Four years ago, we founded Wilderlands having observed some of the most ecologically important land in Australia was still at risk, the mechanisms to protect it were not keeping pace, and organisations that genuinely wanted to act had no credible, traceable way to do so.

We believed we could build that mechanism. And, we believed getting it right mattered more than getting it fast.

Today, we’re releasing Wilderlands Whitepaper Version 2.0.

It brings together four years of operational learning, independent ecological review, and ongoing collaboration with landholders, ecologists, Traditional Custodians, and buyers. 

It is the most complete account we’ve published of what we’ve built, why we’ve built it this way, and what we’ve learned along the way.

The problem hasn’t gone away

The challenge that prompted Wilderlands’ founding has only become more urgent.

Seven of the nine planetary boundaries have now been breached. Average monitored wildlife populations declined by 73% between 1970 and 2020. An estimated 55% of global GDP – around US$58 trillion – is moderately or highly dependent on nature. Here in Australia, 2,175 species are now formally listed as threatened.

These numbers tell different parts of the same story. 

Nature underpins our economies, communities and wellbeing – yet its value remains largely outside the economic systems that shape how land is used, protected and funded. 

The result is a fundamental imbalance – it can still be easier to finance the depletion of nature than its protection.

That is the challenge Wilderlands was established to help address.

What we’ve held constant

Across four years of iteration, two things have remained non-negotiable.

Firstly, protection must be permanent – not a pledge renewed periodically, but a legally binding commitment that outlasts any individual, company or government. 

Each Biological Diversity Unit (BDU) represents the protection of one square metre of high strategic conservation value land, assessed through Wilderlands’ BIOTA framework and legally protected through an on-title conservation instrument. 

Each unit is georeferenced and independently created, registered and retired through Vegetation Link. 

A further 20% of the BDUs generated from each project is retained as a loss buffer and never offered for sale – an additional integrity measure against unforeseen, irreversible habitat degradation.

Secondly, protecting land in Australia, done with any honesty, means working in genuine partnership with Traditional Custodians and First Nations peoples who have cared for this Country for tens of thousands of years. 

Both of these commitments are structural. They are embedded in every project, every unit, and every relationship we enter.

What’s protected at Coorong Lakes

Our first project, Coorong Lakes on Ngarrindjeri Country, illustrates what this architecture looks like in practice.

Two hundred hectares of remnant native vegetation are now permanently protected under a South Australian Heritage Agreement. The reserve is owned and co-managed by Cassinia Environmental in genuine partnership with the Ngarrindjeri people, the Traditional Custodians of this Country.

Ecological monitoring has recorded 249 native plant species, 86 bird species, 38 orchid species, and 10 threatened flora species. The project supports what monitoring records describe as the world’s largest known private-land population of the nationally endangered Metallic Sun-orchid.

These are not aspirational targets. They are what is there – documented, monitored, and protected.

The moment we’re in

The corporate environment has shifted materially since we began.

Australia has committed to protecting and conserving 30% of its land by 2030 – a target that will require approximately another 39 million hectares. 

More than 730 organisations across 56 countries have committed to TNFD-aligned reporting, including asset managers representing US$22.4 trillion in assets under management. 

It’s clear that organisations will increasingly be expected to understand, disclose and act on their relationships with nature.

But contribution cannot replace responsibility. The SBTN AR3T framework begins with avoiding and reducing negative impacts. Voluntary contributions such as BDUs are additive actions that sit alongside – not instead of – that work.

A BDU is not a biodiversity offset. It is not a carbon credit. And it is not proof that a purchaser has become “nature positive.” 

A BDU is a bounded, evidence-backed contribution to permanent protection and active conservation management.

As scrutiny of environmental claims intensifies, taking credible action and communicating it accurately are becoming equally important. 

That is why Wilderlands will soon release a companion document, the Principles for Public Claims: practical guidance on what retiring BDUs substantiates, how organisations can describe their contribution, and where claims risk begins.

What gives us cause for optimism

Progress is real, even if it isn’t fast enough.

In policy architecture, something has shifted. In the frameworks now live and accelerating, we see what wasn’t possible four years ago. And, in the quality of conversations we’re now having with organisations who are not looking for shortcuts – who are asking the right questions and are genuinely committed to having a positive and lasting impact on nature – we see what this work is for.

We’re proud to be working alongside some of them, and look forward to sharing those stories in due course.

The scale of the challenge can feel overwhelming. Our focus remains on making meaningful action tangible – one project, one landscape, and one square metre at a time.

If you want to talk – about a project, a partnership, or what any of this means for your organisation – reach out at [email protected]