Permanent Protection and the Legacies and Spatialities of Conservation Practice

Abstract

Permanent protection through conservation covenants has emerged as a powerful mechanism for securing ecologies on private land. In this chapter, we explore how ideas of permanent protection are woven into the everyday practice of conservation examined in previous chapters. We explain how rural-amenity landholders perceive the work that their covenant is doing, and to unpack their uncertainties about the security of permanent protection, especially in light of the effect of surrounding land uses on their property. In exploring these themes, we examine differences between protecting ecological legacies through legally binding covenants, and the need to recognise and build on the legacy of experience, learning , labour and care for ecologies, as part of efforts to enable conservation outcomes beyond the tenure of a single landholder.