A working partnership with Perpetual Trustees is seeing precious tracts of Victoria’s natural landscape protected in perpetuity.

The Trust for Nature Foundation was established to help support Trust for Nature, a non-profit organisation that has worked to conserve privately owned natural bush for more than 30 years. The foundation has four trustees, Dr Janet Schapper, Dr Neil Byron and Mr John Bate, with Perpetual Trustees as co-trustee and fund manager.

Dr Schapper, a landscape architect and Senior Fellow at Burnley College, University of Melbourne, explains, ‘We set up the Trust for Nature Foundation in 2002. It was one of the first foundations able to use the flexibility of a prescribed private fund’s tax effectiveness and leveraging’. (Now known as a private ancillary fund.)

‘The reason we chose a trustee company to administer the foundation was because we wanted the fund manager to earn its returns primarily by building the funds, rather than just earn transaction fees.’

‘Perpetual offered us this performance-based return. They have a mutual interest in building the funds, both as the fund manager and as co-trustee.’

The Trust for Nature Foundation has attracted donations from those who support the trust’s activities and assists landowners to apply conservation covenants. It helps with land stewardship programs and the purchase of land for nature conservation. The Trust’s landmark property, Ned’s Corner Station, a former sheep and cattle property 80km west of Mildura, is being managed for nature conservation. These activities are supported by funds from the foundation.

Dr Schapper adds: ‘We are very pleased at the way the foundation is building and I personally am very satisfied with our relationship with Perpetual.’

Visit http://www.tfn.org.au

Perpetual Philanthropic Services and advice are provided by Perpetual Trustee Company Limited (PTCo), ABN 42 000 001 007, AFSL 236643. This information has been prepared by PTCo. It contains general information and is not intended to provide you with advice or take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.