and movement. In fact, the BDL  model is specifically designed to reduce barriers imposed by private ownership to enable greater participation in regenerative conservation by young people.

The BDL model also recognises and supports the transition of Legacy properties to future generations.

Our Supporters

BioDiversity Legacy is fortunate to be able to work with experts across the sector to share knowledge, resources and skills so that we can work together with communities to help protect our precious biodiversity, vulnerable species and landscapes.

The work that we do would not be possible without our generous supporters. We would like to acknowledge and thank these organisations for their assistance.

MADDOCKS

Pro bono support from legal firm Maddocks has been fundamental in assisting our organisation to develop both our governance and our ability to support grassroots initiatives and community groups with knowledge assistance, governance and legal tools to enhance their environmental impact.

We would like to acknowledge and extend a huge thank-you to lawyers Paul Ellis and Sophie Edgar who continue to work with us closely providing essential legal foundations and expertise in a way that is translatable, supportive and empowering for us and for all the community groups we work with.