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Sustainable funding for conservation through an integrated landscape approach on private lands
Sustainable funding for conservation through an integrated landscape approach on private lands
Case study learning summary
Case study learning summary
Conventional approaches to conservation, such as acquiring land for public reserves or establishing perpetual covenants, have historically been insufficient in the Midlands region due to financial, social, and agricultural productivity constraints.
The Midlands Conservation Partnership (MCP) exemplifies a shift towards sustainable conservation funding through stewardship arrangements on private lands. The MCP also highlights the resilience of conservation approaches co-designed with impacted communities.
MCP addresses the inadequacies of traditional conservation models by balancing ecological management with agricultural productivity, while ensuring long-term financial security through the MCP Capital Fund – a perpetual endowment jointly operated by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA) and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC).
What is the Midlands Conservation Partnership?
What is the Midlands Conservation Partnership?
Why the Midlands is significant
Why the Midlands is significant
Location and ecological importance
Location and ecological importance
The Tasmanian Midlands lie between Hobart and Launceston, covering approximately 802,733 hectares. It is an ecologically unique landscape. Surrounded by mountains, the Midlands have lower rainfall than the state’s west, south and east. Since colonial settlement the area is predominantly dedicated to agriculture, interspersed with critically endangered lowland native grasslands, wetlands, and grassy woodlands. It is recognised as home to one of the world's most threatened ecosystems and is one of only two terrestrial priority places in Tasmania under the Federal Government’s 2022-32 Threatened Species Action Plan. The ecosystems that once flourished here are not well-protected in national parks and other protected areas elsewhere in Tasmania.
Prior to European colonisation, the Midlands was actively managed by Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. Management was sophisticated and included deliberate burning practices to maintain and enhance grassland ecosystems. Traditional fire techniques created and maintained open grasslands and grassy woodlands, promoting biodiversity and providing suitable habitats for various flora and fauna species. These practices shaped the landscapes, indicating a profound influence on ecological patterns and processes through sustainable, culturally informed stewardship and intimate ecological knowledge.
Environmental changes and habitat loss
Environmental changes and habitat loss
The Midlands have undergone significant land-use change as a working landscape since European settlement in the early 1800s and is now largely turned over to sheep farming and, increasingly to cropping, poppies, orchards and vegetables. Less than 5% of native grasslands remain today.
The Tasmanian Midlands is a geographically distinctive region situated between Launceston and Hobart in Tasmania, Australia.
The challenge - why conventional approaches to conservation weren't working
The challenge - why conventional approaches to conservation weren't working
The Midlands Conservation Partnership operates in a context shaped by many interconnected factors, notably:
Productive landscape - the majority of land is privately owned making conservation complex. Landowners are often multigenerational farmers, managing the land to sustain profitable agricultural businesses.
Community scepticism - many landholders have seen traditional approaches to conservation as an attack on their stewardship of the land and a threat to their continued business management.
Financial sustainability - sustainable finance is an essential consideration for protected and conserved areas. While this is a consideration across all mechanisms, the consequences of short-term initiatives or reliance on government priorities for private land conservation and stewardships is particularly high. These include: loss of landholder trust and engagement in unreliable funding; reduced ecological effectiveness due to the limited duration of management actions; interrupted continuity and momentum; and limited investment in innovation and adaptive management.
Programs that have ongoing financial security are rare. For private landowners to engage with conservation initiatives, they need the flexibility of short-term contracts but the security of program longevity in order to invest with confidence in different management practices.
Additional ongoing challenges include:
Agricultural expansion
Habitat clearing
Climate change impacts
The Midlands Conservation Partnership
The Midlands Conservation Partnership
The Midlands Conservation Partnership (MCP) is a collaborative model with multiple stakeholders. At its core is a partnership between Bush Heritage Australia (BHA) and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC). The partnership arose in response to detailed engagement with local landholders to explore models for private conservation that ‘put conservation on their balance sheet’. With input from community leads, these two entities jointly manage the MCP Capital Fund, a not-for-profit company set up around a perpetual endowment, established to provide long-term financial stability for conservation agreements with landholders.
