ARTICLE
Q&A with CEO of NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, Dr Erin Giuliani
Published 6 November 2025
What is biodiversity and why is it important to the state of NSW and is communities?
NSW is home to a remarkable range of landscapes and species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Biodiversity refers to the different living things within an ecosystem. This includes the different plants and animals you might find in any natural environment.
For communities, biodiversity offers cultural, recreational, and economic benefits. It’s a vital foundation for the health, resilience, and prosperity of both the environment and the communities that depend on it. It supports economic development through industries such as agriculture and tourism. It holds deep cultural significance – particularly for Aboriginal communities whose connection to Country is rooted in the land’s natural rhythms and species.
Our state’s biodiversity is in decline. Habitat loss is a key pressure, as is the recurrence of disasters like fire, flood and drought.
Preserving biodiversity is essential not only for environmental sustainability but also for the wellbeing of current and future generations across NSW.
Can you please tell us what Biodiversity Conservation Trust’s role is? How do you support biodiversity?
Recognising the importance of protecting biodiversity, the NSW Government has committed to protecting, enhancing and connecting biodiversity through the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT).
The BCT works with landholders across NSW to create new conservation areas on privately-held land. These landholders manage these conservation areas to protect, connect and enhance biodiversity.
Private land conservation is important because more than 80% of the land in NSW is privately managed. By prioritising and managing areas of privately-held land for conservation, landowners are adding to and growing Australia’s National Reserve System of public, Indigenous and privately protected areas.
These landholders also contribute to global goals to protect nature, support a future more resilient to climate change and ensure native plants and animals have the habitat they need to survive.
What attracted you to the role of CEO?
I was attracted to the statutory mission of the BCT to deliver environmental outcomes and its independent governance and strong assurance frameworks. The role offered a chance to apply my skills to a new challenge and offered a fantastic opportunity to work with a great Board, Minister and team to deliver meaningful environmental outcomes for NSW.
Three years into the role, I continue to feel it is an enormous privilege to lead the BCT. I feel very lucky to work among such a passionate team whose extensive knowledge and local networks make a positive contribution to improving biodiversity in NSW.
It is incredibly rewarding to see how our work empowers landholders to be stewards of their land, creating long-term conservation legacies that benefit both nature and future generations.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities that you face in your role or that of your organisation?
There’s a growing awareness and willingness across NSW to protect biodiversity. This presents a powerful opportunity for the BCT to build a resilient, well-connected network of conservation areas and make a major contribution to national and global nature goals.
The BCT is consistently oversubscribed with passionate landholders who want to engage with our programs and protect biodiversity on their land. This is both a challenge and opportunity for the BCT. To meet this demand, we collaborate with other government agencies that set policy for biodiversity in NSW to ensure that our conservation efforts are aligned with broader environmental strategies, support statewide biodiversity goals, and deliver coordinated outcomes across public and private land.
We are actively exploring ways to support our growth in the future to ensure that we are able to continue to provide a high level of service to the growing network of private conservation landholders. This includes considering funds management and diversified revenue streams, such as attracting private investment and philanthropic support, to complement government funding and build long-term financial sustainability.
How does TCorp support Biodiversity Conservation Trust in NSW? Can you give any examples of projects that we have supported or how we have worked together?
The BCT is not your normal TCorp investor. The BCT is responsible for the management of 2 statutory funds. When a landholder enters into a conservation agreement, the funding is deposited in TCorp and invested for the long term. The returns from our investment help to fund on-the-ground conservation actions like fencing, weeding and pest control. The BCT finance team and TCorp work together closely to automate processes and ensure limited administrative burden whilst ensuring maximum return on investment. This is a great example of TCorp working to meet the needs of its customers.
TCorp has also worked closely with the BCT to provide our Board with tailored Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information. TCorp’s expertise help ensure our investment strategy aligns with our conservation values and long-term goals.
What are some exciting projects you are working on at Biodiversity Conservation Trust?
We are working on several exciting and innovative projects at the BCT.
Our Land Libraries project is a citizen science initiative that equips landholders with motion cameras and audio recorders to monitor biodiversity on their properties. The pilot phase has already produced over 1.4mn images and thousands of verified species records, including first-time sightings of threatened species on some properties. The project is now expanding into the Murray-Riverina, Sydney Basin, and Hunter regions, empowering more landholders to contribute to biodiversity data and conservation.
We continue to deliver the outcomes of our Investing in Private Land Conservation program. In the coming months we will open the Northern Riverina Woodlands conservation tender which will target the NSW sheep-wheat belt. It will focus on threatened ecological communities between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers and covers an approximate area of 2,100,000ha.
Preparation is underway to launch our 10th fixed price offer in early 2026. The fixed price offer invites landholder is to enter into an in-perpetuity conservation agreement with annual management payments. In FY25, 17 fixed price offer conservation agreements were offered, totalling 11,150ha with a total investment of $29.3mn. These are great conservation outcomes for NSW, and I am excited to see what our 10th offer secures.
