CCSG Member News: Connecting people and nature to heal bushfire-affected landscapes, wildlife, and communities across eastern Australia

By Tandi Spencer-Smith, Board Member of the Great Eastern Ranges and CCSG Member

Fire rips through the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. © shutterstock.com

For several dark months from 2019 to 2020, the most devastating bushfires that Australia had ever experienced raged across the continent’s eastern shores. Following a prolonged period of drought, the unprecedented bushfires ripped across 18.6 million hectares of land, killed or displaced an estimated three billion animals, and decimated local communities and economies.

A frightened koala joey clings to its mother’s back in the NSW South Coast in aftermath of 2019-2020 bushfires in Australia © Peter C 83 – shutterstock.com/GER

Although many of Australia’s plants have adapted to living with bushfire, the sheer scale and intensity of the flames meant that even some of these forests will take decades to recover, and local wildlife were left with nowhere to escape. In some areas, such as Victoria’s towering Mountain Ash forests, home to the world’s tallest flowering plant and Australia’s very own forest fairy, the Leadbeater’s Possum, the devastation was absolute. Scientists fear that forests like these may never recover.

To help affected landscapes, wildlife and communities to heal, the Great Eastern Ranges (GER), one of Australia’s leading connectivity conservation initiatives, has been bringing people together to roll out a suite of complementary bushfire recovery projects. The grassroots-driven activities, led by GER’s regionally based partnerships in collaboration with local landholders, traditional custodians, community groups, researchers, and national NGOs, including WWF-Australia and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, serve to:

Connect and restore native habitat and support wildlife in burnt areas, while helping to protect and improve habitat in unburnt areas.
Encourage and aid the natural recovery of grasslands, woodlands, and forests.
Support local economies by restoring the natural and cultural assets on which Australia’s tourism industry and many livelihoods depend and providing new jobs.
Boost community, landscape and ecosystem health and build resilience.
Encourage improved land and forest management to reduce the risk and severity of future catastrophic fires.
Map the fire footprint and monitor the recovery of south-eastern Australia’s forests using satellite data combined with on-ground citizen science surveys.

Stuart Blanch from WWF-Australia holds a tray containing some of the 10,000 trees and shrubs that are being planted through GER’s bushfire recovery partnership project with the organisation. © Tandi Spencer-Smith/GER

These recovery activities build on and add value to the vital work that individuals and organisations are already doing in these areas and to fill the gaps in others. GER’s regional partnership model enables work to be done directly with the people on the ground who have been the most impacted and to respond to local needs and conditions, whilst providing the broader, coordinated, and adaptive landscape-scale response needed. Some of these areas are already springing back to life, and remaining wildlife are returning, along with people’s connection to place.

But the task of recovering from a disaster the size of the Black Summer bushfires is immense, and a lot more work remains. More sobering is the knowledge that without a strong commitment by the government and the whole-of-society to cut the carbon emissions causing these climate-fueled disasters and protect the forests that remain, on ground efforts will not be sufficient alone to stave off the damage.

In tandem, connectivity conservation initiatives, which provide some of the most cost-effective, integrated natural solutions to the climate, biodiversity and health crisis, need to become the “new norm”. Together these efforts will give us the best chance of ensuring a resilient and thriving people and planet.

About the Author

Tandi Spencer-Smith is a respected executive and passionate conservationist with over fifteen years of experience in the environmental not-for-profit, corporate and government sectors and a Master of Science in Biodiversity Conservation. Before taking on her current roles as Senior Marketing, Communications and Partnerships Manager, and Board Member of the Great Eastern Ranges, she served as the Director of the Australian Committee for IUCN. Tandi continues to contribute towards the network as an active member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, Species Specialist Commission, Commission on Communication and Education, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and IUCN #NatureForAll.

Questions about this story?

Contact the author: tandi@ger.org.au

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State	Year	Policy	Description
New Hampshire	2026	SB592	Enables regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors
New Hampshire	2019	SB200	Requires the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to consider fish and wildlife crossings and mitigation measures in all future road and culvert projects
New Hampshire	2016	SB376	Requires the fish and game department to identify existing and needed wildlife corridors connecting wildlife habitats in the state and to make recommendations for legislative changes

State	Year	Policy	Description
Maine	2023	LD258	Appropriates $7.5 million to Department of Transportation to improve roadways with potential adaptations for wildlife
Maine	2023	LD1881	Establishes compensation fee program relating to fish and wildlife habitats and associated corridors, including compensation paid by solar energy development
Maine	2023	LD508	Requires Department of Environmental Protection to review its permitting laws concerning climate change, habitat connectivity, ecological resilience, and coastal environments

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Jersey	2025	S3618	Directs state agencies to develop a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Jersey	2024	S3916/A5486	Expands eligibility for existing wildlife fencing programs by including farmers leasing farmland
New Jersey	2007	NJAC7:13	Requires the state to incorporate wildlife crossings or a natural bank for terrestrial threatened and endangered species and/or species of concern when a new bridge or culvert project would cause habitat fragmentation

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Mexico	2023	SB72	Appropriates money to new Wildlife Corridors Fund for implementation of wildlife crossing projects under New Mexico Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Mexico	2022	HB 2	Allocates funding for projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and allows the Department of Transportation and Department of Game to implement their Wildlife Corridors Action Plan
New Mexico	2019	SB 228	Requires the creation of a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan that includes comprehensive guidance to agencies for identifying, prioritizing and maintaining important areas for wildlife movement