This partnership structure effectively integrates ecological expertise, financial stewardship, and local agricultural knowledge, promoting shared decision-making, transparency, and trust between conservation organisations, landholders, researchers, and donors.
The MCP uses an innovative model of stewardship agreements funded through the perpetual Midlands Conservation Fund. Farmers receive annual stewardship payments contingent upon achieving specific conservation objectives related to species diversity, invasive species management, and ecological structure maintenance.
“These KPIs include metrics such as reducing weed infestations, maintaining or improving ecosystem health, and lodging annual reports detailing conservation activities.” Dr Vanessa Adams, Professor, Conservation and Planning, University of Tasmania.
"The MCP is a good model because it gives ongoing annual payments provided we meet key performance indicators." John Atkinson, a landowner involved in the MCP (FortySouth Tasmania)
The Midlands Conservation Partnership model, supplied by TLC
Engaging with private land holders
Engaging with private land holders
Central to the success of the Midlands Conservation Partnership (MCP) is its deliberate engagement and collaboration with local landholders. Recognising that effective conservation in the Midlands required understanding the region's complex agricultural context, the partner organisations invested significant time and resources into listening to, and learning from, landholders. Through detailed discussions landholders shared insights into their agricultural priorities, economic constraints, values, and long-standing land management practices. This approach was critical for engaging with historical community scepticism towards traditional conservation methods, which were often perceived as incompatible with profitable farming practices.
By genuinely co-designing the conservation strategy with landholders, the MCP developed a model that balanced biodiversity protection with agricultural productivity. Stewardship agreements were specifically tailored to accommodate farmers' economic and operational realities, offering flexibility in management practices while clearly aligning conservation outcomes with farm profitability. Landholders became active participants in the governance process, contributing directly to defining achievable and relevant conservation objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This direct involvement fostered trust, encouraged accountability, and strengthened community ownership and pride in conservation achievements.
Landholders' role and influence in the MCP extend beyond compliance; they act as critical stewards of biodiversity conservation, making informed decisions that simultaneously enhance environmental values and agricultural viability. The ongoing dialogue and collaboration embedded within MCP’s governance have transformed initial scepticism into sustained engagement, ensuring long-term ecological stewardship is integrated effectively within productive farming landscapes.
"A neat fit" - benefiting ecosystems and farmers
"A neat fit" - benefiting ecosystems and farmers
Key drivers and enablers to success
Key drivers and enablers to success
Key drivers include:
Protection of threatened ecosystems
Conservation of native species
Co-existence of farming and nature
Addressing habitat degradation
Long-term ecological management
Federal Government priority
Community and philanthropic support
The role of government policy in the development of the Midlands Conservation Partnership
The role of government policy in the development of the Midlands Conservation Partnership
Government leadership and the role of the Conservation Action Plan
Government leadership and the role of the Conservation Action Plan
The MCP Capital Fund
The MCP Capital Fund
The MCP Capital Fund is a perpetual endowment fund jointly operated by Bush Heritage Australia and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. The partnership was established in 2011 as a not-for-profit company and is registered as a charity. Its purpose is to provide secure and predictable funds to resource ongoing conservation management on properties secured through stewardship agreements in the Tasmanian Midlands. It is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by both organisations.
The fund grows thanks to donations from philanthropists and members of the public. The principal is left untouched, and only the returns are used for stewardship payments. This structure ensures that the program can support conservation in perpetuity. This is a unique feature of the program and while the fixed term contracts are typically of five or ten year durations, they include a renewal clause, and the fund structure ensures renewal can continue to occur into the future so long as both parties consent.
