It is an unfortunate fact of life that a large proportion of the land of this vast state and its very diverse and valuable eco-systems thereon is held under private ownership (including Local Government).

The Protected Areas of National Parks with their various classifications and Conservation Parks cannot hope to protect all of the astonishing variety of flora, fauna and bio-systems across all the recognised nineteen bio-regions occurring in Queensland. Some of these areas are recognised as international hot-spots and representative portions must be preserved for future generations.

To assist in this preservation, a system of voluntary conservation agreements between a land-holder and the Queensland Government has been instituted that leads to the establishment of a Nature Refuge. This is a category of protected area under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. However, this system is not intended to supplant the preservation under the various park classifications, but to compliment it. Some of the portions are too small to be a viable national park but are very important never the less.

The agreements are tailored to meet the management needs of the particular area and landholder. These management requirements are; to conserve the area’s significant cultural and natural resources; to provide for the controlled use of the area’s cultural and natural resources in an ecologically sustainable manner; and to provide for the interests of land-holders to be taken into account, which may include such continuing pursuits as cropping, grazing, horticulture and ecotourism.

This agreement can cover part or all of a property to protect the wildlife and wildlife habitat thereon, emphasising the conservation of bio-diversity as an important part of property management. Further information can be found on the EPA/QPWS website.