For the BioDiversity Legacy team, this story is deeply meaningful. It carries the seeds of our very existence and the first green shoots of a pioneering land-conservation movement – one that has the potential to safeguard hundreds of thousands of acres in the decade ahead.
At its heart is a 105-hectare (259-acre) property – North Paddock – in Maffra West Upper, Central Gippsland – land that the Phillipson family has generously donated to BioDiversity Legacy for permanent protection and long-term stewardship.
This remarkable act of generosity – one of three donations planned by Jim, Heather, David and Kate Phillipson – was years in the making, involving thoughtful conversations about succession, care, responsibility and what it truly means to leave a living legacy.
The Backstory
Jim and Heather Phillipson grew up on farms around Sale in Central Gippsland. Jim went on to become a highly respected business leader and Heather a dedicated community nurse. Wanting their children, David and Kate, to experience the same grounding in nature, Jim and Heather purchased a 36-ha (90-acre) property on the Wirn wirndook Yeerung (Macalister River). They began restoring the old grazing paddock by replanting trees, nurturing remnant grasslands and riparian woodlands and protecting regionally significant plant species.
Along the way, Jim and Heather encountered passionate ecologists, conservation groups and land managers who helped shape their understanding of landscape stewardship. Over time, they came to realise that real impact comes from thinking beyond a single property: habitat must connect, landscapes must link, and communities must act together.
With that in mind, the family purchased three additional properties – covering approximately 358 ha (884 acres) from Maffra West Upper to the rugged foothills of the Victorian Alps. For decades, the properties were used as grazing stops for cattle herded up to the high country for summer grazing, a practice now restricted due to its environmental impacts.
The Phillipsons saw another future for this land.
Heather and Jim surveying the EcoGipps properties. Photo by Marnie Hawson.Wirn wirndook Yeerung (Macalister) River, adjacent to one of the EcoGipps’ properties. Photo by Marnie Hawson.Map showing EcoGipps properties within the wider landscape. North Paddock is circled in the photo second from bottom. Photo by Marnie Hawson.
Establishing the EcoGipps Venture
Driven by their growing vision, the Phillipsons created EcoGipps – a venture dedicated to managing their properties and developing an on-site conservation and learning hub. Today, EcoGipps supports school groups, international volunteer workers (WWOOFers), hikers, field naturalists and birdwatchers – offering a place to learn, contribute and connect.
Immersed in this work, the family gained deep insights into the challenges faced by landowners seeking to protect, restore and share their property/ies for conservation. They also saw their local efforts against the larger backdrop of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Engaging with groups such as Land for Wildlife and Trust for Nature, the family progressively placed conservation covenants on the properties. While everything was progressing well, one persistent question remained: “What happens to the land when we can no longer care for it?”
The Phillipsons soon discovered this question echoed across the private land conservation sector – many landholders had the will and passion to restore their properties, but no clear pathway for ensuring those efforts would endure.
Enter BioDiversity Legacy
BioDiversity Legacy was established to provide a solution to this very problem – by creating clear, practical pathways for landholders, communities, partners, and donors to ensure enduring protection and stewardship of land for future generations. This unique approach places land in secure, not-for-profit ownership structures, backed by strong legal and governance safeguards that remove it from the property market, protect it from future sale or development and ensure it is responsibly stewarded over the long-term.
In 2025, the Phillipsons donated North Paddock on Gunaikurnai Country, to BioDiversity Legacy. This was a moment that crystallised what the Phillipsons had been looking for: a trusted, long-term partner to carry their legacy forward.
The Significance of North Paddock: Biodiversity values
North Paddock’s ecological significance is considerable – meeting four objectives of the Trust for Nature Statewide Conservation Plan and rated as ‘Very High’ conservation value. Several habitat types have also been identified as depleted or endangered by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (EVC benchmarks).
Habitat includes lowland and herb-rich woodland forests, Swamp scrub, White and Red Stringybark and Blue/Red Box eucalypts and a rare tea-tree soak. Read more about the types of habitat found on the property, as well as rare plants, wildlife and birds (read more here).
More importantly, the property represents a key biolink within a vast core habitat area linking Coongalla Bushland Reserve with the Avon–Mt Hedrick Scenic Reserve and onward to the Victorian Alps.
Next Steps
With the transfer of North Paddock complete, the Phillipsons are now advancing plans to transfer their two additional properties, totalling 253 hectares, into BioDiversity Legacy’s safe ownership structure in the coming years.
BioDiversity Legacy is also working closely with the Phillipsons to further develop the EcoGipps venture into a stewardship entity that can take care of managing the properties into the future.
