Reflecting on Our Impact: Highlights from 2024

This article was adapted from a speech given by CEO, James Hattam at TLC’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.

As 2024 comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of another year of wonderful results and the incredible progress made in advancing our mission of conserving Tasmania’s unique and precious natural landscapes. This year marks the fourth year of our ambitious Strategic Plan, and we are pleased to share the many milestones we’ve achieved across our four strategic intents: Nature, People, Influence, and Excellence.

Since embarking on this ambitious plan, we’ve established seven new reserves, extended three more, all permanently protected more than 11,500 hectares across our reserves, all thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our community, which donated $22 million to make this possible.

Expanding Our Conservation Footprint

This year our impact grew as we surpassed a monumental achievement: the protection of over 100,000 hectares across our reserves and conservation programs. Since 2020 alone, we’ve protected more than 27,000 hectares, nearly reaching our target of 30,000 hectares by 2025.

In addition to expanding our reserves, we welcomed 89 new landholders into the Land for Wildlife (LFW) program, contributing more than 7,000 hectares to conservation efforts across Tasmania. Seeing LFW signs appear on gates across the state is a powerful reminder of how deeply people care about Tasmania’s ecosystems and how ordinary Tasmanians are inviting conservation into their backyards.

We were also thrilled to add the Gardens for Wildlife program to our family, further expanding our conservation community. We would like to thank the Tasmanian Government for putting their trust in us to continue this program and giving us the opportunity to help urban landholders create wildlife friendly gardens.

This year, we expanded Piano Coves Reserve on Tasmania’s east coast with a generous gift from the Elsie Cameron Foundation. This brings the reserve’s total area to 155 hectares and ensures its endangered black gum woodlands, wet heathland, and coastal scrub are permanently protected.

Close by to Piano Coves, we also completed our involvement in the land return of 200 hectares at Diana’s Basin. This land, now under the stewardship of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), is both ecologically and culturally significant, and a perpetual conservation covenant has been established to ensure its protection.

We also worked with the Tasmanian State Government to protect nearly 300 hectares of critical swift parrot habitat on Bunry Island, securing six conservation covenants across almost 300 hectares that will protect this vulnerable species for generations to come.

Our Revolving Fund, now in its 18th year, continues to play a crucial role in protecting Tasmania’s most threatened ecosystems. This year, the Fund successfully facilitated the sale of two properties at Miena and Little Swanport, as well as the purchase of a new property at Colebrook, adding 300 hectares of high-priority conservation land to our portfolio. Since its inception, the Revolving Fund has protected over 7,000 hectares and facilitated the purchase and sale of 58 properties.

Key, longstanding collaborations like the Midlands Conservation Partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, now in its 13th year, continue to go from strength to strength. By working with farmers, we are supporting the active stewardship of over 7,300ha of threatened ecological communities, while building enduring relationships with landholders and their families.

We also welcomed new collaborative projects into the fold, including the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project with UTAS and WWF which focuses on the eastern quoll translocation across private land. Although it is in its early days, this project has highlighted TLC’s strength in working with private landholders, as well as across our reserves, to deliver innovative solutions through applied conservation science. The project will move into the next phase later this year with the first translocations planned for this summer.

Our Vision for the Future: Pine Tier

One of the highlights of this year was our fundraising campaign to purchase Pine Tier, a property in the Central Highlands that we have dreamed of protecting for over a decade. With close to $5 million raised so far, we are well on our way to securing the 20,000 hectares of contiguous, privately protected land that will link several established conservation areas across 20,000 hectares. This massive achievement marks a new chapter for conservation in Tasmania, and we remain committed to raising the remaining $1.6 million to ensure its protection in perpetuity through the TLC Foundation.

You can read more about Pine Tier and donate to our campaign here.

The TLC Foundation

Something that continually inspires and impresses me is TLC’s commitment to long-term financing. Our innovative approach to the TLC Foundation – our long-term financing mechanism that sets TLC apart – brought about significant positive financial achievements over the past year and funded 72% of the costs for our effective conservation management.

The Foundation directly funded over 1000 days of active on-ground activities across our reserves, contributing to our commitment to managing key threats and long-term ecological monitoring.

A Strong Community of Volunteers and Supporters

None of these achievements would be possible without the generosity and dedication of the TLC community. This year, our volunteers contributed 640 days of hands-on support, from managing threats to providing invaluable expertise in governance. We are deeply grateful to every volunteer who has helped bring our conservation vision to life.

We also want to acknowledge the incredible contributions of the TLC staff, a team of 35 talented individuals who collectively represent 117 years of dedication to protecting Tasmania’s natural heritage. Their hard work and passion are at the heart of everything we do.

A Legacy of Conservation: Honouring our Bequestors

We are humbled to honour the memory of the nine special individuals who left a gift in their will to TLC this year. Their generosity ensures that Tasmania’s unique natural wonders will continue to be protected for future generations. We would like to acknowledge nine very special people whose bequests we received this year.

• Alice Hodgson
• Cherry Hobbs
• Gillian Winter
• Hilary Bennell
• Jacky Lewers
• Phillipa Woodward
• Mary Slover
• Robert Thorne; and
• Warwick Risby

We didn’t know all of these people, but whether we knew them or not, we want to express our deepest gratitude and respect to them for trusting TLC with their enduring conservation legacy, something that will continue through our work for generations to come.

Remembering Friends: Chris Crerar and Jamie Kirkpatrick

This year, we also lost two cherished members of the TLC community, Chris Crerar and Jamie Kirkpatrick. Both were instrumental in shaping TLC’s vision and mission. Chris’s photography captured the beauty of Tasmania’s landscapes, while Jamie’s work and advocacy for conservation in the highlands was foundational to the development of TLC’s science programs. We remember them with deep affection and gratitude for the immeasurable contributions they made to the conservation movement.

Looking Ahead

As we reflect on this past year, we are filled with hope and determination for the future. The work we’ve done is only possible because of the support of our incredible community, and we look forward to continuing to work together to protect Tasmania’s irreplaceable natural heritage. As we move into the next year, we remain committed to achieving our strategic goals and making a lasting impact for nature and future generations.

We would like to finish with some words, written and shared by Jamie Kirkpatrick at the TLC Poets and Painters exhibition in 2017 that have inspired us in our work: