We are proud to play an active part in the global movement to overcome climate change
We are proud to launch our inaugural Climate Action Plan – a timely and much needed plan that will enable the National Trust to contribute tangible and meaningful action to address the climate and biodiversity crisis.
We know that the climate and biodiversity crisis is the single biggest and fastest growing threat to people and cultural heritage worldwide. The increasing concentrations of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, are accelerating this crisis and contributing to the increased frequency and intensity of severe weather events, such as floods, droughts, and bushfires. These impacts cause severe damage to our environment and infrastructure, and pose serious threats to our beloved heritage places including, buildings, landscapes, gardens, and trees.
We recognise that if new strategies to mitigate and adapt to these changes are not initiated and actioned immediately, these impacts will have an unprecedented and irreversible effect on our cultural heritage, our connection to place, and our way of life.
While the challenge of this crisis is immense, and at times overwhelming, the National Trust feels strongly that we must play an active role in identifying and implementing solutions. In order for Victoria’s heritage to be protected, celebrated and understood, we need a healthy and safe climate future so that our communities can thrive.We believe that the National Trust – and our beloved heritage places – have a unique role and opportunity to champion solutions to address this crisis.
We commit to using our platform as Victoria’s leading independent and grassroots voice for heritage, to advocate for creative and innovative policy, planning, and design solutions that can achieve carbon reduction. This is in line with our mission to protect and celebrate our natural, cultural, social, and Indigenous heritage; we must use our position to ensure that industry and government take notice, and that the threats that the climate and biodiversity crisis poses to our shared heritage are addressed.
Most importantly, we must look inward and reflect on the ways in which we can improve our own operations and impact. As an established community leader, educator, and caretaker of Victoria’s heritage, this unique role comes with significant responsibility.
The National Trust is a strong advocate for conservation and sustainability in our built and natural environments. Read some of our most recent stories encouraging climate resilience through government planning in our Trust Advocate Blog.
We are proud to play an active part in the global movement to overcome climate change and believe that the challenges and opportunities presented in the implementation of the Climate Action Plan will make us a more relevant, meaningful, and dynamic organisation.
One of the challenges of addressing this crisis is the need to look inward and reflect on the ways in which we can improve our own operations and impact. This is an opportunity to explore creative and innovative solutions that can provide benefits for our organisation and the wider community.
The National Trust in Victoria is dedicated to active decarbonisation and demonstrating how heritage properties are useful in mitigating the effects of climate change and increasing climate resilience. As a custodian of some beautiful properties with natural features and heritage, we investigated options to utilise some of these sites to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere.
The issue of interpreting hidden heritage came to the fore with a recent project at Rippon Lea Estate. What started as a rather prosaic undertaking to repair ageing nineteenth century drainage pipes grew to encompass much more.
At the inception of The Como Approach a grant was awarded to undertake conservation works at the site, providing the opportunity for it to act as a pilot project for the initiative.
As part of the Australian Heritage Festival 2023 the National Trust Australia (Victoria) and the Heritage Council of Victoria partnered with a host of industry professionals to present a series of webinars on Heritage and Sustainability.
It is time to reframe built heritage in the climate change conversation, and see that its preservation can actively contribute to climate resilience through emissions reduction.
The parks are located in Central West Victoria: Wombat-Lerderderg National Park (near Daylesford), Mount Buangor National Park (west of Ballarat, near Beaufort), and the Pyrenees National Park (near Avoca), along with other regional parks and reserves.
Moreland City Council is committing to the protection of significant trees in order to retain and enhance the overall landscape quality of the municipality for future generations.
The Victorian Government intends to declare three new coastal areas to protect these areas from urban encroachment, increased visitation, and the impacts of climate change.