Heather Phillipson will continue leading restoration efforts at North Paddock, with Caroline Trevorrow joining as a dedicated Stewardship Coordinator to oversee the organisation’s activities. Thus, the initiative is creating local employment in conservation, as well as the education and community engagement opportunities that are at the core of the EcoGipps mission.
A Living Legacy for Future Generations
The transition of North Paddock into BioDiversity Legacy’s care marks a significant milestone for the private land conservation movement. It demonstrates a clear, practical pathway for landholders who want to permanently protect their land, ensure best-practice stewardship and contribute to something much bigger than themselves.
The Phillipson family’s vision – and their courage to act on it – has created a model that others can follow.
It reminds us that conservation is not only about restoring landscapes. It’s about restoring connection: to Country, to community and to the future. Their story shows what becomes possible when people choose to give back to the land that has given them so much. And it lights the way for others who wish to leave a living legacy for future generations.
BioDiversity Legacy’s bold vision for protecting vulnerable ecosystems at scale is being realised in South Gippsland, where Nooramunga Land & Sea (NL&S) has acquired its second saltmarsh island.
A safe haven for migratory birds, small mammals and lizards and vulnerable saltmarsh plant communities
Bullock Island joins neighbouring Little Dog Island as part of a growing legacy of land protected within the iconic Corner Inlet – a Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance.
Both islands were previously zoned for farming and recreational use, placing over 132-ha (330-acres) of valuable coastal saltmarsh at risk. In fact, the 60-hectare Little Dog Island was previously developed as a golf resort, which caused significant damage.
With funding from the Upotipotpon Foundation and support from Biodiversity Legacy, the NL&S team secured the island, with the stewardship team about to conduct surveys and monitoring to see what’s on the island and undertake habitat restoration and enhancement works to protect vulnerable species and help them thrive.
Land protection and stewardship team
The NL&S team consists of leading ecologists, environmental philanthropists, carbon landscape experts and researchers with deep roots in ecological restoration and land protection. They include:
Jim Phillipson, Strategic Director of the Rendere Environmental Trust, also provided support for the initiative, with volunteers, local landholders, Traditional Owners, citizen scientists and community partners also invited to collaborate on efforts to protect these landscapes, which are vital for biodiversity, carbon storage and climate resilience.
A Living Mosaic
Framed by Wilson’s Promontory to the south and South Gippsland’s green hills to the north, the 72-ha Bullock Island presents a rich tapestry of native grasses, salt-tolerant shrubs, Swamp Paperbark and colourful succulents, such as Beaded and Shrubby Glassworts, Pigface, Austral Seablite and Austral Brooklime.
Like many of the sandy islands in Corner Inlet, Bullock Island’s intertidal mudflats and waters support large areas of White Mangrove and Broad-leafed Seagrass; communities of limited distribution in Victoria.
Sanctuary for rare and migratory birds
Corner Inlet is a haven for birdlife, supporting an estimated 20% of Victoria’s entire wader population. Now linked by intertidal flats, Bullock and Little Dog islands offer crucial safe habitat for several threatened species, including:
Critically Endangered: Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot, Curlew Sandpiper
Endangered: Lesser Sand Plover, Red Knot
Vulnerable: Hooded Plover, Australian Grayling, Swift Parrot
There is also quiet optimism that the islands may one day support the return of the Orange-bellied Parrot – one of Australia’s rarest birds. NL&S is working closely with BirdLife Australia and Zoos Victoria to monitor for the species’ presence and support its potential recovery.
Why these islands matter to us all
The value of these saltmarsh islands extends far beyond biodiversity. As part of the blue carbon ecosystem, their dense vegetation and deep, silty soils lock away carbon 30 to 50 times faster than terrestrial forests – keeping it stored for thousands of years.
They also provide:
storm surge protection for coastal towns
clean water by filtering nutrients and sediment
fish nurseries vital for local marine species and fisheries.
Protecting them means strengthening climate resilience, food systems and local economies.
A blueprint for community-led conservation
This project demonstrates what’s possible when innovative governance structures meet passion, purpose and place-based conservation.
The NL&S team anticipates further acquisitions to protect and restore connectivity between South Gippsland’s saltmarsh ecosystems as more landholders and philanthropists come on board.
Congratulations to BioDiversity Legacy South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator, Stuart Inchley, who has been selected to join an august list of conservation experts in the new Nature Media Centre, a joint project of the Biodiversity Council, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Australian Land Conservation Alliance.
