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Wednesday, June 2, 1993 - 10:00

Buying back the bush

By Victoria Templeton

For years friends visiting Tasmania have looked wistfully at areas of untouched loveliness and said, "You know, we should all get together and buy some of this land, while it's still here, and make sure it stays untouched".

At last a group is buying back the Australian bush. Starting in Tasmania, the group of friends kept growing, has formed a company and is now expanding to the mainland.

The Australian Bush Heritage Fund buys, and acquires through gift and bequest, land of high scientific and cultural value, including habitat of native species threatened with extinction, and permanently protects it. It is the first Australia-wide alternative for those who love the bush and want to help save some of our greatest natural treasures.

It all started when environmentalist Dr Bob Brown organised support to buy 241 hectares at Liffey in the north-east of Tasmania, on the edge of wilderness alive with unique plants and animals, and zoned for logging.

Bush Heritage is based on the principles of the US 40-year-old giant Nature Conservancy, which now protects 5.5 million acres in the US and Canada, and helps to protect more than 15 million acres in third world countries. The same idea is behind England's more recent and rapidly growing Woodlands Trust.

The fund is administered on a shoestring budget, and all directors, scientists and patrons donate their time. With the Liffey blocks secure and being paid off by public donations, Bush Heritage is assessing the possibility of saving a small portion of the Daintree rainforest in far north Queensland.

The fund is looking for a block or blocks crucial to the Daintree to support the adjacent Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, or as animal corridors between "development" sites.

It's also looking for friends and funds. If you'd like to help, subscribers can use the brochure included in this issue. Or contact the ABHF at 102 Bathurst St, Hobart 7000.

[Victoria Templeton is national coordinator of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund.]