Several government and non-government organisations (NGOs) work hard to improve forest conservation practices in Australia’s beautiful forests and rainforests.

One of the peak bodies in this field is Bush Heritage, which is an independent not-for-profit organisation that acquires and manages land with a view to preserving its natural beauty and biodiversity.

At present, Bush Heritage owns and maintains 31 reserves across Australia and in total it protects nearly 1,000,000 hectares.

Bush Heritage has an interesting approach to obtaining land. The organisation buys environmentally significant plots of land on the open market, before devising a strategy for providing ongoing care for that piece of land.

At the Commonwealth Government level, the main agency responsible for forest conservation and land management is the Department Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

This department aims to maximise the benefits to the Australian environment from meteorological and related sciences, and is overseen by minister Peter Garrett.

Plenty of overlap and coordination occurs between this department and other environmental agencies striving to enhance the environmental health of Australia.

A prominent example of this collaboration is with the National Heritage Trust, another peak national environmental organisation.