Landscape
Great Eastern Ranges initiative
Great Eastern Ranges initiative

The Great Eastern Ranges was established in 2007 as a direct response to reversing the pervasive impacts of habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation by reconnecting our natural world at the vast scale needed. Today, we are an independent not-for-profit that serves as a backbone organisation for connectivity conservation, bringing people together around a shared vision for nature across 3,600km of eastern Australia. We remain committed to supporting efforts to connect, protect and regenerate our landscapes and natural systems and provide dynamic solutions to our climate, biodiversity and wellbeing challenges.

GER takes a collaborative approach, partnering with over 250 environmental non-profits, Landcare and community groups, government agencies, First Nations organisations and research partners to support and deliver community-led, science-based projects. These complementary activities, delivered across multiple landscapes from Tasmania to Far North Queensland create positive impacts at the local, regional and continental scale.

By working together and supporting connectivity efforts in the highest priority places, the Great Eastern Ranges initiative achieves far more than the sum of its parts.

Why do we need GER?

The wildlife, landscapes and ecosystems of eastern Australia are experiencing catastrophic impacts from a wide range of threats including habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation; climate change and biodiversity loss; feral animals and weeds and development. In the past, habitats and ecosystems were intact and well connected. Today, roads, dams, fences, agricultural and industrial lands, towns, and cities have led to significant loss of native vegetation, serving to carve up the land into small ‘islands’ of habitat. This blocks the movement of animals, reduces the amount of habitat available to them, and interrupts the flow of the vital services provided by a healthy environment, such as carbon storage, clean water, pollination and the formation of healthy soils.

The multiple and escalating threats that impact the wildlife, habitats and ecosystems of eastern Australia have also resulted in the rapid decline of biodiversity, putting us on the path to an extinction crisis. This loss of biodiversity is having a dramatic ripple effect, resulting in less healthy, less resilient landscapes to the detriment of people and nature. At the same time, the impacts of climate change are already compounding threats and introducing significant new challenges that need to be managed, such as more frequent and intense fires, and reduced rainfall.

Research has shown that the conventional approach of prioritising the conservation of isolated pockets of habitat is insufficient to ensure the long-term survival and adaptability of species and the resilience and integrity of our ecosystems. The land inbetween our protected areas is just as important.

The Great Eastern Ranges

By bringing people together to protect, connect and regenerate landscapes and ecosystems at large scale while managing key threats, GER delivers holistic natural solutions that address the environmental and climate challenges we face. GER provides the big picture vision, science and coordination needed to support our regional partnerships to achieve shared conservation goals across public and private land and ensure that efforts combine to achieve impact at the whole-of-landscape, population and ecosystem level.

Together these many actions serve to mitigate the impacts of climate change, support biodiversity, build community and landscape resilience, and protect the health and functioning of the natural services on which we all depend.