The Nature Media Centre was recently established as a ‘non-partisan resource’ to give journalists access to conservation experts working in areas as diverse as regenerative farming, art and design, land management, ecology, urban planning, academia, citizen science, Indigenous knowledge and even ‘astrotourism’.
Many of these individuals do not have high media profiles yet are highly influential in their local communities and are doing amazing things on the ground. As such, they are well placed to provide insights into the challenges and complexities of environmental protection and management.
In his capacity as Biolink Coordinator, Stuart is connecting landholders – many of whom are working in isolation – across South Gippsland, strengthening communities willing to restore and protect habitat on private land.
With partner Victoria, Stuart also looks after a 300-acre covenant-protected property, Tarwin River Forest, in South Gippsland. The property, which is home to many rare and threatened species such as the Gang-gang Cockatoo, Pilotbird and Strzelecki Burrowing Crayfish, has a significant population of Critically Endangered Slender Tree-ferns in some magnificent cool temperate rainforest gullies.
Stuart and Victoria have first-hand experience of the personal and financial challenges of stewarding private property for conservation, including threats from forestry, climate change and feral animals. They regularly bring the community together for events on the property, where they share their experiences, their love of these landscapes, community-led solutions and active hope.
Stuart joins Diana Droog, secretary of Land Covenantors Victoria, in the Nature Media Centre as a trusted voice for private land conservation.
We look forward to what Stuart, Diana and others have to say in the coming months as they shine a light on Australia’s unfolding environmental crisis and help newsmakers tell compelling stories that educate and inspire action.
An ecological survey of rainforest communities on three Trust for Nature properties north of Foster in South Gippsland, as well as an adjacent state-run reserve, has found the largest population of Slender Tree-ferns ever documented in Australia, as well as rare and endangered species, including the Netted Brake fern, Butterfly Orchid, over 100 indigenous plants and 40 mosses.
The survey, initiated by the Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group (GTSAG) and Tarwin River Forest Land Stewards, Victoria Johnson and Stuart Inchley (BioDiversity Legacy South Gippsland biolink coordinator), was conducted by two of Victoria’s most experienced ecologists and botanists, Karl Just and Dylan Osler, with funding from the Wettenhall Environmental Trust and Friends of Turtons Creek.
An engaged community
The results of the survey were presented to an audience of over 80 people at the Foster War Memorial Arts Centre, including senior members of the Shire Council, business leaders, ecologists, botanists and residents. The presentation was also recorded (see above). Karl and Dylan talked about the importance of private land in biodiversity conservation, as many areas remain under-surveyed, compared to public lands.
“Dylan and I have both been working in ecology for over 20 years,” explained Karl.
“We get to wander around Victoria studying different ecosystems … but this [project] was quite a treat for us to do because we rarely gain access to private properties … which have an important role to play in maintaining regional biodiversity.”
Diversity is strength
The team spent more than a week exploring two distinct areas – the Turtons Creek Scenic Reserve (managed by Parks Victoria) and three adjacent Trust for Nature properties.
Walking 10 km over tough terrain, including steep, wet rainforest gullies, Karl and Dylan looked for and mapped rainforest boundaries, threatened species and created a list of observed flora.
Given the high rainfall in the area, ferns grow aplenty, but it was the diversity of the fern population that surprised them.
“You almost get these mini-ecosystems, with lots of different fern species growing on trees and branches – trees on trees. It’s kind of magical,” said Karl.
Geological features of the study area, including the presence of fault lines and unique sedimentary layers, contribute to the diverse ecosystems within the rainforest.
Understanding these geological factors is essential for effective conservation planning, said Karl, as they influence vegetation patterns and habitat characteristics. He also noted how Cool Temperate Rainforest is highly sensitive to fire, with historical data indicating that it takes over 400 years for these ecosystems to recover. This long recovery period necessitates proactive fire management strategies to prevent devastating impacts on these vulnerable environments.
The survey also acknowledged the presence of invasive species such as blackberries, which can alter soil chemistry and microclimates, threatening the integrity of rainforest ecosystems. Additionally, evidence of deer populations was noted, which can contribute to vegetation degradation through browsing and trampling, necessitating ongoing management efforts.
To ensure the long-term health of Cool Temperature Rainforest, the survey recommends implementing protective buffers around rainforest areas, particularly near adjacent timber harvesting operations. Such buffers can mitigate risks from wind throw, herbicide drift, and invasive species, thereby supporting the resilience of these ecosystems.
The survey results underscore the beauty and importance of this landscape, while also raising awareness of the ongoing threats to its preservation.