State	Year	Policy	Description
Washington	2023	HB1216/SB5196	Requires Department of Ecology to prepare environmental impact statements for clean energy projects that consider impacts to habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors
Washington	2022	SB5689	Provides funding for US 97 Wildlife Crossing Improvements project
Washington	2019	SEO 1031.02	Recognizes the effect of roadways in creating barriers to wildlife movement, breeding, and migrations; the Washington State Department of Transportation will promote and support Practical Solutions and Planning and Environmental Linkages to integrate habitat connectivity and biodiversity plans; will make use of the highway prioritization map known as Habitat Connectivity Investment Priorities; and will corporate and coordinate with other agencies involved in wildlife habitat protection, specifically along highways

State	Year	Policy	Description
Vermont	2023	Act59	Vermont's 30x30 law that commits to conserving and maintaining an ecologically functional landscape that sustains biodiversity and maintains landscape connectivity
Vermont	2016	Act 171	Primarily focuses on timber harvesting regulations, but calls for a study of necessary revisions to planning statutes that protect contiguous areas of forestland from fragmentation and promote habitat connectivity between forestlands

State	Year	Policy	Description
Colorado	2026	SB141	Creates optional collision prevention fee to fund wildlife safe passage projects
Colorado	2025	HB1093	Restricts local limits on residential density unless offset elsewhere, exempts areas near wildlife crossings, and allows municipalities to seek judicial review of land use initiatives
Colorado	2023	SB 23-092	Encourages minimal impacts to wildlife migration corridors when constructing solar panel farms
Colorado	2023	SB 214	Appropriates funding to the Colorado Wildlife Safe Passages Fund for wildlife crossing projects
Colorado	2022	SB22-151	Creates a $5 million fund for measures that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and reconnect habitat fragmented by roads
Colorado	2022	HB22-1072	Expands the scope of Habitat Partnership Program to fund efforts to conserve wildlife migration
Colorado	2021	SJR 21-021	Aims to protect and enhance habitat connectivity in the state through the establishment of a working group to develop state policies on corridors, as well as the commission of a report on state corridors and voluntary policies to support willing landowners in improving connectivity
Colorado	2019	EO 11	Directs Colorado agencies to identify policy, regulatory, and legislative opportunities to ensure the ongoing conservation of seasonal big game habitat and migration corridors
Colorado	2018	SB 18-143	States explicit goals for Division of Parks and Wildlife to invest in habitat conservation and wildlife crossings

State	Year	Policy	Description
California	2026	SB1250	Requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to include wildlife connectivity corridors and needs into its infrastructure project planning
California	2024	AB1889	Requires counties and municipalities to conserve wildlife corridors when planning new developments
California	2023	AB1760	Calls for a statewide analysis of wildlife corridors and connectivity to support conservation planning and climate change adaptation activities.
California	2023	SB145	Outlines provisions for transportation-related environmental mitigation, including funding for wildlife corridors, property and credit purchases for mitigation, reporting requirements, and mandates for wildlife crossings along Interstate 15.
California	2023	SB101	Provides funding for wildlife corridors and open spaces, including projects to improve connectivity and reduce barriers between habitat areas.
California	2022	AB2344	Establishes a state program to address roads with high wildlife-vehicle collisions, authorizes Caltrans to develop standalone wildlife connectivity projects, mandates an inventory and prioritization system for critical areas, and requires integration of wildlife passage features into relevant road designs.
California	2022	AB1384	Requires agencies to address vulnerabilities in Safeguarding California Plans, including protecting and enhancing wildlife corridors
California	2021	SB790	Approves compensatory mitigation credits for wildlife connectivity actions
California	2021	AB1183	Establishes the California Desert Conservation Program to protect biodiversity, including the protection and enhancement of habitat connectivity
California	2021	AB128	Appropriates funding for wildlife crossing projects, including the Liberty Canyon crossing for mountain lions
California	2015	AB 498	Amends the California Fish and Game Code to encourage, wherever feasible, voluntary steps to protect the functioning of wildlife corridors
California	2014	AB1471	Provides funds to the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, in part to protect and restore aquatic, wetland, and migratory bird ecosystems including corridors.
California	2008	AB2785	Orders Dept. of Fish & Wildlife to investigate, study, and identify key wildlife corridors and linkages within the state, and to make those areas public

State	Year	Policy	Description
Florida	2024	SB1638	Dedicates annual funding to land purchases, conservation easements, and trail maintenance within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	HB1379	Creates annual appropriation to acquire lands that complete certain linkages and are under high population stress within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	SB2500 sec.146	Provides funding to buy Ocala to Osceola (“O2O”) Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2021	SB976	Tasks state agencies with maintaining wildlife connectivity and designates Florida Wildlife Corridor as an existing physical, geographically defined area
Florida	2021	SB2500	Appropriates $300 million to acquire lands to conserve Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2019	SB7068	Creates a "Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program" that includes protection of wildlife corridors as an intended benefit
Florida	2008	SB542	Amends Florida Forever Act statues to include goals of connecting linkage corridors
Florida	2001	SB1468	Amends Florida Forever Act to establish that land acquisitions should include complete landscape linkages and corridors
Florida	1999	S908	Creates Florida Forever Program, with increased protection of lands that protect threatened or endangered species and plans to create a statewide system of connected landscape linkages