What NGT Does
A Brief Overview
Nature Glenelg Trust (NGT) is an apolitical, not-for-profit, charitable environmental organisation that commenced operations in January 2012, delivering applied scientific projects to reverse biodiversity loss across south-eastern Australia.
Our diverse team of professional ecologists have experience across all fields of ecology, working hard to restore ecosystems and recover threatened species in the temperate agricultural regions of Victoria, SA, Tasmania and NSW. These landscapes often carry a legacy of complex environmental challenges that emerged from a post-colonisation history of land use change and development (e.g. land clearing, species loss, changes to fire and water regimes), after the displacement of First Nations people and their management practices.
Recovery or protection of biodiversity values in agricultural regions is not a simple exercise and cannot be tackled alone. We choose to work cooperatively, side-by-side with the wide range of land managers (both private and public) who are now custodians of land in places where we have identified that the trend of biodiversity loss, and an associated decline in other natural resources, can be reversed through clever, targeted, carefully planned and scientifically-sound on-ground action.
Where possible, we target the restoration of ecological drivers and processes, to capitalise on natural regeneration potential. We take the time to deeply understand the history of the places where we work and listen to the people who know these places, so that ecological restoration plans are well informed, carefully considered and able to describe and define the trajectory of change experienced by a site since European colonisation.
In rare cases, the potential strategic value of a site may justify an alternative approach. Hence, NGT has also stepped forward to establish a small number of our own Reserves. NGT Reserves are places for demonstrating the applied scientific principles that underpin our work, engaging with the community and inspiring others to act. Although we now work more widely, NGT Reserves are currently located in the cross-border region where we commenced operations and the Glenelg River is a central feature, from which our name is derived.
What makes NGT unique?
NGT was deliberately designed and built by applied scientists – from the ground up – to address today’s challenges and be a nimble, dynamic, creative organisation. We are willing to do things differently to help further the cause of environmental restoration.
Things that you will notice about NGT:
· Everything we do is about restoring and protecting nature.
· Our work is diverse, as we use our skills to identify and fill gaps.
· We are not afraid to test new ideas or take calculated risks.
· We work with other groups, individuals and organisations who share our goals and values.
· We work hard to find common ground, sometimes leading to results in unexpected places.
· You will hear engaging stories that make restoration science accessible, from our staff, in their own words, within the monthly NGT email newsletter.
· To successfully meet our goals, we fund our work through a variety of means (grants, fee-for-service contracts and philanthropy), noting that it takes a range of funding sources to progress the bold ideas that NGT is renowned for.
· People matter to us: our donors, supporters, volunteers and staff are the fabric of NGT.
· We actively protect NGT’s culture and demonstrate our values through our work.
· We focus on positive ideas and action to motivate people to be part of environmental solutions. This is the basis for all of our communication and everything we do.
To sign up to the monthly NGT email newsletter, please click here, or you can learn about the different ways to support our work here.