A growing number of NSW landholders are voluntarily converting their properties into conservation areas as a result of the state government's $355 million commitment to the cause.
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In just 18 months, 155 landholders have signed or are set to commit to conservation agreements with the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT), representing more than 35,000 hectares.
Not only are producers making the change for sustainable production and marketing opportunities, BCT is investing more than $100 million to the agreements and landholders are paid between $21 and $423 per hectare each year to manage the areas.
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A voluntary conservation agreement is a joint settlement between landowners and the environment minister to protect certain features of land. Producers have the ability to decide on what the agreement entails and how they manage the area.
When Inverell's Shirley Handy purchased a 240-hectare property and placed it under a voluntary conservation agreement in perpetuity, many people thought she was crazy.
But 16 years since that day Ms Handy believes conversational agreements have never been more important.
At the time of her takeover, the property, known as Five Corners, was undeveloped bush that had been overgrazed, mined for sapphires and used for logging activities.
"When I first looked it had over 500 head of cattle on it and it was like this floor, there was nothing," Ms Handy said.
"Grass trees have regenerated, regrowth has been better and birds, everything is just more sustained. It certainly has improved."
The former mixed farmer from Walgett has been able to increase species of birds, wildlife and fauna, while also better controlling feral pest species including wild pigs, goats, dogs and cats.
She only traps for pigs three nights a week but last year alone trapped 202 pigs for the year.
Ms Handy said establishing a conservation agreement often brought fear to producers who thought it would make their property less valuable.
"I really think at the end of the day your property is going to be worth more money because it has a conservation agreement on it then if it hasn't," she said.
"It means your biodiversity is in tact and the proof is in the pudding because you have less insects because you have more birds and the balance of nature is how it was originally supposed to be. That's not being a greenie, it's coming back to common sense.
"A lot of them will say, 'But I'm worried Shirley that if I do that I won't be able to sell?', it's not so, not now because more and more there is destruction of environment.
"I don't disagree with clearing property, you can clear your property but do it properly. Leave your 10 per cent, link your areas so your birds and your koalas and everything else has got a link."
A BCT spokesperson said there had been a major uplift in producers considering voluntary private land conservation following government's $355 million commitment across the next five years, as part of the biodiversity conservation reforms.
The spokesperson said many of the highest priority areas for investment in conservation were in the NSW sheep-wheat belt.
"So the BCT is directing most of the NSW government's investment in funded conservation agreements in this part of NSW," the spokesperson said.
"As a result, two-thirds of the BCT's investment in funded conservation agreements is flowing to graziers, farmers or mixed farming enterprises. These farmers are being paid by the BCT to manage parts of their properties for conservation.
"The BCT has also invested in threatened grasslands in the Monaro and in high-priority koala habitat on the North Coast."
Ms Handy said even if she had a fully working livestock property, she would still develop along corridors and interlink certain areas. She said conservation was just as important in the current dry conditions.
"Think about that tree before you knock it over and also how much stock you run," she said.
"You must have at least 80 per cent ground cover otherwise you are robbing yourself, your animals and your environment.
"There is nothing to be afraid of, you don't have to be a greenie. The radical greenie kills it for the common sense conservationist."
Five Corners has also become a sacrificial representation of the many pest and wildlife problems producers face and Ms Handy runs regular workshops on feral animals, nocturnal evenings, birds, citizen scientists and many more.
Among the pests Ms Handy monitors, feral cats rather than foxes, dogs, pigs, goats or deer were her biggest pest problem and she would trap one every six to seven weeks.
"Desexing and microchipping might be okay for some times but even if you desex a cat it will still kill and become feral," she said.
"This is my way of helping councils and the government to contain cats but have the Companion Animal Act changed so that the laws that cover our dogs, cover cats.
"Our dog has to be under our jurisdiction 24/7, it can't go anywhere without us and on a lead, but cats can go anywhere they choose at anytime, the only place they are not allowed is near a food area according to the Companion Animal Act."
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
