Community rallies around a vital wildlife corridor

In 2024, active land covenantors Julie and Mark Mills donated a 69-acre parcel of coastal forest on the South Coast of New South Wales to Biodiversity Legacy, securing its protection for future generations.

The Mills’ connection to the region goes back to long summer holidays camping, surfing and exploring the bush along the Eurobodalla coast, which has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Over the years, the family, from Sydney, became increasingly concerned about the amount of bush being disturbed or destroyed by development. In 2016, they decided to do their bit for conservation by purchasing a 40-acre former dairy farm near Moruya, which they revegetated and protected with a conservation covenant.

These activities brought them into contact with a range of conservation organisations and locals who were equally concerned about habitat loss. These concerns were thrown into stark reality when, in 2019/2020 the Black Summer bushfires ripped through the region. Embers brought fire to the boundary of the family’s property and, over 100 days, affected more than 90% of the region’s state forests and national parks, which formerly offered protection to native species.

Enter Ned – a next-generation environmental leader

In early 2023, Ned McNaughton, a young local naturalist, was out taking photos of native plants and animals near the boundary of the Mills’ property. He discovered a clearing being prepared for subdivision. Ned relayed his concerns about the future of the property to his mum and a family friend at Local Land Services. This got back to the Mills and soon after Mark, Julie, Ned and Professor David Lindenmayer, a world-leading expert in biodiversity conservation, visited the property.

They found patches of old-growth habitat with 200+ year-old hollow-bearing trees supporting populations of threatened and critically endangered species, including Southern Greater Gliders, Powerful Owls, Yellow-bellied Gliders, Glossy Black Cockatoos, Brush-tailed Phascogales and other species. Recognising the property’s critical location as a wildlife corridor between the Eurobodalla and Deua National Parks, Mark and Julie engaged with neighbouring property owners about purchasing the property. The conservation-minded owners were happy to sell it to Mark and Julie, knowing that it would be preserved.

Transferring the property to BDL

After securing the property, the Mills transferred the title for Ned’s Forest into Biodiversity Legacy’s safe-ownership structure, ensuring its long-term protection.

“We knew what we wanted to do and were delighted to find that Biodiversity Legacy had identified a gap in private land conservation and had created a mechanism to address this problem,” explains Julie.

“Critical to this approach is that we don’t need to own the land – it becomes a pathway for the community to band together to campaign and raise funds to protect the places they love. We are calling on people of our generation who are in a position to make financial contributions to the protection of biodiversity for future generations.”

A living laboratory for conservation and research

Studies have shown that biodiversity in the Eurobodalla Shire has struggled to recover from the 2019/20 fires. The protection of this 69-acre block will provide a platform for the establishment of the ‘Ned’s Forest Education Program’ – a living laboratory for the study of native species and a base for ongoing protection, monitoring and training.

A joint commitment

On the family’s commitment to Ned’s Forest and the preservation of biodiversity, Julie Mills says: “The extent of the Black Summer Fires impacted biodiversity on the South Coast. But more generally, there are crucial small areas of habitat all along the eastern seaboard, which are under threat from development.

“If, as Australians, we wish to maintain connectivity of habitat so species can move across the landscape, we must protect small but important tracts of bushland like Ned’s Forest.”