Understanding the governance and financial mechanisms of the Midlands Conservation Partnership
Understanding the governance and financial mechanisms of the Midlands Conservation Partnership
Principles
Principles
Collaborative conservation
Collaborative conservation
Engage landowners, conservation organisations and government agencies to work together in protecting and managing the landscape.
Financial sustainability
Financial sustainability
Achieve financial security through returns from the MCP capital fund, created through philanthropic donations and investments.
Sustainable land management
Sustainable land management
Promote farming practices that balance agricultural productivity with ecological preservation, ensuring long-term viability of both.
Strategies
Strategies
Stewardship agreements
Stewardship agreements
Establish long-term relationships with private landowners, providing financial incentives to conserve and manage native habitats on their properties through fixed-term stewardship agreements.
Ecological monitoring
Ecological monitoring
Implement continuous monitoring with clear and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure alignment of financial incentives with environmental outcomes linked to stewardship agreements.
Endowment fund
Endowment fund
Returns from the MCP capital fund, created through philanthropic donations and investments, provide the program with financial sustainability and give participants the security they need to adopt conservation activities.
Initiatives
Initiatives
Weed and pest control
Weed and pest control
Implement programs to manage invasive species that threaten native flora and fauna.
Community engagement and education
Community engagement and education
Educate landholders about the value of native vegetation and involve them in conservation efforts to foster a sense of stewardship.
Strategic grazing
Strategic grazing
Use sheep grazing as a management tool to maintain the biodiversity of native grasslands and reduce biomass and woody encroachment.
Revegetation efforts
Revegetation efforts
Plant native species to restore degraded areas and enhance biodiversity.
Collaborative networks
Collaborative networks
Foster relationships between farmers, conservationists, and researchers to share knowledge and resources.
Ecological burning
Ecological burning
Utilise controlled burns to maintain the health of fire-adapted ecosystems.
Key players
Key players
Who was involved /what capabilities/attributes etc? (e.g. leaders/champions, experts, key stakeholders/partners/politicians/funders, scientists, project team, volunteers, community groups etc)
Conservation organisations and project leaders
Conservation organisations and project leaders
Tasmanian Land Conservancy – Leading private land conservation efforts in Tasmania and co-founder of the Midlands Conservation Partnership.
Bush Heritage Australia – Leading private land conservation efforts nationally and co-founder of the Midlands Conservation Partnership.
Greening Australia – Key player in restoration and revegetation projects.
Landowners and farmers
Landowners and farmers
Private Landowners & Farmers – Key partners integrating conservation with agricultural practices.
Midlands Conservation Partnership Participants – Farmers receiving financial incentives to protect native grasslands.
Scientists and research institutions
Scientists and research institutions
University of Tasmania (UTAS) – Conducting ecological research and biodiversity monitoring.
Government and policy makers
Government and policy makers
Australian Government (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water) – ad-hoc project funding and policy support.
Tasmanian Government (Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania – NRE Tas) – Managing land use regulations and conservation policies.
Significant events
Significant events
Initial collaborations between landowners, government departments, environmental agencies, and universities began cooperative conservation initiatives in the Midlands.
Establishment of 35 new conservation areas covering over 8,000 hectares in the Midlands.
Bush Heritage Australia and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy established the MCP to protect critically endangered lowland native grasslands and associated ecosystems.
Sheep farmers and conservationists continue collaborative efforts to protect native grasslands, integrating sustainable agriculture with conservation goals.
Achievements to date
Achievements to date
The model works – evidence from evaluations is that the program delivers positive outcomes in habitat condition and protects habitats that would not be available for other mechanisms like covenants (Stoudmann 2024).
As of 2025, the partnership has secured the long-term protection and management of over 7,980 ha of high priority grasslands, wetlands, grassy woodlands, and forests under 18 conservation agreements across 15 properties. The MCP has secured over 2,000 ha (13%) of its original goal of securing 8,000 ha (75%) of threatened native grasslands (Lowland Native Grasslands of Tasmania). On-going ecological monitoring and reporting informs appropriate management to ensure the condition of these ecosystems is maintained or improves through time. The program’s longevity also created a trusting relationship with farmers who turn to its staff for ecological advice.
