Australian Bushland Program

In March 2025, the government announced the Australian Bushland Program (ABP). The program will invest $250 million over 5 years to boost conservation and protect more land.

This will help Australia meet its target to protect 30% of land by 2030. The ABP is supported by the National 30 by 30 roadmap.

The goal of the ABP is to maximise the growth of Australia’s terrestrial protected and conserved areas. This supports progress towards the 30 by 30 target and the vision of Australia’s Strategy for Nature.

The ABP has 4 components:

partnering with state and territory governments to expand, and better manage, protected and conserved areas
growing the Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) Program to support First Nations-led protection
investing in Nature Repair Market projects that protect and conserve biodiversity
contributing funding to help buy and protect key properties with high biodiversity value.

An overview of each of the components is as follows.

State and territory partnerships

The Australian Government is teaming up with states and territories to help grow protected and conserved areas across Australia. ABP funding will build on existing state and territory programs and support new ones.

A total of $99.43 million of ABP funding has been provided to NSW, QLD, VIC, SA and TAS to deliver 12 projects.

The ABP will continue to work with states and territories that did not receive funding in this round to identify further projects that contribute to 30 by 30.

Read the media releases:

Projects approved for funding

Location	Project overview
New South Wales (NSW)	The NSW government will deliver 3 projects to: expand 2 existing NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust private land covenanting programs supplement the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service land acquisition program.
Queensland (QLD)	The QLD government will deliver 3 projects to: expand the existing NatureAssist private land covenanting program assess state-owned land for protected area designation or conserved area recognition support the purchase of regionally significant land.
South Australia (SA)	The SA government will deliver 3 projects to: assess public and private lands, including pastoral lease and sanctuary land to identify sites suitable for voluntary conserved area recognition assess SA’s Crown land estate to identify sites suitable for designation as public protected areas create a dedicated fund for purchasing and protecting land.
Tasmania (TAS)	The TAS government will deliver a project to: Expand the existing Private Land Conservation Program and undertake conserved area recognition.
Victoria (VIC)	The VIC government will deliver 2 projects to: expand the existing Trust for Nature private land covenanting program pilot the recognition of conserved areas on private land in VIC.

Growing the Indigenous Protected Areas program

Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are lands and seas that Traditional Owners care for to protect nature. First Nations peoples work with the government to manage these areas.

The Australian Government is expanding the IPA program through the ABP. Grant funding for Indigenous organisations to work towards establishing at least 8 new IPAs is available for 2 years, until 30 June 2028.

Applications for the IPA grant round have now closed. Outcomes will be announced later this year.

Read more about the Indigenous Protected Areas.

Nature Repair Market investment

The Nature Repair Market is a legislated national biodiversity market. It is designed to increase investment in nature and deliver high integrity biodiversity outcomes.

The government is exploring how we can invest directly in Nature Repair Market projects that will contribute to Australia’s 30 by 30 target.

Strategic property purchases

This part of the ABP funds approved organisations to buy and protect land with high biodiversity value. These organisations are called Purchasing Partners.

We do not buy, own or manage land ourselves. We support Purchasing Partners to protect more land across Australia.

Who can become a Purchasing Partner

Purchasing Partners must have experience in:

buying land for conservation
protecting land
managing land for conservation.

They must help pay for land purchases. They can also use funding from other sources.

Purchasing Partners could include:

First Nations organisations
environmental organisations
state and territory governments
other organisations with the right skills and experience.

A Request for Expression of Interest to find Purchasing Partners has now closed. We are reviewing all responses before moving to the next stage of procurement. Once assessments are finalised, we will publish the list of approved Purchasing Partners. We expect this to be in early 2027.

Landholders and communities

We do not accept property proposals directly.

Landholders and community groups can discuss potential land purchases with Purchasing Partners.

Property selection and assessment

Purchasing Partners will identify and submit properties to us for assessment.

Property proposals must:

have high biodiversity value
support national conservation priorities
be suitable for long-term protection and management
be offered by a willing seller.

We will assess proposals against:

ABP requirements
expected benefits for biodiversity
value for money
independent property valuations.

We will not fund land that is already protected or land that may be difficult to protect by 2030.

Ongoing management

Purchasing Partners must protect the land’s biodiversity values over the long term.

Purchasing Partners must:

put legal protections in place by 2030, such as conservation covenants
establish long term management arrangements
identify funding for ongoing management.

A Purchasing Partner, or another agreed organisation, must manage the protected land. We encourage First Nations-led management.

Updates and enquiries

For enquiries, email: australianbushlandprogram@dcceew.gov.au.

We cannot provide advice on property proposals or procurement activities.