Our foundations

The earliest conversations about BioDiversity Legacy began in the home of the Phillipson family, who spent decades restoring a 92-acre former farm on the banks of the Wirn wirndook Yeerung (Macalister River) in Upper East Gippsland.

Seeing an opportunity to create a wildlife corridor extending from the Gippsland Plains to the Avon Wilderness, the family purchased additional properties totalling 1,000 acres, which they named EcoGipps.

The local community and Traditional Owners supported the EcoGipps venture and restoration activities on the properties, which had been degraded by decades of inappropriate land use, commenced. The family quickly saw the land come back to life, but there was one question they couldn’t answer – what would happen to the land when they could no longer look after it?

After talking to other landholders, community groups, environmental organisations and supporters, it was clear a new type of ownership structure was needed; one that would enable individuals, families and others to secure land via a different type of ownership structure.

With support from the Rendere Environmental Trust, a separate team was employed to develop the BioDiversity Legacy model, which now gives landholders, community groups and others a secure land within not-for-profit, community-led organisations, which look after the land long-term. The Phillipson’s Legacy is securing land for future generations.