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 (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, Brittle Star
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, the 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.
Celebrating sightings of the rare Spot-tailed Quoll
Two Victorian Government grants, Nature Fund and Icon Species Funding Program, with co-investment from the Rendere Environmental Trust and support from Biodiversity Legacy, form the basis for a multi-partnership approach to the recovery of two nationally endangered species: the Spot-tailed Quoll and the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (EPBC & FFG listed).
Found in the remote East Gippsland wilderness in the rugged Snowy River catchment, the secretive quoll and the rare rock-wallaby are best surveyed using remote cameras. Wildlife Unlimited, a major partner, is leading recovery efforts alongside the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Parks Victoria.
It is worthy of celebration when a Spot-tailed Quoll is captured on camera!!! This is a rare event due to low population numbers and large home range sizes (can be up to 2,000 ha for males), combined with the difficulty of deploying cameras in their refuge habitat of complex cliffs and rugged and steep terrain.
Cameras deployed to monitor a population of Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby in Little River Gorge in the Snowy River National Park have captured this curious quoll investigating hay nets of lucerne set up to lure rock-wallabies to the cameras. This is a fantastic start to survey efforts now underway as part of Wildlife Unlimited’s Spot-tailed Quoll Recovery Program.
The secretive quoll investigating the hay nets used for luring the rare Rock-wallaby. Images with thanks to the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.
The nationally threatened Glossy Black-cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) feeds almost exclusively on the seed cones of Allocasuarina species. In eastern Victoria, Black Sheoaks (Allocasuarina littoralis) are the predominant feed tree species.
From a group of Sheoaks, Glossy Black-cockatoos will choose only specific individual female trees to feed on. It is not known if genetic, social or environmental factors (or a combination of all three) lead to an individual becoming a preferred feed tree for a group of Glossies. Glossies will revisit select feed trees year after year to feed on seed cones.
If genetic factors play a part, collecting and growing seed from feed trees may help increase the number of favoured Sheoaks in the landscape. Misty Anderson from the Moogji Aboriginal Council Nursery, an important project partner, has collected seed from the Sheoaks that the Glossies have been observed feeding at.
Misty Anderson, Moogji Aboriginal Council Nursery and Esther Gatnau, Project Officer, Wildlife Unlimited, with Sheoaks grown from seed collected from Glossie feed trees.
Misty has propagated them with great care in the Moogji Nursery, ready for planting through this project. Hopefully, by planting seeds from known feed trees, we may gain more insight into genetic factors that will improve revegetation efforts for the future.
Sheoaks may take up to 10 years to produce cones and even longer to have branches thick enough to support the weight of Glossies feeding on them. This project is a powerful investment into the future of the Glossy Black-cockatoo population in eastern Victoria.
This project continues the recovery of valuable Sheoaks, building on the Landcare, Birdlife and Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action Sheoak recovery works that were undertaken as part of the 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires response. Project sites range from Lakes Entrance and Marlo through to Wangarabell and Genoa in the east.
Banner photo: Glossy Black-cockatoo feeding on a Sheoak, with thanks to Peter Murrell.
A biodiversity legacy for Victoria’s southeast coast
The Nature Recovery Foundation (NRF) is a bold initiative committed to reversing biodiversity decline on Victoria’s Bass Coast and protecting the natural environment for future generations. The NRF is a partnership between Bass Coast Shire and Biodiversity Legacy, with each organisation having two directors on the board.
The Foundation’s initial focus is on tracts of land within the Bass Coast Shire, where the aim is to protect and enhance existing habitats while accelerating large-scale landscape restoration. As the Foundation grows, there may be opportunities to expand our impact beyond this region, most likely into South Gippsland.
The NRF is currently working towards Deductible Gift Recipient status, which will strengthen the Foundation’s legitimacy and open opportunities for tax-deductible donations, further supporting our long-term goals.
The Foundation’s Mission
To achieve lasting environmental restoration, the NRF will:
Protect priority areas of remnant biodiversity.
Secure and restore land with high ecological potential.
Create viable habitat refuges connected through biolinks.
Leverage partnerships and green investment for long-term sustainability.
Build a lasting legacy for future generations.
Next steps
This is an exciting step for Biodiversity Legacy, as several members of the team live in the adjacent shire of South Gippsland and, as a group, we have deep links to other environmental non-profits via our connection to the Ecolands Collective.
Stay tuned for more updates on the NRF in the coming months (as at March 2025).
