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Where We Work

The Great Eastern Ranges (GER) initiative is one of the world’s largest connectivity conservation efforts, with a vision spanning a vast 3,600km swathe of eastern Australia from Tasmania to Far North Queensland – an area we call the Great Eastern Ranges corridor.

To help ensure that resources are directed towards the highest priority sites and are not spread too thin to achieve the greatest impact on the ground, we have used data and spatial analyses to identify a series of focus landscapes. These landscapes have been selected on the basis of their containing important habitat connections and climate refugia for wildlife, and the high diversity of plants and animals that occur within them.

The map below shows GER’s current twelve focus landscapes in which our regional partners are working with landholders, local communities and organisations to protect, connect and restore core wildlife habitats and natural systems.

About the GER corridor

  • Unique species

    As well as being home to over 80% of Australia’s population, the Great Eastern Ranges landscape is a biodiversity hotspot (an area containing a high number of species found nowhere else on earth that are under severe threat), supporting 60% of our threatened animals, 70% of our plants our continent's richest diversity of Eucalypt and Acacia species. Unique species like the Cassowary, Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, Koala, Wollemi Pine and Mountain Pygmy Possum all live within its valleys and peaks.

  • Natural services

    Dominating the geographic centre is the Great Divide – the world’s third longest mountain range – which stretches from the remote Cape York Peninsula in the north to the majestic Grampians in Victoria, separating the coast from the arid interior. This complex series of hills, plateaus and mountains, contain the watersheds and headwaters for the major river catchments of eastern Australia, providing clean water for over two-thirds of our population whilst dense forests and woodlands soak up vast amounts of carbon from our atmosphere.

  • © Mike Goad | Pixabay camera

    Movement pathways

    A rich tapestry of protected areas, forests, and remnant habitats dotted across the region serve as vital ‘flyways’ for a diversity of our native winged species moving across Tasmania and the mainland, including birds, butterflies and flying foxes. Some traverse vast distances across the Bass Straits to the Australian mainland and on into Papua New Guinea.

  • © Tandi Spencer-Smith camera

    Climate corridors

    The beauty and diversity of eastern Australia’s natural areas, rich cultural history, and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities attract millions of local and international visitors every year, contributing billions to our economy. In the future, these green corridors will provide vital refuges for wildlife, enabling them to move and adapt in response to a changing climate whilst providing a natural solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

“The Great Eastern Ranges are arguably the terrestrial equivalent of the Great Barrier Reef: a massively complex, diverse and iconic part of our global heritage.”

Bob Debus

Bob Debus, Former NSW Environment Minister and Chair of the GER Board

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