About The North East Tasmania Land Trust:

The north east of Tasmania is home to some of the most beautiful places in the world, including the famous Bay of Fires. Yet for many years the north east has been overlooked as a region in need of protection, even though it is an area of exceptional biodiversity.

The North East Tasmania Land Trust (NETLT) has been set up to help remedy this situation. It is a not-for-profit community-based charity. Read More About Us.

Land Gift:

In an informal ceremony at the Falmouth Community Centre on January 7, 2013 the Schier family of Falmouth made a generous offer of land to the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) and the North East Tasmania Land Trust (NETLT).

The Schier family signed over to TLC and NETLT the gift of a 50 acre block of land, which is completely forested and is located on the north side of the North Sister and looks out onto the north east of Tasmania.

The gifting of this land to TLC and the NETLT had special significance for members of the Schier and Lohrey families who swapped stories of their heritage at a ceremony. (Read more here)

Our Patron - Christine Milne

Senator Christine Milne has agreed to be the Patron for the North East Tasmania Land Trust Inc. Like Senator Bob Brown, Christine Milne is a country kid whose passion for the land is rooted in her childhood. A fifth generation Tasmanian and daughter of small dairy farmers in the idyllic Wesley Vale area, she grew up with draught horses, learned how to milk cows and went rabbiting with her sister.

She went on to university to do an Honours degree in Australian History and although not involved in student politics, in her late twenties she was moved to join the Franklin River blockade. There she was arrested and sent to jail for three days. As with many of her peers, it was a formative experience. ‘I thought, if that’s the worst they can do to you in Tasmania then I’m up for it. From that time on there was no looking back for me as an activist.’ When in the late 80’s the Canadian company Noranda and North Broken Hill Ltd proposed the building of a pulp mill in her hometown of Wesley Vale, one of the nation’s prime agricultural regions, Christine became the face of the opposition. Graham Richardson, the then Minister for the Environment in the Hawke government, was converted by her to the anti-pulp mill cause. In his memoir, Whatever it Takes, Richardson describes the young activist as ‘one tough lady’.

In 1989 along with Di Hollister, Christine became the first women Greens elected to an Australian parliament. It was an election that left five Greens holding the balance of power in Tasmania’s lower house and led to the historic Labor Green Accord in which Bob Brown describes Christine as having played a key negotiating role. The outcome was a doubling of Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and the introduction of Freedom of Information legislation, but the Accord broke down after sixteen months over the state ALP’s adoption of the federal government’s Forests and Forestry Industry Strategy (FFIS).

In 2004 she was elected to the senate despite a preference deal between the state ALP and Family First that was designed to cut her out. There can be few senators who have entered national politics with the depth of Christine’s political experience. We are really fortunate to have a Patron with such experience, integrity and humility.

NETLT Launch On the 3rd of June 2009 the North East Tasmania Land Trust was officially launched in Launceston, Tasmania. The State Government has welcomed the Trust's establishment and Environment Minister Michelle O'Byrne was at the launch. "The conservation of our natural environment can only be successful when it has the support of the community" Ms O'Byrne said. The establishment of the Trust is the first step in protecting land of significant conservational value on free hold land in the North East of Tasmania.

Environment Minister Michelle O'Byrne and Dr Lohrey

Our mission

Our mission is to preserve, enhance, and protect the natural environment in north eastern Tasmania. Donations to the NETLT are tax deductible.

1. to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment by acquiring and managing land of ecological value;
2. to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment by acquiring land of ecological value, protecting the land in perpetuity by means of conservation covenants, public education programs or any other available means and re-selling that land or transferring its ownership to an organisation with similar objects for perpetual protection;
3. to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment by working with federal, state and local governmental authorities to create appropriate management plans for areas that connect public and private land;
4. to trade in carbon credits and carbon offsets, not as an end in itself but a means of achieving a certain level of emission abatement at the lowest cost possible and to provide incentives for individuals, businesses, companies and firms to reduce emissions; and
5. to establish and maintain a public fund to be called the North East Tasmanian Land Trust Fund for the specific purpose of supporting the environmental objects/purposes of the North East Tasmanian Land Trust Inc. The fund is established to receive gifts of money or property for this purpose and any money received must be credited to its bank account. The fund must not receive any other money or property into its account and it must comply with subdivision 30- E of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The North East is under threat:

Tasmania is a place of beauty and wild places with many reserves on public land. Yet the North East of the state has tended to be overlooked even though it is a place of exceptional biodiversity. Many important areas in the North East are now under threat from unsustainable development, land degeneration, mono-culture and clearing. Tasmania has the second highest per-capita rate of land clearing in the nation. Read More About Us.

How do we work?

The North East Tasmania Land Trust works in partnership with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy to protect valuable natural places. As a non-government organisation, the North East Tasmania Land Trust relies on the tax deductible contributions we receive from individuals and philanthropic groups. How can I donate?