TLC's 2023 infographic highlights key outcomes below:
Impacts of the Midlands Conservation Partnership (from 2023 figures), supplied by TLC
Expansion of protected areas
Expansion of protected areas
Since its inception in 2011, the MCP has secured and managed over 7,980 ha of priority grasslands, wetlands, and forests under 18 conservation agreements across 15 properties.
This has directly contributed to protecting 13% (over 2,000 ha) of critically endangered lowland native grasslands in Tasmania's Midlands.
As of 2024, the TLC has safeguarded more than 100,000 hectares across reserves and conservation programs, with over 27,000 hectares protected since 2020.
Conservation success
Conservation success
Ecological monitoring indicates substantial success: 11 of 15 properties consistently maintained or improved key ecological metrics despite environmental fluctuations and pressures.
The longevity of the program (over 11 years), despite financial and ecological challenges, has been highlighted by stakeholders as key to building trust and credibility within the farming community (MCP Landholder Survey 2022).
Relationships of trust and co-design with farmers and community have fostered widespread engagement, overcoming initial scepticism towards conservation objectives (Bridle et al. 2021).
Enablers for success
Enablers for success
Strong community engagement
Strong community engagement
Active participation of local communities in conservation initiatives.
Government support
Government support
Policies from state and federal governments supportive of conservation efforts.
Legislation that protects natural resources and biodiversity.
Innovative funding mechanisms
Innovative funding mechanisms
Use of conservation credits, payments for ecosystem services, and other innovative financing models.
Grants and donations from philanthropic organisations to support conservation projects.
Notable success factors for the MCP include ongoing landholder engagement, clearly defined ecological goals, and adaptive management responses to changing conditions such as drought, invasive species, and flooding impacts.
“The partnership fosters ongoing dialogue through site assessments and regular community meetings, ensuring that farmers have a stake in the program's success. This collaborative model has transformed initial skepticism into active participation.” Dr Vanessa Adams, Professor, Conservation and Planning, University of Tasmania.
Not without challenges - barriers to success
Not without challenges - barriers to success
Environmental challenges
Environmental challenges
Barrier: Climate change impacts, including increased frequency of extreme weather events and habitat degradation.
Redress: Implementing adaptive management strategies that include climate resilience planning and restoration projects focused on improving ecosystem resilience.
Socio-political factors
Socio-political factors
Barrier: Conflicting interests among stakeholders, including landowners, industry, and conservation groups.
Redress: Facilitating dialogue and building partnerships to find common ground and create shared goals through stakeholder engagement processes.
Financial constrains
Financial constrains
Barrier: Limited funding for conservation projects and reliance on fluctuating government grants.
Redress: Developing innovative financing models, private donations, and partnerships with businesses to secure additional funding sources.
Specific challenges: Fundraising has not yet reached the original $10 million target, creating financial pressures that limit the expansion of conservation areas and potential increases in annual payments to landholders.
Market perceptions: Resistance from potential donors who prefer immediate use of funds, coupled with scepticism about the legitimacy of payments to profitable farming enterprises.
Operational challenges
Operational challenges
Barrier: Insufficient resources and capacity for effective implementation of conservation initiatives.
Redress: Strengthening volunteer networks and engaging local communities to leverage manpower and resources, along with training programs to enhance skills and knowledge.
Key lessons
Key lessons
Collaboration is key
Collaboration is key
Partnerships between conservation organisations, farmers, government agencies, and researchers are essential for successful landscape-scale conservation.
Action: Foster partnerships among government, communities, NGOs, and businesses to create a united front for conservation efforts.
Community involvement is essential
Community involvement is essential
Local landholders must be actively involved in and benefit from conservation efforts to ensure long-term sustainability.
