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Our Vision
Australia's and Aotearoa New Zealand's land managers are equipped with the standards, skills and systems to protect our remarkable landscapes in an efficient and collaborative way.
Our Mission
We’re passionate about protecting Australia's and Aotearoa New Zealand's landscapes by building capacity among people to improve the practice of conservation, through adoption of the Conservation Standards and its supporting systems and tools.
We want to empower people to develop, implement, evaluate, adapt and share effective strategies that achieve measurable conservation results.
Strategies
Strategy 1: Awareness and communications
Raise awareness of the Open Standards amongst conservation decision makers and practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. Provide insight into the benefits and grow the network.
Strategy 2: Conservation Standard systems and tools maintenance and development
Improve the processes, systems and tools used to support conservation projects.
Strategy 3: Conservation Standards skills development
Ongoing support and development for Practitioners and Coaches.
How are we organised?
CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand is made up of people from NGO’s, government agencies and private industry that really care about keeping our landscapes healthy and our cultures strong.
We find ways to work together to improve our knowledge and skills through peer-review, training, talking and mentoring.
We’re volunteers, we’re not a legal entity, we don’t have a bank account, and we work within a dynamic governance structure.
CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand has been a regional arm of the global CCNet group since 2009 and by 2014 we had 30 active Coaches. We have grown significantly since with many practitioners and Coaches in the region. As a sub-group of the Global Conservation Coaches Network we emphasise and support conservation work in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, while supporting our partners globally.
We organise through our Coordination Team. They are:
Hao Jin Tan (co-coordinator), Leah Feuerherdt (co-coordinator), Clair Dougherty, Natalie Holland, Frank Weisenberger, Dr Sarah Pearson and Bridget Mattingley. You can read more about the CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand Coordinating Committee members below.
Our charter
CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand has a charter that outlines our vision, mission, roles and the governing rules for our committee.
It also outlines the selection criteria to be a committee member. We are seeking new committee members, so do contact us if you are interested!
CCNet Australia Aotearoa Charter endorsed Nov 2025.pdfThe CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand Committee
The CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand Committee
The CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand Committee members are dedicated professionals working in the conservation space applying the Conservation Standards and Healthy Country Planning to their work. The Committee is responsible for organising events in Australia and New Zealand, representing CCNet Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand at global CCNet meetings, and finding ways to support individuals and organisations within Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to engage with and apply the Conservation Standards.
Co-Chair Hao Jin Tan - Climate Adaptation Planner at Hurunui District Council
Hao Jin is a conservation practitioner and coach with extensive experience applying the Conservation Standards across diverse projects in Aotearoa New Zealand and Malaysia. She has supported iwi- and community-led planning, government initiatives, and NGO programmes—helping teams design, adapt, and implement effective conservation strategies. Hao Jin currently leads the climate adaptation work at Hurunui District Council.
Contact: haojin.tan@gmail.com
Co-Chair Leah Feuerherdt - Operations Manager at Our Common Place
Based in Queensland, Leah has spent almost a decade working with remote Aboriginal communities in the beautiful desert Country of north west South Australia, and has a background in NRM, community engagement and pest management. Leah has experience working with multiple stakeholders including pastoralists, volunteers, government agencies and Indigenous groups. In 2015, Leah helped co-facilitate some Healthy Country Planning workshops and immediately saw the value in the strategic and participatory process, and is now loving supporting several Ranger teams in QLD and SA with the development and implementation of their Healthy Country Plans.
Co-Chair Bridget Mattingley - Conservation Planner at Bush Heritage Australia
Bridget works with teams to design, deliver, and adapt conservation plans using the Conservation Standards and Healthy Country Planning framework, with a focus on strengthening right-way that are culturally informed, along with capacity building, evaluation and learning.
She brings over a decade of experience across cultural and natural management, working with diverse stakeholders to support positive outcomes for people, local communities, biodiversity and the climate. She is particularly interested in participatory, equitable approaches to conservation that value diverse knowledge and support shared decision-making.
Bridget is also a board member of the Conservation Measures Partnership.
Clair Dougherty - National Conservation Planning Manager at Bush Heritage Australia
Clair has fifteen years experience in conservation planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting using the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. Clair has qualifications in Social Science, Environmental Science and Environmental Management and is the National Conservation Planning Coordinator at Bush Heritage Australia. Clair is responsible for coordinating, developing and deploying Bush Heritage’s team of conservation coaches and delivering coaching support to Bush Heritage staff and partners. She is an experienced trainer in the use of the Open Standards and Miradi and its integration with other business systems. She delivers training in CS and supporting systems and tools. Clair has experience in institutionalising the Conservation Standards (CS) and its supporting systems and tools, including Miradi - managing a portfolio of 93 Miradi projects within a Program. Clair is dedicated to the responsible use and protection of this beautiful planet, to human rights, diversity and equity.
Contact: clair.dougherty@bushheritage.org.au
Natalie Holland - Conservation Projects Manager at The Nature Conservancy
Natalie has a career spanning over 17 years working in the not-for-profit conservation sector in Australia. Currently, Natalie is the Conservation Projects Manager for The Nature Conservancy’s Australia Program, supporting the Conservancy’s Murray Darling Basin Program. Previously at The Conservancy, she led a capacity building program for Indigenous groups across Northern Australia in the use of Healthy Country Planning, an adaptation of the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. Natalie is a Churchill Fellow recipient, undertaking a project which examined the planning, implementation, and stewardship of landscape-scale projects. Natalie has extensive experience in community and private land conservation through roles supporting community involvement in threatened species with WWF-Australia in the Threatened Species Network, and with private landholders and community groups working as the Stewardship Program Manager for Trust for Nature (Victoria).
Contact: nholland@TNC.org
Frank Weisenberger - Consultant at Frank Weisenberger Consulting
Frank is a planning professional, specialised in Indigenous issues, project management, community consultations, stakeholder engagement and meeting facilitation. Equipped with a tertiary background in Applied Geography, Anthropology and Tourism Management, Frank has spent the past twelve years working extensively with Indigenous communities across Australia and globally on conservation planning and strategic natural and cultural resource management programs.
Frank has gained extensive experience in the facilitation of the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation by training, facilitating and coaching teams in Conservation Action Planning / Healthy Country Planning projects and through his role in the Management Committee of the Australian Conservation Coaches network and the Community of Practice - Indigenous Conservation Standards Projects.
Beth Endres
Beth Endres works across collaborative conservation initiatives in Aotearoa New Zealand, supporting partners to plan, deliver and learn from strategic restoration work. She is closely involved with Kotahitanga mō te Taiao, a 17‑partner alliance in the top of the South Island where she helps embed Conservation Standards to support regional‑scale planning, adaptive practice and collective decision‑making. Beth enjoys connecting people, perspectives and projects to strengthen learning and impact.
Contact: bendres@doc.govt.nz
Sophie Fern
I am a Catchment Action Planner at the Otago Regional Council in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our team uses the Conservation Standards framework to guide co-development workshops with mana whenua and local communities, supporting the creation of collaborative Catchment Action Plans.
My academic background is in marine biology and conservation policy. Before joining the Council, I worked in science media and higher education, bringing a strong focus on science communication and knowledge sharing to my current role.
Contact: sophie.fern@orc.govt.nz
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