Indigenous landholders
Indigenous landholders are vital partners helping the nation reach its conservation goals. In the past decade, they have made the single greatest contribution to building the National Reserve System, adding more than 23 million hectares to the protected area network.
In remote and regional Australia, Indigenous Australians have cared for country for tens of thousands of years, using traditional knowledge and expertise. Often spared the impact of development and agriculture, their lands are of high conservation value, with rare and healthy ecosystems - refuges for vulnerable plants and animals.
Since 1997, Indigenous communities have declared 25 Indigenous Protected Areas on their lands, retaining their ownership but making their lands part of the National Reserve System and promising to manage them for conservation in the interests of all Australians.
Two-thirds of the growth of the National Reserve System since 1997 has been in the new Indigenous Protected Areas, which now account for one in every five hectares of the land protected for the future.
Indigenous Protected Areas are a pathway to jobs on country, linking conservation to economic development. Indigenous communities report benefits in health, education and social cohesion from forming Indigenous Protected Areas.
The Australian Government has funds to help communities decide whether or not they want to become an Indigenous Protected Area and to help draw up management plans to help conserve country and culture.
Fnd out more about the Indigenous Protected Area network and how we can help.