According to the recently released March 2025 federal budget, the Labor government will allocate $250 million over five years towards ensuring 30% of Australia’s landmass is a protected conservation area by 2030. This is in line with the ‘Achieving 30 by 30’ strategy.
The funding, part of Labor’s Achieving 30 by 30 plan, will go towards establishing another 30 million hectares of bushland as a protected area, in partnership with state and territory governments, private landholders and First Nations groups.
The most recent records indicate about 22% of Australia’s landmass is protected, and attaining the 30% goal would be a huge achievement for both the government and the environment.
Protecting and conserving 30% of land
The National Reserve System is Australia’s network of protected land areas.
The NRS covers more than 22% of Australia’s land (over 170 million hectares). To reach the Achieving 30 by 30 target, an additional 60 million hectares (for context, Victoria is around 22 million hectares) will need to be protected or conserved.
The 30 by 30 land target will be achieved by:
* Growing Australia’s protected area network, which will increase the size of the NRS, and
* Establishing a new network of conserved areas (also referred to as Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures, or OECMs.
In addition to reaching 30%, it will be important to protect and conserve the ‘right’ areas. That is, networks of protected and conserved areas need to:
* Support important biodiversity
* Contribute to ecological representativness, and
* Be well-connected and effectively and equitably managed.
Action
To achieve the national 30 by 30 target, Environment Ministers agreed to develop:
* A roadmap to protect and conserve 30% of Australia’s land, and
* A national framework to recognise OECMs – referred to as Conserved Areas – to complement growth in Protected Areas.
See more at dcceew.gov.au.