Product Data
Native Ecosystem Protection
497 ha
98
171
10
13: Climate Action
15: Life on Land
Project Details
Why support this project?
This Wilderlands project situated in the heart of the New South Wales Riverina, spanning 497 hectares, adjacent to national parkland and revegetated forests, and is home to a diverse range of endangered bird communities and native plants.
Alleena has served as a dedicated conservation reserve since 2020, with five conservation areas protected in perpetuity by a Conservation Agreement through the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT).
Home to over 98 bird species, it aims to address the decline of the suite of birds dependent on intact woodland ecosystems for foraging and nesting with these once common woodland birds, such as the Dusky Woodswallow, now found almost exclusively in small, scattered remnants of habitat on private land, within State Forests or Nature Reserves.
The Alleena project offers landscape-scale connectivity for species movement and dispersal, as well as habitat for a variety of threatened woodland bird species, including the Brown Treecreeper, Dusky Woodswallow, Gilbert’s Whistler, Grey-crowned Babbler, Pink Cockatoo, Scarlet Robin, Spotted Harrier, Superb Parrot, and White-fronted Chat.
The project features rich native plant diversity with a total of 171 species recorded, including the noteworthy addition of the Spiny Peppercress, a species classified as vulnerable under both Commonwealth and State legislation.
It also includes two state listed threatened ecological communities: Mallee and Mallee-Broombush dominated woodland and shrubland; and Inland Grey Box Woodland in the Riverina, NSW South Western Slopes which is also listed under National legislation.
A variety of native mammals can also be found across the property including Yellow-footed Antechinus and Dunnart species, often spotted exploring the fallen timber in the understory.
For more details on the Alleena project, visit our project partners at Wilderlands: Alleena, NSW | Wilderlands.earth
How are the Grasslands protected?
Natural Grasslands of the Murray Valley Plains in Victoria have been so extensively cleared since colonisation that less than 0.5% of their original extent remains today. Despite all the legislative protection these grasslands and their associated threatened species have, they are still being cleared and cultivated. Once they are lost, they are never able to fully return to their pre-cultivation state. The Budgerum Grassland remained at high risk of being converted to intensive agriculture. It is a relic, a museum piece, containing areas that have not been subjected to clearing or cropping. Permanent protection of this property was the only way to ensure its conservation forever.
The property, owned and managed by Wilderlands’ conservation partner, Cassinia Environmental, is now operating as a dedicated conservation reserve, protected under a Conservation Covenant made under the Victorian Conservation Trust Act 1972 (Vic) and administered by Trust for Nature.
What are BDUs and how are they created and verified?
At the Budgerum site, one Biological Diversity Unit (BDU) equates to one square meter of land permanently protected to maintain and enhance the integrity of its biological diversity.
Budgerum is also a registered credit site on the Victorian Native Vegetation Credit Register (NVCR). Cassinia Environmental, the Budgerum landowner, voluntarily “retires” these statutory compliance units, so they can’t be used as a compliance offset. Wilderlands then geotags each unit and registers the now “voluntary” units on the independently managed Vegetation Link registry – effectively creating the Biological Diversity Units. When you purchase these units, each purchase is linked to a Certificate of Sale issued by Vegetation Link.
Periodic inspections of the property are conducted by Trust for Nature (Victoria), with additional monitoring conducted by Wilderlands Ecologists.
Sustainable development goals
The project contributes to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
