Protecting our unique environment
Land for the environment
The Environmental Stewardship Program provides payments to landowners to protect the environment, creating an alternative income stream for farmers and helping to preserve our unique biodiversity.
The environmental sustainability of Australia's regions is essential to our wellbeing. Many environmental assets are located in regional Australia and protecting our environment is critical to the economic future of many of our regions and industries.
The Government is expanding the Environmental Stewardship Program with an extra $84.2 million over four years. This funding builds on the success of the first four years of investment under the program. Recognising the important role that private landholders play in protecting our environment, the program uses competitive tenders to engage landholders in contracts (of up to 15 years) to protect nationally significant habitat. The program will support conservation of up to an additional 34,000 hectares of endangered habitat, while also contributing to more sustainable regional communities.
The Government will also provide $10 million over three years to develop the National Wildlife Corridors Plan to guide future investments in conservation management.
Tasmania's economy is being boosted by Australia's activities to protect the Antarctic, with around 60 per cent of the Australian Antarctic Program's annual expenditure of approximately $100 million paid to Tasmanian staff and suppliers.