Action: Involve local and Indigenous communities in planning and decision-making to ensure that conservation strategies respect cultural values and benefit all stakeholders.
Adaptive management is crucial
Adaptive management is crucial
Flexibility in approaches is necessary to address changing environmental conditions, emerging threats, and new opportunities.
Action: Remain responsive to emerging ecological and financial challenges through continual monitoring and adjustments to conservation strategies.
Balance is necessary
Balance is necessary
Successful conservation in agricultural landscapes requires balancing conservation with production, allowing farmers flexibility while securing environmental outcomes.
Action: Work closely with landholders to understand and appreciate their needs and objectives and accept that these may change over time. Ensure that shared understanding remains relevant by maintaining regular two-way dialogue and information sharing.
Financial security matters
Financial security matters
Innovative financial structures, such as perpetual endowments, provide sustained and predictable funding for long-term conservation efforts.
Action: Explore diverse funding sources, including public-private partnerships, grants, and community fundraising, to ensure the financial sustainability of conservation projects.
Solid data supports good decision making
Solid data supports good decision making
Providing landholders with clear ecological data supports conservation focused management actions, builds trust between parties and fosters a sense of responsibility and engagement in the program.
Action: Develop explicit ecological performance indicators linked to stewardship payments to ensure transparency and effectiveness.
The role of monitoring in supporting fund management and ensuring biodiversity outcomes
The role of monitoring in supporting fund management and ensuring biodiversity outcomes
Ecological data supports decision making and engagement
Ecological data supports decision making and engagement
Further reading
Further reading
Bridle, K. et al. (2022). Landholder reflections of their engagement in landscape conservation projects in the Midlands.
Davidson, N.J. et al. (2022). Restoring the Midlands of Tasmania: An Introduction. Ecological Management & Restoration.
Gilfedder, L., Appleby, M.W., Lechner, A.M., Sprod, D., Carter, O., Burgess, S., Davidson, N.J., & Harris, R. (2021). Tasmanian Midlands: A Case Study of Increasing Sophistication in Conservation Planning and Action Over Four Decades. Ecological Management & Restoration. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/emr.12470
Kull, C.A., & Rangan, H. (2021). Financial Mechanisms for Conservation: Innovation in Australia. In Sustainable Financing for Protected Area.
Landholder reflections of their engagement in landscape conservation and restoration projects in the Northern Midlands of Tasmania: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/emr.12499
Midland Conservation Partnership Overview, 2011 – Tasmanian Land Conservancy: https://tasland.org.au/programs/midlands-conservation-fund/
Midlands Conservation Fund Evaluation Report (2022). Tasmanian Land Conservancy and Bush Heritage Australia.
Stoudmann, N., Defourny, P., Appleby, M., Byrne, J., & Adams, V. (2024). Conservation in agricultural landscapes: Impact of privately managed interventions on habitat condition and woody cover. Biological Conservation, 300, 110850. ISSN 0006-3207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110850. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320724004129?via%3Dihub
Sheep farmers are helping save Tasmania's native grasslands - 'We're better off working together', 2024, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/22/sheep-farmers-are-helping-save-tasmanias-native-grasslands-were-better-off-working-together
Tasmanian Land Conservancy (2024) Midlands Conservation Partnership – Celebrating 10 years ten years. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlnrrMGySIo (Accessed 12 March 2025).
Tasmanian Midlands socio-economic profile: https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/report/Tasmanian-Midlands-socio-economic-profile/991005541988507891
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
This case study and its contents were researched and compiled by Our Common Place, formerly Conservation Management and developed with permission and generous input from Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Thank you to the staff, past and present, who contributed insights, expertise and publications to this resource.
Video production was provided by the University of Tasmania. Special thanks are extended to Matthew McKee, Educational Technologist Sciences and Engineering, Academic Division for his generous input of time and skill.
Banner image credit: The Tasmanian Land Conservancy
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