Conservation covenants: What are they and how can they help?
Conservation covenants are deals made with private landowners that ensure their land is only used for conservation. Why is it so important? Because it doesn’t just affect the landowner who made the deal, but every landowner after them, in perpetuity.
2 years ago, Australia pledged to place 30% of its land under conservation covenant by 2023.
But there are still a lot of problems - specifically, financial problems. Existing covenant agreements suffer from a lack of council rate rebates, pest control and fencing. Covenants also focus on protecting existing conditions, rather than restoration of land that has been polluted and degraded.