This Startup is Helping Aussies Protect Biodiversity For as Little as $2

Would you be interested in buying your own square metre of wilderness to help protect local biodiversity? A new startup, Wilderlands, is giving Aussies the chance to contribute to land conservation for as little as $2.

What is Wilderlands?

Wilderlands is a new Aussie startup that’s giving individuals and organisations the ability to help protect Australia’s biodiversity through the purchase of units to help protect one square metre of land at a time, forever.

‘We’re taking the complexity of conservation covenants, management and permanent biodiversity protection and unitising the impact to make it simple, easy and affordable for anyone to start proactively preserving nature today,’ said Wilderlands Co-Founder Paul Dettman. 

Wilderlands is partnering with Dettman’s conservation organisation, Cassina Environmental, to manage the protection of the land.

 

How does it work?

Wilderlands teams up with state bodies that have existing conservation regulations, like Trust for Nature, who are the ones that assess the land and help develop management plans that the landholders agree to in order to have the land protected. Then the team at Wilderlands works with the landholders to unitise the impact of the work to help fund the protection of the land.

And then it’s over to you. 

The land on these properties is divided into one square metre blocks, known as Biological Diversity Units, and the public is given the chance to buy these units and help protect that tiny corner of Earth forever. 

 

 

Each unit is geotagged, so you can literally zoom in and see how your little block of protected wilderness is thriving. 

The price of units can differ slightly, and is based on how much it’ll cost to manage and conserve the land for 20 years. At first, units will be sold in bundles of 10, so ten square metres, for $30, but single units will soon be available for anywhere between $2-$7 each. 

 

Where is the land that’s being protected?

So far there are currently four properties and environments that are available for unit purchase and protection; grasslands in Victoria’s Riverina, wetlands in Meningie, SA, tall forest in the Otway Ranges in Victoria, and woodlands near West Wyalong in NSW. 

 

 

As more landholders jump on board the project, a wider variety of landscapes, environments, and ecosystems will become available to protect, which means you can pick and choose a place that matters the most to you!

‘Right now, we’re looking to connect with people and partners passionate about protecting the planet and it’s clear there are more individuals and organisations who fit this profile every day,’ said Wilderlands CEO Ash Knop. 

Wilderlands only launched in the last week and has already seen over 12,000 square metres of land protected and $30,000 of revenue raised to do so. 

Here’s hoping this startup is just what we need to help the biodiversity loss issue in Australia.