Print this pageBiodiversity
Council Conservation Partnerships
Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay Regional Council work with community members in many different ways to achieve a range of environmental outcomes. One of these is the conservation partnerships initiatives which provides different levels of support to private landholders undertaking environmental management and activities on their properties.
Conservation partnerships can help protect your privately owned bushland and native animal habitat. The Conservation Partnership Program consists of Voluntary Conservation Agreements and Land for Wildlife two flexible programs that can be tailored to your property and your lifestyle.
Land for Wildlife
Land for Wildlife is a free, voluntary conservation program that supports participants in protecting, enhancing and rehabilitating native flora and fauna on their property. The Land for Wildlife program is targeted to properties that are 1 hectare or larger and offers free land management advice, workshops, field days, regular newsletters and opportunities to meet other like-minded landholders.Benefits and assistance to Land for Wildlife participants include:
- Free onsite land management advice tailored to your property.
- Property revisits and ongoing property-specific advice.
- Free workshops and field days.
- Access to technical advice and resources, including environment grants and other incentives.
- opportunities to network with like-minded landholders.
- Free Land for Wildlife sign acknowledging the commitment made to nature conservation.
- Free use of council’s community propagation facility.
This program is available for both Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay residents. To apply, download Land for Wildlife brochure and application form
Further information on the Land for Wildlife and the complete Land for Wildlife factsheet series can be downloaded from the “Partnerships” page on the South East Queensland Catchments
Voluntary Conservation Agreements
The Voluntary Conservation Agreement program supports private landholders by protecting the bushland on their properties in perpetuity, by registering a covenant on title over some or all of the property. Voluntary Conservation Agreement support and incentives may include:- Financial contributions towards on-ground management costs and rate rebates.
- Environmental management plan developed for your property.
- Free ongoing property management information.
- Local field days and workshops.
- Regular newsletters.
Voluntary Conservation Agreement property owners may also access further support by joining the Land for Wildlife program. Eligible properties for a Voluntary Conservation Agreement include those that have:
- Areas of high conservation status bushland.
- Threatened or significant plants and animals present.
- Environmental significance due to features such as habitat connectivity and water quality protection.
This program is available for both Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay residents.
For Sunshine Coast residents, please see the Council's Conservation Partnerships page.
For Moreton Bay residents, please see the Council's Nature Conservation Management Programs page. Other programs available for Moreton Bay residents also include Backyards for Wildlife.
Eligibility into these Conservation Programs is based on criteria such as property size, property management objectives and properties located within areas of high regional or local conservation status.
Activity Centre
challenges, tools and games.
Useful Tips and Facts
- Create urban wildlife corridors and stepping stones to larger local bushland or parkland areas.
- In nature there is no such thing as waste everything is linked and contributes to the cycle. As a plant reaches the end of its life cycle it is not discarded by nature, instead it provides habitat for animals and food for micro-organisms as it lies on the ground, the waste from the micro-organisms, bacteria and fungi feeding on it replace nutrients and organic material to the soil for new plants to grow.
- Plant local native species
- The best way to attract native wildlife to your backyard is to provide a variety of healthy natural foods in the form of seeds, leaves, flowers, nectar, pollen, fruits and nuts throughout the year.
- The use of pesticides and herbicides can damage your soils and kill non target species. The poisoning of insects with chemicals can also cause larger species relying on those insects as a food source to become sick or even die from eating poisoned insects.
- To create habitat for smaller native birds you can grow shrubs close together to create dense corners or pockets in your garden which will provide protection and refuge from larger aggressive birds such as noisy miners
- Wattles (Acacias). While most wattles only live between 6 - 10 years, they are an important pioneer species which colonise disturbed areas, where other plants find it hard to grow. They improve soil conditions enough to allow other species to germinate and thrive by fixing nitrogen into the soil through their roots and adding high levels of organic leaf litter.