Whereas some people can’t see the wood for the trees, the Australian Bush Heritage Fund (ABHF) glories in its vision to conserve Australia’s rich biodiversity. CEO Doug Humann says the group’s slogan is, ‘We don’t beat about the bush, we buy it!’
‘The ABHF is a national, independent, non-profit organisation committed to preserving Australia’s biodiversity by protecting the bush, and is Australia’s most widely supported national organisation dedicated to protecting species and habitats through the creation of reserves on private land,’ says Humann. It’s a hell of a mouthful, but then the ABHF is quite an organisation.
Thirteen years on from when Dr Bob Brown founded the ABHF by going into debt for $250,000 to buy two blocks near Liffey, in Tasmania, the much-vaunted organisation now has an annual turnover of more than $3 million, a highly skilled staff of 15 and a multi-talented board of unpaid directors.
ABHF reserves are now protecting some 345,680ha of Australia’s conservation lands, which include examples of 131 vegetation communities, 50 vegetation communities of conservation significance, 64 species of plants of conservation significance and 43 species of birds or animals at risk. However, rather than simply make purchases, the ABHF administers an extensive land-management program that includes ecosystem restoration, feral animal and weed monitoring and control, fuel-reduction burning, maintenance of firebreaks, tracks, fencing, revegetation, flora and fauna surveys, native bird research, vegetation mapping, repairs and improvements to infrastructure, and maintenance of walking tracks and signage. The group is that it is effectively taking over from the state and federal governments in preserving large-scale natural heritage areas of Australia that might not otherwise be protected.
‘The ABHF is a brilliant idea and is being brilliantly executed,’ says patron Phillip Adams. ‘Why spend half a million on a landscape painting when, for a lot less, you can help buy the landscape? And save it from destruction!’ The broadcaster reckons that we should all get behind it and then hang a photo (or painting) of the salvaged landscape on the wall.
‘I hate to think how few of the landscapes painted by Streeton, McCubbin and the rest exist today, in recognisable form,’ he adds. ‘Think about it. Bush Heritage actually saves the bush, not just a dead painter’s impression of it, and that makes it as important as the National Gallery.’
It’s a leviathan task by any measure, and the man at the helm of this dynamic organisation combines a passion for