Protected Areas on Private Land (PAPL)
PAPL, which began in 1999, is a joint initiative between the Australian government's National Reserve System (NRS) program, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy.
PAPL facilitates the creation of voluntary private protected areas between the Tasmanian government and private landowners who have important natural values on their land which contribute to the NRS—Australia's network of protected areas, conserving natural landscapes, native plants and animals for future generations.
Participation in PAPL is wholly voluntary and gives landowners security that their property's special natural values are protected in perpetuity. Advice to manage the plants, animals and ecosystems is provided.
As of April 2012 more than 655 conservation agreements under the Nature Conservation Act 2002 have been finalised with landowners through the PAPL program, a combined area covering nearly 80,000 hectares.
PAPL is seeking applications from people who own property with great natural values across the state, but particularly from areas within focal landscapes as identified in our landscape conservation planning process.
To find out more, contact our PAPL Officer on 6225 1399 (Hobart) or 6331 9295 (Launceston) or by email
The Borg Legacy
Property owners Paul and Helen Borg established a new private reserve by registering a conservation covenant over their magnificent property in the foothills of the Dip Range in north-west Tasmania.
Paul describes their motivation, "In 2000 we bought this Garden of Eden as I call it. Over the years we have lived here the place has become very special to us -- its abundant ferns, tall blackwood trees, the oxygen you can smell and virtually taste, the stillness where you can hear your heart beat, the smells, the little creatures that roam the property, even the sounds of the Tassie devil at night have made this oasis special to us. This is what we value, this is what needs to be conserved."