Nature Glenelg Trust not-for-profit purchasing land for environmental rehabilitation
Real estate across the country is in high demand. But for this organisation, it is not the big bucks driving acquisitions.
AUSTRALIANS love their real estate.
We’re endlessly engrossed in property sales, auction outcomes and who owns what.
So it’s odd to come across Mark Bachmann, who has overseen his fair share of property deals, but doesn’t give a hoot for personal profit.
Mark is the founder, manager and principal ecologist of Nature Glenelg Trust, a not-for-profit community organisation that works with farmers and communities — mainly on either side of the South Australian and Victorian border — to help the environment.
In the decade NGT has been operating, they have variously fundraised or sought government grants to buy seven properties for environmental rehabilitation.
In 2018, for example, the Trust had a $150,000 public fundraising campaign (to top up additional funds) to buy a former 420ha grazing farm and blue gum plantation next to the Grampians National Park near Dunkeld.
While rehabilitation work is in its early days, the result is Walker Swamp Restoration Reserve.
“Buying degraded land is just the beginning,” says the 44-year-old.
“You’ve then got to fix it. Wetlands generally are very forgiving and once you fix the drainage you get a fast, great response.
“Walker Swamp, like our other reserves, now has recovering populations of threatened animal species such as birds, mammals, frogs and fish. The whole food web starts to reform. Nature is incredible like that.”
Given the results of Nature Glenelg Trust’s work, it’s not surprising landowners approach Mark and his team of up to 30 ecological experts for help either restoring a section of their farm, or even donating the land for rehabilitation.
NGT’s Green Swamp Restoration Reserve, near Glenthompson, had previously been drained in an attempt to open up the land for intensive agriculture. But thanks to the previous owners, Pastoral Co, it became another restoration reserve.
And again, thanks to the generosity of a major private donor a 200ha degraded red gum woodland property, bounded by the Dunkeld Racecourse and cemetery, was bought by NGT in 2018 without the need for a fundraising campaign, which is now a proposed future project.
Beyond those reserves owned by NGT, there are another 40 private- and publicly owned wetlands, including assorted paddocks through to sections of national parks or reserves where NGT has already helped restore the environment.
“Even though I come from an environmental background we’re not about lecturing people or telling them what they’re doing wrong, but finding common ground, which is how to get the best results,” Mark says.
“We’re practical and pragmatic and we understand the challenges landholders face.
“The vast majority of farmers and land owners we come across have an environmental appreciation and knowledge and when you take the time to meet them on their patch you see the common ground that exists.”
Mark grew up in Adelaide and studied applied science, working for 12 years for the South Australian government as a regional ecologist.
It was while working to protect the tiny (and very cute) endangered swamp antechinus that he realised the importance of protecting degraded landscapes.
Mark says the animal was found on a farm that had been artificially drained. After considerable work the government bought the farm and restored the wetland, which then saw the antechinus thrive.
Around the same time Mark took advantage of low property prices to buy his own bush blocks to protect them from development.
To this day, Mark owns 240ha across four properties, including his home at Mumbannar, in far west Victoria.
“I tried to do my own bit by buying blocks with magnificent vegetation, even putting a conservation covenant on two that have subsequently been sold,” says the father of five.
“I don’t have expensive hobbies or travel overseas and so when the kids were young I’d take them camping to the blocks.
“Having grown up in the city it was the ideal lifestyle to spend time in nature.”
But in 2011 he took his biggest leap — on the back of the global financial crisis — and started the registered charity, NGT, with an initial main focus on wetlands in Victoria and South Australia, but open to restoring land anywhere.
To ensure the viability of the trust, Mark’s team also offers paid services, such as native vegetation advice through to threatened species surveys.
The Trust also runs a small native plant nursery in Mt Gambier.
He says the last decade has been a “massive juggling act”.
“I liken it to building your own house. Even though you’re glad you’ve done it, it’s good I didn’t know how hard it would be. When you’re in the middle of it, sometimes it’s simply about putting one foot in front of the other,” he says.
The ultimate satisfaction for Mark is seeing the results, knowing that if his team hadn’t stepped in, the land and its plants and animals would not be thriving, beautiful, restored.
“I take a lot of pleasure in seeing how important this is to others. It gives me a buzz to see how proud farmers are their wetland has been restored and they can take their grandkids out looking for tadpoles or on the kayak,” Mark says.
“Then there are those rare, quiet moments when I’m out there by myself. It’s a profound feeling that if it hadn’t been for us, much of the land surrounding me would not exist like it does now.”
MORE
MEET THE FARM WORKER KEEPING AG HISTORY ALIVE
Merrijig Rodeo keeps the thrills coming
Thousands travelled to the High Country for the weekend’s 49th annual Merrijig Rodeo. See all the thrills – and spills – here.
Festival farewell: Princetown event ends
Beef cattle farmer Matt Bowker has shown the possibilities of hosting a multi-day festival on-farm, as Loch Hart Music Festival celebrates its final event.