00:00Buying a private island might sound like the plot of a spy thriller novel,
00:07but that's exactly what one Victorian conservation group has done off the South Gippsland coast.
00:14Well, we're standing here on Bullock Island and right to my left is Wilson's Prom,
00:18some of Victoria's most amazing, beautiful, critical habitat that we have in this state.
00:24Bullock Island is part of a cluster of salt marsh wetlands
00:28in the corner inlet south of Welshpool.
00:31For decades it was used to farm cattle,
00:33but now it's the property of Nooramunga Land and Sea Foundation.
00:38Look at this, precious isn't it?
00:40It was pretty hopeless and now with time and tides is probably the word to say,
00:45it's actually coming back to what it should be.
00:47There's just an amazing array of birds that come here
00:50and just having this area protected and finding what's here
00:54and how best to look after it, it's just a fantastic project.
00:57It's the second property the foundation has purchased,
01:00as it looks to return damaged land to its original state.
01:04And it's part of a wider global movement by conservationists to buy back sensitive habitat.
01:10So it's really an excellent demonstration of how the approach can be applied at scale
01:15to secure ecosystems that are ecologically relevant.
01:18So we've been fortunate enough to come together, a whole group of people, not just one,
01:23a whole group of people who have put their hands where their hearts are
01:26and have bought these freehold title islands and protected them forever.
01:31And with the gate firmly shut on development of any kind in future,
01:35the landscape will be turned over to nature once more.
01:40So we're going to take advantage of some of the flow.
01:41And some people that don't even want to go out there,
01:42really need to focus on how to the greenest will be.
01:43And I'll be able to see a beautiful couple of people.
01:44Now, once the greenest will come together,
01:45we'll be able to get a new concept here that teachers,
01:46that teachers will see how to see a new icon.
01:48And that teachers will see a new icon where the background looks at some people
01:49are very good.
01:50So that there's a lot of people that are very vulnerable.
01:52So that we have the best people that are very well-known.
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